ALMA Tutorials draft

Introduction

This page contains tutorials to guide ALMA users through some common types of data imaging and analysis using CASA with example ALMA datasets. Here are some links to get started:

ALMA

• ALMA Science homepage

CASA

• CASA homepage: includes download and installation information
• CASA Docs
• CASA Tips
• Getting Started in CASA
• How To Use A CASAGuide
• Extracting scripts from these tutorials

To cite CASA, please use:
\bibitem[CASA Team et al.(2022)]{2022PASP..134k4501C} CASA Team, Bean, B., Bhatnagar, S., et al.\ 2022, PASP, 134, 114501. doi:10.1088/1538-3873/ac9642

Pipeline

• ALMA Pipeline webpage
• ALMA Pipeline Known Issues

To cite the ALMA pipeline, please use:
\bibitem[Hunter et al.(2023)]{2023PASP..135g4501H} Hunter, T.~R., Indebetouw, R., Brogan, C.~L., et al.\ 2023, PASP, 135, 074501. doi:10.1088/1538-3873/ace216

CARTA

• CARTA website
• CARTA section of the CASA docs

Basic Imaging and Analysis

ALMA data are delivered to users with calibrations applied and they are ready for imaging. The following "First Look" tutorials provide short examples of common next steps a user may take with their calibrated data. These guides use an example ALMA observation of TW Hydra.

• First Look at Imaging (continuum)
• First Look at Self Calibration
• First Look at Line Imaging
• First Look at Image Analysis

Older versions of these guides are archived here: ALMA First Look

Advanced Imaging

• Modified Pipeline Imaging
• Manual Imaging Templates
• Automasking

The following are the portions of the End to End guides that cover special imaging topics. The full End to End guides with manual calibration are listed further down this page:

• Array Combination: M100
• Array Combination: Sunspot
• Mosaics: Antennae Galaxy Merger
• Mosaics: IRAS16293
• Polarization: 3C286

Special Topics

• Renormalization
• Data Weights

- relevant for data from Cycles 0, 1, and 2

• Simulating Observations

- Also see: Guide To Simulating ALMA Data

End to End Guides (Manual Calibration)

These guides are useful tools for those who would like to learn the process of calibration and imaging in detail. They use publicly-available ALMA Science Verification data that illustrate several different ALMA capabilities. The links below lead to overview pages for each observation. The guides themselves are linked from the overview pages.

AntennaeBand7

• Band 7 (345 GHz, 0.87 mm)
• CO 3-2 spectral line
• Antennae Galaxy Merger (NGC 4038/4039)
• North and South mosaics

IRAS16293Band9

• Band 9 (650 GHz, 0.46 mm)
• Protostellar Cluster
• High frequency techniques
• Mosaic

M100 Band3

• Band 3 (100 GHz, 3 mm)
• Total Power (Single Dish) calibration and imaging
• Combining 12m-array, 7m-array, and Total Power data

3C286 Polarization

• Band 6 (230 GHz, 1.3 mm)
• Continuum polarization calibration and imaging

Sunspot Band6

• Band 6 (230 GHz, 1.3 mm)
• Solar observing techniques
• Calibration and imaging
• Helper scripts

Legacy Guides

• Archived ALMA CASAguides
• TCLEAN and ALMA

• Cycle 0

- Last checked in CASA 4.2

- Helpful hints for downloading the data

- Imaging, self-calibration, and image analysis

Example data calibration scripts used for Cycle 0 data (CASA 3.4):

• File:TDM.example.ms.scriptForCalibration.py: TDM (128 channels/spw)
• File:FDM.example.ms.scriptForCalibration.py: FDM (3840 channels/spw)
• Updating a script to work with CASA 4.2: Update 3.4 scripts to 4.2 or later.

Resources

• ALMA Sensitivity Calculator
• ADMIT Products and Usage: This guide discusses how to use the ALMA Data-Mining Toolkit (ADMIT) and customize it for your data.
• Analysis Utilities: A Python module containing utilities for analysis and plotting.
• Karl G. Jansky VLA Tutorials
• Past MM/Submm Guides: These are not currently being maintained.