NOD_CHOP_SCAN - Reduces a chopped and nodded observation in a scan pattern

Description:

This script reduces chopped and nodded observation, currently just for Michelle data. It takes an imaging observation comprising a multiple-of-four object frames at a series of scan offset positions to make calibrated, untrimmed mosaics at each scan position automatically.

It performs a null debiassing, creation and propagation of data variance, difference the integrations for each AB chop beam pair, bad-pixel masking, difference adjacent nodded pairs, registers the frames, and forms a mosaic at each scan position. See the ``Notes'' for further information.

Notes:

• A variance array is created for each beam, first using the read noise, and once the bias is removed, Poisson noise is added.

• A bias frame selected from the calibration system is removed from each beam in CHOP read mode. If no bias frame is available in the CHOP mode, the recipe subtracts a null bias, so the errors will be overestimated in the CHOP read mode; the data array will be unaffected once the beams are differenced. The ARRAY_TESTS recipe files a suitable short-exposure dark as a bias in the calibration system.

• The integrations of the two beams are differenced, the first subtracted from the second in each pair.

• A World Co-ordinate System (WCS) using the AIPS convention is created in the headers should no WCS already exist.

• The bad pixel mask applied is $ORAC_DATA_CAL/bpm.

• The telescope offsets of the first frame in each multiple-of-four frames define scan position. The recipe creates a mosaic at each distinct pair of offsets.

• Registration is performed using the telescope offsets transformed to pixels.

• The resampling applies integer shifts of origin. There is no rotation to align the Cartesian axes with the cardinal directions.

• The recipe makes the mosaics by applying offsets in intensity to give the most consistent result amongst the overlapping regions. The mosaic is not trimmed to the dimensions of a single frame, thus the noise will be greater in the peripheral areas having received less exposure time. The mosaic is not normalised by its exposure time (that being the exposure time of a single frame).

• For each cycle of object frames at each distinct scan position, the recipe creates a mosaic, which has its bad pixels filled and is then added into a master mosaic of improving signal to noise for that scan position. The exposure time is also summed and stored in the mosaic's corresponding header. Likewise the end airmass and end UT headers are updated to match that of the last-observed frame contributing to the mosaic.

• Intermediate frames are deleted except for the differenced pairs (_dp suffix) frames.

Output Data :

• The integrated mosaics in <m><date>_<group_number>_o<scan>_mos, where <m> is the instrument's group prefix, <group_number> is the number of group, and <scan> is the index number of the distinct scan position counting from 0.

• A mosaic for each cycle of object frames in
  <m><date>_<group_number>_o<scan>_mos<cycle_number>, where
  <cycle_number> counts from 0.

• The differenced pairs in <i><date>_<obs_number>_dp, where <i> is the frame prefix.

Configurable Steering Parameters:

NUMBER = INTEGER

The number of frames in the nod pattern. If absent, the number of offsets, as given by header NOFFSETS, minus one is used. If neither is available, 4 is used. An error state arises if the number of jittered frames is fewer than 4 and not a multiple of 4. []

USEVAR = LOGICAL

Whether or not to create and propagate variance arrays. [1]

Related Recipes :

NOD_CHOP, NOD_SELF_FLAT_NO_MASK_APHOT,

Implementation Status:

• The processing engines are from the Starlink packages: CCDPACK, KAPPA, and FIGARO.

• Uses the Starlink NDF format and multi-NDF HDS container files.

• History is recorded within the data files.

• The title of the data is propagated through intermediate files to the mosaic.

• Error propagation is controlled by the USEVAR parameter.