README

Synopsis

The genvalobs program is a Python script that generates an XML file containing MoM specifications for a set of system validation observations for LOFAR. One can specify a target source (Cyg A, Vir A, 3C 196, Cas A), and a planned start date in UTC. The script will then generate an XML file with observations for all desired observing modes, using the specified target source and a given duration per observation and interval between observations.

The Genvalobs is based on the lofarobsxml library (included in this package), which can be used to write your own python scripts to generate XML files that can be imported to LOFAR's MoM system.

Extensive documentation can be found in the doc/ directory. The generated HTML documentation is found in doc/_build/html/

Prerequisites

Python 2.6 or newer and pyephem (http://rhodesmill.org/pyephem/).

Installation

user@localhost:~/genvalobs/ $ sudo python2 setup.py install

Usage

Current LST: 2:38:49.89 usage: genvalobs [-h] [-o FILENAME] [-m CORRELATOR_MODE] [-d SECONDS] [-g SECONDS] [-s STATION_SET] [-i STATION_NAMES] [-e STATION_NAMES] [--min-alt DEGREES] [--max-alt DEGREES] [-c CLOCK_MHZ] [-w SECONDS] [-t DATE_STRING] [-p MOM_NAME] [-f FILE_NAME] [-v] [-a] [--max-subbands N] [source]

The (optional) source name must be enclosed in single or double quotes if it contains spaces. The following sources are recommended:

• "3C 48" / 48: LST 22:30--04:30
• "3C 147" / 147: LST 02:30--08:30
• "3C 196" / 196: LST 05:00--11:00
• "3C 295" / 295: LST 11:00--17:00
• "Cyg A" / cyg: LST 16:00--24:00

If no source is specified, the program chooses the source that is closest to the meridian at the central LST of the observing sequence. The program has separate calibrator lists for LBA and HBA observations and pulsars.

Although genvalobs has its own default sequence of observations, it is possible to read a custom set from an ASCII file with a fairly simple format. The specification consists of newline-separated observations where each observation is specified in a white-space separated line with format:

<ANTENNA_SET> <BAND> <SUBBANDS> <CLOCK> <BIT_MODE> <DATA_PRODUCTS>

- ANTENNA_SET: one of LBA_INNER, LBA_OUTER, LBA_SPARSE_ODD, 
               LBA_SPARSE_EVEN, HBA_ZERO, HBA_ONE,
               HBA_DUAL, HBA_JOINED, HBA_ZERO_INNER,
               HBA_ONE_INNER, HBA_DUAL_INNER

- FREQUENCY_BAND: LBA_LOW, LBA_HIGH, HBA_LOW, HBA_MID, HBA_HIGH

- SUBBAND_LIST: comma-separated list of sub band ranges. Note: NO
                SPACES ALLOWED! Examples:
                  - 12..499
                  - 12..22,112..122,212..222
- CLOCK_MHZ: either 200 or 160

- BIT_MODE: either 4, 8, or 16

- DATA_PRODUCTS: white-space separated list of products. Allowed:
                 - XC      (cross-correlation)
                 - FE      (fly's eye)
                 - CS_I    (coherent stokes I)
                 - CS_IQUV (coherent stokes IQUV)
                 - IS_I    (incoherent stokes I)
                 - IS_IQUV (incoherent stokes IQUV)
                 - TR      (TAB rings)

Empty lines are ignored, comments start with # end run until the
end of the line.

Example file:

    # Antennaset    Band      Subbands   Clock  Bits   Products  Pipeline (avg freq; avg time; demix freq-window; demix time-window)
    LBA_OUTER       LBA_LOW   12..499    200     8     XC
    HBA_DUAL        HBA_LOW   12..499    200     8     XC        Preprocessing 64 2 64 10
    LBA_INNER       LBA_HIGH  156..399   200    16     FE
    HBA_DUAL        HBA_LOW   77..320    200    16     IS_I
    HBA_DUAL        HBA_LOW   77..320    200    16     CS_I
    HBA_DUAL        HBA_LOW   77..320    200    16     CS_IQUV
    HBA_DUAL_INNER  HBA_MID   66..309    160    16     XC IS_I

Note that the custom sequence is subject to the same filtering by options -m, -c, etc. as the default observing sequence. The last entry is using the 160 MHz clock. It will only be used in the observation sequence if the 160 MHz is selected using the -c / --clock option.

positional arguments: source Force a source to be used for all observations, bypassing genvalobs' own heuristics.

optional arguments: -h, --help show this help message and exit -o FILENAME, --output FILENAME Name of the output file [lofar- validation-20160413-124249.xml]. -m CORRELATOR_MODE, --mode CORRELATOR_MODE Correlator modes to test. Choose one of XC (crosscorrelation), FE (Fly's eye), IS (incoherent stokes), or CS (coherent stokes). One can specify more than one mode. If this argument is not spedified, all modes will be tested [XC, FE, CS_I, CS_IQUV, IS_I, IS_IQUV, TR]. -d SECONDS, --duration SECONDS Duration of individual observations in seconds [120]. -g SECONDS, --gap SECONDS Gap between observations in seconds [60]. -s STATION_SET, --stations STATION_SET One of superterp, core, remote, nl, eu, all, or none. EU stations that conflict with certain HBA1 core fields are excluded from the HBA_ONE, HBA_ONE_INNER, HBA_DUAL, and HBA_DUAL_INNER observations. They are taken along in all other observations [nl]. -i STATION_NAMES, --include STATION_NAMES Comma separated list of station names to include. No spaces allowed in the list. Example: -i cs013,de601,rs106 -e STATION_NAMES, --exclude STATION_NAMES Comma separated list of station names to exclude. No spaces allowed in the list. Example: -e cs013,de601,rs106 --min-alt DEGREES Minimum elevation for target sources [40.00]. --max-alt DEGREES Maximum elevation for target sources [70.00]. -c CLOCK_MHZ, --clocks CLOCK_MHZ Allowed clock frequencies. Choose 160 or 200. Option can be provided multiple times if more than one clock frequency is required. -w SECONDS, --wait SECONDS Number of seconds until the first observation [540]. -t DATE_STRING, --start-date DATE_STRING Specify an exact date and time to start the first observation. Format: "yyyy/mm/dd hh:mm:ss.s" -p MOM_NAME, --project MOM_NAME Name of the observations' MoM project ['2016LOFAROBS']. -f FILE_NAME, --from-file FILE_NAME Read a custom observing sequence from FILE_NAME. -v, --version Print version number and exit. -a, --approved Set initial status of observations and pipelines to 'approved' instead of 'opened'. --max-subbands N Set the maximum allowed number of sub bands per observation. When minimal resources are required, use for example 10. If limited, it will take the first N sub bands.

Brightest 3C sources

Just for reference, sorted by brightness:

+-------+-------------+-------------+-------+---------+------------+-------+-----+-----------------+ | 3CR | RA B1950 | DEC B1950 | Vmag | z | S 178 MHz | alpha | b | Comments | +=======+=============+=============+=======+=========+============+=======+=====+=================+ | 405 | 19 57 44.43 | 40 35 45.2 | 16.22 | 0.056 | 8700. | 0.74 | 6 | 108SP,CYGA,SE G | +-------+-------------+-------------+-------+---------+------------+-------+-----+-----------------+ | 274 | 12 28 17.55 | 12 40 01.5 | 8.70 | 0.004 | 1050. | 0.76 | 75 | M87,30SP,CL G | +-------+-------------+-------------+-------+---------+------------+-------+-----+-----------------+ | 348 | 16 48 39.98 | 05 04 35.0 | 16.90 | 0.154 | 351.0 | 1.00 | 29 | HER A,E,R174 G | +-------+-------------+-------------+-------+---------+------------+-------+-----+-----------------+ | 353 | 17 17 53.29 | -00 55 49.5 | 15.36 | 0.030 | 236.0 | 0.71 | 20 | 75ID,E G | +-------+-------------+-------------+-------+---------+------------+-------+-----+-----------------+ | 123 | 04 33 55.21 | 29 34 12.6 | 21.7 | 0.218 | 189.0 | 0.70 | -12 | 18,12ID,E,CL G | +-------+-------------+-------------+-------+---------+------------+-------+-----+-----------------+ | 295 | 14 09 33.44 | 52 26 13.6 | 20.20 | 0.461 | 83.5 | 0.63 | 61 | E,CL,SE(3727) G | +-------+-------------+-------------+-------+---------+------------+-------+-----+-----------------+ | 196 | 08 09 59.42 | 48 22 07.2 | 17.60 | 0.871 | 68.2 | 0.79 | 33 | Q | +-------+-------------+-------------+-------+---------+------------+-------+-----+-----------------+ | 111 | 04 15 01. | 37 54 20. | 18.0 | 0.048 | 64.6 | 0.73 | -9 | SE,R=173 G | +-------+-------------+-------------+-------+---------+------------+-------+-----+-----------------+ | 273 | 12 26 33.35 | 02 19 42.0 | 12.80 | 0.158 | 62.8 | 0.23 | 64 | 111SP Q | +-------+-------------+-------------+-------+---------+------------+-------+-----+-----------------+ | 84 | 03 16 29.55 | 41 19 51.9 | 11.85 | 0.017 | 61.3 | 0.78 | -13 | N1275,PERA,CL G | +-------+-------------+-------------+-------+---------+------------+-------+-----+-----------------+