Documentation:What we might do in an ideal

world

Ian McCrea

Purpose of this talk• Current Status

– The EISCAT web site is a repository for various interesting bits of EISCAT documentation…

– Some features of the system (e.g. EROS, GUISDAP) are quite well documented

– But, the information is not really organised so that an average user can find his way around and get a sense of what EISCAT is about

– Some of the best documentation (e.g. Jussi’s EROS material) is not even on the official site

– This is a personal view of how we could do better and bring together the things that an average user might want to know…….

First Questions…

• What should you already know ?– Assume basic familiarity, with unix, shell, pipes, matlab. – Any on-line tutorials ?

• Introduction to Incoherent Scatter Theory– What is incoherent scatter – what determines spectral shape ? – Where can I find out more about the theory ?

• Introduction to Radar Operations– Different types of experiment – CP/SP/AA, hours per year, – National allocations, – How to apply for time

The Hardware

• Technical details of the radars– Principles of IS Radars– How the data are formed, constraints on measurement etc

• A guide to the hardware– Which bits are which ? – What do they do ? – Which parts are under our control ?

• Other instruments– What other equipment exists on the sites ? – How can these things help me ? – How can I find the data ?

The Global IS Community

• Other IS Radars– Links to other IS radars around the world– Some of the history…– Contacts etc.

• The Madrigal Archive– What is the madrigal archive ? – What data does it contain ? – What is the data format ? – What tools exist ? – How can I download the data ? – What programs exist to plot the data ?

Introducing the EISCAT Data

• Basic introduction to EISCAT data – Philosophy behind EISCAT data-taking– Explanation of lag profiles etc.– Explanation of data types and data formats

• Experiments– Modulation schemes available – advantages,

disadvantages and uses of each.– Examples of experiment data. – Experiment database – what kinds of

experiment already exist on the system ?

Experiments and Scheduling

• Submitting Experiments– How to get your experiments scheduled. – How time allocations work.– What to do if you are not from an EISCAT

country. – Scheduling procedure and deadlines.

• Schedules and Forward-Looks– What are the current and future schedules ?– What’s coming up in the future ? – How much time has been used so far this

year ?

Developing Experiments

• How to write experiments– Details of ELAN/EROS and TLAN, – Program structure, command syntax etc– Explanation of a given experiment

• System Constraints– Things to be aware of – what the system can and cannot do – Things the system will stop you doing.– What you need to know yourself

• Testing Experiments– Using the EROS simulator– What to check for, what the results mean.– Testing experiments without the transmitter

Running Experiments

• Simple campaign guide– What to do when you get to the site– Running experiments– Setting up and monitoring RTG and real-time analysis,

maintaining the log, – What to watch out for and how to fix things. Practical tips for

living and working at the sites. – How to get hold of people out of hours, and when to do it. (NHS

Direct for the radar).

• The Virtual Whiteboard– What kind of state are the systems in now ? – What problems do we know about– What work-arounds are in place ? – What do users need to know ?

Computers and User software

• Computers at EISCAT– What computers exist ? – Which ones can I use ? – Where are data stored ? – Where is the software located ? – How can I log on etc.– Where else could I get an id and some space (e.g.

machines at RAL)

• Software Guide– What user programs exist at EISCAT ? – How can they be used ? – What interfaces exist ?

Recording Data….• Taking Data…

– Where do the data go during an experiment ?– What is the structure of raw data files ? – What do the various arrays contain ? – What is in the parameter block ? – What is in the status bits ?

• EISCAT Raw Data Archives– What/where is the Kiruna archive ? – How is it structured ? – How are data added to the archive ? – What kinds of data are archived ? – How do I check the data holdings ? – How can I download data ?

Integrating and Cleaning

• Integrating Data– Why should I integrate data ? – What kinds of integration can be done and why would I

want to do this ? – What software exists to integrate data ? – Why kind of control do I have ? – Can I “dis-integrate” the data, e.g. to strip out time-

slices ?

• Cleaning Data– Why do I need to clean the data ?– What kinds of things need to be removed ?– How can I do it ?– What kind of control do I have ?

Analysing the Data• Analysing Data

– Philosophy of data analysis – what do we do when we analyse data ?

– What assumptions do we need to make ? – How much flexibility do we have ? – What analysis software is available ?

• GUISDAP– Where is GUISDAP ? – How can I access it ? – What functionality is available and how can it be invoked ? – What kinds of variables are under our control ? – Examples of various kinds of analysis ? – What problems can happen, how can we recognise them and

what can we do ? – What other documentation is available ?

Non-GUISDAP

• What other kinds of data does EISCAT record, other than ion line data (plasma lines, IPS etc) ?

• How can I work with these data ? • How much processing can one do on these

types of data ?• What kinds of plotting programs exist ?• What about the ion-line data which

GUISDAP doesn’t like (D-region, NEIALs, non-thermals etc)

Analysed Data• Analysed data

– What is the structure of the analysed data ? – Where do the analysed data go ? – How can I plot the matlab format analysed data ? – How does matlab analysed data get into madrigal ?

• The Madrigal Archive– What is the madrigal archive ? – What data does it contain ? – What is the data format ? – What tools exist ? – How can I download the data ? – What programs exist to plot the data ?

Derived parameters

• Velocity Combination, etc.– What derived parameters can I get from

EISCAT data ?– What assumptions does this involve ?– How can I combine velocities into vectors ? – How can I calculate derived parameters like

Joule heating rates, conductivies etc ? – What else can I do with analysed data – and

what software exists to allow me to do it ?

Plotting and Working with Data

• Plotting Data– What tools exist for plotting the raw and

analysed data ? – How can I use them ? – What kinds of plots can I make ?

• Working with different kinds of data– How can I get various kinds of data into my

favourite software (matlab, idl, fortran, C) ? – What utilities exist to help me with this ?

The After-Sales Service

• Who can help me if I get stuck ? • Who are the EISCAT staff and what

are their specialist areas ? • How can I contact them ? • How much help is reasonable to

expect ?• Who else in the user community is

interested in the same things as me ?

What Else ??• News and Information

– What is happening in the Association ? – How is the design study going ? – When and where are the next meetings and training

courses ? – What’s happening with the IPY ?

• Documents– Publication list, – Technical reports, annual reports, other official

documents, manuals etc. – Links to relevant reports elsewhere..– Parts of this material could also be linked appropriately

from elsewhere.

What Else ??

• Self-Training– Course materials, on-line tutorial material etc.

• The Users Pages– Somewhere for the users to leave feedback, or

add more material– Wiki/forum type site. – Could be a free-for-all, but would need an

EISCAT administrator to get things onto the main site.