Scheduling Blocks: a generic description Andy Biggs (ESO, Garching)

Scheduling Blocks:a generic description

Andy Biggs (ESO, Garching)

SB Creation Workshop, 6 September 2011

Overview

• SBs are complicated– They were designed to be very flexible– They contain many components– The components contain many, many parameters

• This presentation will give a broad overview of what an SB is, how it is organised and what can be done with it

• Liz will explain how these features are specifically used for ALMA Cycle-0 observations


A very quick reminder…

• Science Goals (SG) are submitted with proposal• These capture the scientific intent– Field Setup– Spectral setup– Calibration (optional)– Control and Performance (sensitivity, angular resolution, …)

• The OT converts these into telescope runfiles– These are called Scheduling Blocks (SB)– One or more SBs are created per SG– Each contains a large amount of technical information


SB creation

• SBs can be made in one of two ways– Automatically generated by the OT– Built manually from scratch

• Automatic generation– This has greatly improved due to feedback from CSV– Still not perfect so SBs need to be manually edited

• Manual creation should nearly never be necessary!


How to automatically generate an SB

• Select the Science Goal– Click icon in toolbar– Right-click in SG

• Only works for Phase-II SGs!– Phase-I SGs must be cut and

pasted into Phase II (“Program”)– This is automatically done for

successful proposals


Generating from multiple SGs

• Click in the Science Plan node– Use Tool menu to generate from all SGs simultaneously


Observing Unit Sets

• SBs are contained within Observing Unit Sets (OUS)• Main practical use is to tell Pipeline when to run– e.g. when all SBs within have been executed to completion

• OUSs can be nested– An OUS can contain either SBs or other OUSs – not both!– A 3-level tree has been agreed upon for ALMA


OUS example

Clicking on the OUS shows various information in the Forms Editor


SB top-level node

• Clicking on the SB reveals LOTS of information– Scheduling constraints – when to run– Control information – how to run


Caveat Emptor

• Much of the information is not used (yet)• Other information will probably never be used• New information will probably be added• Form may well be reorganised• This also applies to other parts of SBs


SB top-level node – scheduling I

• Scheduling subsystem decides if an SB can be run– Weather conditions, Hour Angle constraints


SB top-level node – scheduling II

• Most comes from Control & Performance in SG– Angular resolution range sets which configuration to use– Most, if not all, of this is not yet used


SB top-level node - script

• Each SB calls an observing script (Python)– This actually runs the observation!– “The script is the recipe, the SB the list of ingredients”

“Quick Look” is the first stage of Quality Assurance (QA0)


SB top-level node – expert parameters

• Additional parameters can be passed to script– Allows scripts to be updated without waiting for the OT

• Script must know about them for them to work– And you must know about them to enter them!

Most of these are usually not needed!


Opening an SB…

“Expand all” is a quick alternative to turning the keys of each node


Contents of an SB

• An SB is constructed from many different elements– Observing Groups (OG)– Targets– Resources

• These are hierarchical– OGs consist of Targets– Targets consist of Resources

Groups

Targets

Clicking on a Target will highlight its resources


Targets

• A Target defines a particular observation (scan)• The three resources that comprise a Target are– Field source– Spectral Setup– Observing Parameters (intent of the observation)

• Targets will usually be created for– Science, flux, bandpass, pointing, Tsys, phase– Most will usually be run multiple times

• “Target” is not a good name – might change– Different targets can include the same field source


Creating Targets

• Click on the Target folder– Right click and choose “Add Target”– Select same option from Edit menu in the Toolbar

Targets can also be copied and pasted (Resources are duplicated)


Adding Resources to Targets

• Creating a target will produce an editor• Existing Resources can be used or new ones created

Multiple intentsdo not yet work!


Editing Targets

• Resources can be copied to other SBs– Drag and drop also works

• Individual Resources can be created– Right-click on a Resource’s folder or use Edit menu

• A Target editor adds and removes resources– Right-click on a Target’s folder or use Edit menu

Not all Resources need to be used – orphans will be ignored


Field Resources

• Looks very similar to Science Goal– Spatial Visual Editor also present

• Much more control over field pattern– e.g. rectangle:

• Default is raster scanning• Can convert to mosaic• Shows pointing positions• Rectangular grid possible


Spectral Setup Resources

• MUCH more information than in Science Goal• LO1, LO2 and spectral window offset frequencies• Various integration times– Dump duration (WVR)– Channel average duration (TelCal)– Integration duration (data point in ASDM)

• Correlator setup– SPW widths, # channels, polarizations– Suppression modes (LO offsetting, phase switching)

• Spectral Visual Editors are also available


Creating a Spectral Setup I

• Baseband centre frequencies must be entered– Different to the SG – this takes spw centre frequencies

Make sure to hit “Calculate LOs” in order to test the setup (LO1 and 2)


Creating a Spectral Setup II

• For each baseband, at least one spw must be created– Correlator mode set separately for each

• Centre Offset Frequency sets position in baseband– 3000 MHz = centre of baseband– Also known as LO4

• Each spw must have a channel average region– This is used by TelCal

• Many other options– Smoothing functions, number of bits, …

The above does not include the present restrictions – Liz will cover these


Spectral window interface


Observing parameter Resources

• These differ depending on the Resource• Typical parameters include– Subscan duration– Calibrator cycle times– Total time on source OR…– Sensitivity goal + bandwidth


Viewing a Target

• Clicking on a Target will show all three Resources– Needs a lot of screen space!


Observing Groups

• Targets are then placed into OGs• There are usually two OGs– OG 1 (Calibration)– OG 2 (Science)

• The order of OGs is significant!– Script will complete Group N before moving to N+1

• The order of Targets within the Group is less so– Script will mostly do what it wants, when it wants

• Not all defined Targets need to be used– Only those in Groups will be observed


Observing Group editor

Defined Targets can be moved in and out of each group


Validation

• Validation also works for SBs• As at Phase I, submission will not work if there are

errors– The server performs its own validation

• Errors are reported as usual in the Feedback panel– Double-clicking will take you to the source of the problem

When happy, submit to archiveand cross your fingers!

Scheduling Blocks: a generic description Andy Biggs (ESO, Garching)

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