ALMA Observing Tool (OT)for Cycle 6 Proposal Preparation:
Hands-on Session

Daniel Espada
East Asian ALMA Regional Center
Specially Appointed Associate Professor

Download and start the OT

https://almascience.nao.ac.jp/proposing/proposing/observing-toolNote that 64-bit version of Java 8 should be installed. Java 9 has recently
been released, but this should not be used.

Download and start the OT

https://almascience.nao.ac.jp/proposing/proposing/observing-toolNote that 64-bit version of Java 8 should be installed. Java 9 has recently
been released, but this should not be used.

Download and start the OT

https://almascience.nao.ac.jp/proposing/proposing/observing-toolNote that 64-bit version of Java 8 should be installed. Java 9 has recently
been released, but this should not be used.

Overview OTGetting started
In Proposal node:
Proposal title, abstract, proposal type (Regular, ToO, VLBI or large program),scientific category, keywords, related and previous proposals, co-Is, science case,justification if duplicate observations

Create Science Goal
Each Science Goal maycontain:1) one or more sources ofthe same target type(individual pointing(s) or 1
rectangular field),2) one spectral setup (upto five frequency tunings),3) one calibration strategy,and
4) one set of control andperformance parameters

Create Science Goal
Each Science Goal may
contain:1) one or more sources ofthe same target type(individual pointing(s) or 1
rectangular field),2) one spectral setup (upto five frequency tunings),3) one calibration strategy,and
4) one set of control andperformance parameters

Field Setup

Maximum of 150 pointings per SG

Spectral Setup

Multi-region mode: Can have 4 spws in each of the 4 basebands, yielding amaximum of 16 spws in a single spectral setup. Within a baseband all spws
must have the same spectral resolution (before spectral averaging)Spectral averaging factor: default is 2 to lower data rates (degrades spectral
resolution only by 15 %, but halves data rate). Can be modified in ‘Spec Avg.’

Spectral Line Selector Tool

Walsh Switching - Bands 9/10

For Spectral Line observations, not turned on by default. It can be activated withthe ‘Produce image sidebands’ option. Available when all spws in the setup use
1.875 GHz bw
Storing (and delivery to the PI) of the "mirror" spw data can be switched on or off foreach spw individually (‘Store Image’)Spectral scanOther spectral setup considerations
Define rest frequencies. Enter the rest frequencies of any spectral
lines observed with your spectral setup in the ‘Rest Frequencies’
section below the spectral line tables. These will be stored and used
for data reduction and quality assurance purposes.
The spectral scan may in certain cases (relatively long on-source
times and many frequency tunings) yield a very inefficient observing
strategy. It may be more efficient to set up such spectral scans using
separate Science Goals for each frequency tuning.
Choice of representative frequency can severely impact the time
estimate, especially in Band 5 and the higher frequency bands 7, 8, 9
and 10. If it falls in a region of poor atmospheric transmission the time
estimate will sky-rocket. It is important that the representative
frequency is set to the line of interest that falls into the region of thepoorest atmospheric transmission, otherwise the requested sensitivity
will not be reached for this line.

Other spectral setup considerations
Define rest frequencies. Enter the rest frequencies of any spectral
lines observed with your spectral setup in the ‘Rest Frequencies’
section below the spectral line tables. These will be stored and used
for data reduction and quality assurance purposes.
The spectral scan may in certain cases (relatively long on-source
times and many frequency tunings) yield a very inefficient observing
strategy. It may be more efficient to set up such spectral scans using
separate Science Goals for each frequency tuning.
Choice of representative frequency can severely impact the time
estimate, especially in Band 5 and the higher frequency bands 7, 8, 9
and 10. If it falls in a region of poor atmospheric transmission the time
estimate will sky-rocket. It is important that the representative
frequency is set to the line of interest that falls into the region of thepoorest atmospheric transmission, otherwise the requested sensitivity
will not be reached for this line.

Individual pointings (overlapping)Response is not uniform across field of view (primary HPBW, Red). Green =1/3 HPBW
Non-overlapping offset pointings are no longer allowed within one field source. Instead, allpointings within one field source must overlap and will be processed as one image

Mosaic

By default, the spatial editor shows only the rectangular area defined for the mosaic. To see
the individual pointings set up by the OT, you need to press the Show pointing positions
button in the toolbar above the spatial editor.

Calibration setup
Should normally use the default system definedcalibration option in Calibration Setup editor.
In Cycle 5 there is an extra option for the systemdefined calibration strategy: force separate
amplitude calibration using solar system object.
If need special calibration then set user-definedcalibration.

Check scheduling feasibility using the assigned configurations
Check you used the right bandwidth for sensitivity

Technical Justification

Validation

Validation

Submit!

Can submit as many times as you like before the deadline