Alan Turing Building
The University of Manchester
Manchester, United Kingdom
Overview
This workshop will provide an introduction to ALMA and instructions on how to work with data from the observatory and will include sessions on preparing proposals, downloading data from the ALMA archive, calibrating and imaging ALMA data, and using advanced ALMA-related tools. Note that the exact contents of the workshop will be set later and will be adjusted to accommodate participants' specific needs.
This workshop will be conducted in a hybrid format with participants having the option of either attending the workshop in person at the University of Manchester or joining online. More details will be provided later. While the workshop is aimed primarily at novice ALMA users, particularly from the United Kingdom, other users with higher levels of experience or from other locations are also welcome to attend.
Schedule
(All times are given in GMT.)
Monday, 20 February
| 10:00 | Welcome and Introductions |
| 10:30 | Introduction to ALMA |
| 11:00 | Break |
| 11:30 | Introduction to Interferometry |
| 12:00 | The Observing Support Tool (the online ALMA simulation tool) |
| 12:30 | Lunch |
| 14:00 | The Observing Tool (the GUI used for preparing observing proposals) |
| 15:00 | The Proposal Review and Observing Process |
| 15:30 | Break |
| 16:00 | Introduction to CASA |
| 17:00 | End |
Tuesday, 21 February
| 10:00 | The ALMA Science Archive |
| 11:00 | Break |
| 11:30 | Understanding Downloads from the ALMA Archvie |
| 12:00 | CARTA (the new image viewer designed for interferometric data) |
| 12:30 | Lunch |
| 14:00 | Reviewing the WebLog and Other QA Documents |
| 15:00 | Imaging Tutorial: Preparation |
| 15:30 | Break |
| 16:00 | Imaging Tutorial: Continuum Imaging |
| Imaging Tutorial Slides: PDF (without movies), Keynote, PowerPoint | |
| 17:00 | End |
Wednesday, 22 February
| 10:00 | Imaging Tutorial: Spectral Line Imaging |
| 11:00 | Break |
| 11:30 | Imaging Tutorial: Spectral Line Imaging (continued) |
| 12:30 | Lunch |
| 14:00 | Advanced Imaging Techniques or One-On-One Support |
| 15:30 | Break |
| 16:00 | Advanced Imaging Techniques or One-On-One Support (continued) |
| 17:00 | End |
Pre-Workshop Downloads
UK ARC Node staff are available to help with the installation of CASA and any other software needed for the workshop. We will be contacting participants before the workshop to set up Zoom calls to help with the software installation.
CASA 6.4.1 (ALMA Pipeline Version)
To work on the data calibration, imaging, and analysis activities, participants will need access to a computer running CASA version 6.4.1 (ALMA Pipeline Version). This software is available for both Linux and Mac but unfortunately not for Windows.
ALMA Observing Tool (OT)
One of the workshop sessions is based on using the ALMA Observing Tool, which is used to submit proposals but which is also useful for understanding how ALMA observations are configured. This can be installed on either Windows, Mac, or Linux computers.
CARTA
CARTA is a new image viewer that will eventually replace the current image viewer in CASA. It operates very smoothly, although it is still under development and its use over VPN is complicated.
Example Datasets
While the workshop will be guiding people through downloading ALMA archive data, calibrating those data, and then imaging those data, participants may want to download data for the workshop early either because of concerns about slow download speeds or because of potential technical issues with creating some of the datasets. These data can be downloaded from the links below.
Note that the total amount of disk space needed to do all of the data processing is about 70 GB. The calibrated and science only visibility data are optional downloads and are only necessary for situations where it is not possible to calibrate the archival data or perform some of the steps in the imaging script.
Archival Data
Product Files (archival images)
Auxiliary Files (calibration information, logs, quality assessment reports, and scripts)
Calibrated Visibility Data (optional, 23 GB)
Science Target Only Calibrated Visibility Data (optional, 6.2 GB)
Continuum-Subtracted CO Visibility Data (optional, 3.1 GB)
Imaging Script
Self-Calibration Demonstration Files
This self-calibration demonstration is based on a tutorial originally created by Anita Richards.