VLT VISIR: controlling data quality and instrument performance

Danuta Dobrzycka; Alain Smette; Michael Sterzik; Lars Lundin; Yves Jung; Ralf Siebenmorgen

doi:10.1117/12.669963

30 June 2006 VLT VISIR: controlling data quality and instrument performance

Danuta Dobrzycka, Alain Smette, Michael Sterzik, Lars Lundin, Yves Jung, Ralf Siebenmorgen

Proceedings Volume 6270, Observatory Operations: Strategies, Processes, and Systems; 627026 (2006) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.669963
Event: SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation, 2006, Orlando, Florida , United States

Abstract

VISIR is the new ESO VLT instrument mounted at the Cassegrain focus of Melipal (UT3) telescope. At Paranal it is the very first instrument capable of high sensitivity imaging in the N band and Q band mid infrared atmospheric windows. In addition, it features a long-slit spectrometer with a range of spectral resolutions between 150 and 30000. VISIR had been included in the standard VLT data flow operation even before regular observing started in March/April 2005. Data products are pipeline-processed and quality checked by the Data Flow Operations Group in Garching. The calibration data are processed to create calibration products and to extract Quality Control parameters. These parameters provide health checks and monitor instrument's performance. They are stored in a database, compared to earlier data, trended over time and made available on the VISIR Quality Control web pages that are updated daily. We present the parameters that were designed to assess quality of the data and to monitor performance of the MIR instrument. We also discuss the general process of data flow and data inspection.

Citation Download Citation

Danuta Dobrzycka, Alain Smette, Michael Sterzik, Lars Lundin, Yves Jung, and Ralf Siebenmorgen "VLT VISIR: controlling data quality and instrument performance", Proc. SPIE 6270, Observatory Operations: Strategies, Processes, and Systems, 627026 (30 June 2006); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.669963

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