ALMA quality assurance: concepts, procedures, and tools

A. M. Chavan; S. L. Tanne; E. Akiyama; R. Kurowski; S. Randall; B. Vila Vilaro; E. Villard

doi:10.1117/12.2232426

15 July 2016 ALMA quality assurance: concepts, procedures, and tools

A. M. Chavan, S. L. Tanne, E. Akiyama, R. Kurowski, S. Randall, B. Vila Vilaro, E. Villard

Proceedings Volume 9910, Observatory Operations: Strategies, Processes, and Systems VI; 99101H (2016) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2232426
Event: SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation, 2016, Edinburgh, United Kingdom

Abstract

Data produced by ALMA for the community undergoes a rigorous quality assurance (QA) process, from the initial observation ("QA0") to the final science-ready data products ("QA2"), to the QA feedback given by the Principal Investigators (PIs) when they receive the data products (“QA3”). Calibration data is analyzed to measure the performance of the observatory and predict the trend of its evolution ("QA1").

The procedure develops over different steps and involves several actors across all ALMA locations; it is made possible by the support given by dedicated software tools and a complex database of science data, meta-data and operational parameters. The life-cycle of each involved entity is well-defined, and it prevents for instance that "bad" data (that is, data not meeting the minimum quality standards) is ever processed by the ALMA pipeline. This paper describes ALMA's quality assurance concepts and procedures, including the main enabling software components.

Citation Download Citation

A. M. Chavan, S. L. Tanne, E. Akiyama, R. Kurowski, S. Randall, B. Vila Vilaro, and E. Villard "ALMA quality assurance: concepts, procedures, and tools", Proc. SPIE 9910, Observatory Operations: Strategies, Processes, and Systems VI, 99101H (15 July 2016); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2232426

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