calibrationof a l m a（校l m）.docVIP

ALMA Calibration Bryan Butler, Stephane Guilloteau, Al Wootten, Ewine van Dishoeck 2003-Aug-07 1 Introduction This document outlines the various quantities that will need to be measured or taken into account in order to collect and calibrate ALMA data. It is an update of Chapter 3 of the old Project Book, and supersedes it. Traditionally, “calibration” has often been thought of as strictly a post-processing exercise in radio interferometry, essentially only involving things done to data after it has been collected. In this document we take a broader view, and include all quantities that must be measured before correlation of the antenna signals as well. These are still formally “calibrations”, since they are measurements of instrumental parameters – they are generally just measured less frequently. They are, however, no less important than the post-processing calibrations. In addition, we address some topics that are not even direct measurements, but are rather things that affect the measurement of our desired quantities. An example is the relativistic deflection of radio waves in the gravitational potential of the sun, which is not really a directly measured or calibrated quantity (except indirectly), but does certainly affect our ability to properly calculate delay, which in turn affects our ability to calibrate, for example, antenna station locations. Accounting for all of these types of calibrations, measurements and effects is critical for ALMA to achieve its full potential. We must understand what effects must be accounted for, and how we will measure and/or correct for them during the data collection and post-processing. Never before has a radio astronomical instrument been built with such a detailed understanding of the site and its impact on the telescope. With this knowledge in hand, we can optimize the full measurement and calibration strategy to produce the maximum scientific output for ALMA. In addition to simply describing the