2008-10-01: Although the pipeline support for NACO spectroscopy has been offered since P82 the Service Mode data packages still contain only raw, unprocessed frames
2009-07-01: packages created both for Service Mode and Visitor Mode
2009-05-01: packages can be downloaded on the ESO User Portal

This page contains an overview of the structure and content of the data packages for NACO as released in 2006 and later. A description of packages before 2006 is available here.

DATA PACKAGES: GENERAL

Data packages have been delivered for period P87 (April-September 2011) and before. For new data, acquired after the begin of October 2011, data packages are no longer created. Users can access their raw data in electronic form through the ESO User Portal.

Data for VLT pre-imaging runs are processed and delivered as before.

For completeness, the structure of the historical packagesis described below.

Science data have been processed by the pipelines with the best available calibration data. Please note that ESO is not assuming any responsibility in respect to the usefulness of the reduced data. The adopted reduction strategy may not be suitable for the scientific purpose of the observations.

The top-level structure of the data package is as follows:

For each observation block (OB) that has been executed on Paranal, you find all measured raw data (FITS files) in a directory named by the OB number (FITS key HIERARCH.ESO.OBS.ID). If pipeline products exist, these are also added in the OB directory.

The GEN_CALIB directory collects all those calibration files (raw and products) that have been measured as part of the regular calibration plan, and calibration frames of a general nature (like static line tables). The GEN_INFO directory has general information, like data reports and night logs.

The tree shown above is the logical structure, which means that this is the way the data have been organized before they have been put onto media. Depending on the size of your package, the directories may be distributed across several media. It is a good idea to create the original tree on your local disk and then copy all files from the media into this tree.

<OBS_ID> (e.g. 179211)

For each executed observation block of your run, the package contains a directory with all measured data from that OB. All data under <OBS_ID> carry your run ID.

Note that some of your OBs may have been executed more than once. In particular, if time permitted, observatory staff try to re-execute OBs which produced data clearly out of the specified constraints. Check out the NIGHTLOG.html file for details (go to "OB information"). All data from OBs that have been executed multiple times are found in the same directory.

Each OB directory is further subdivided into subdirectories for science frames, calibration frames, and log files. In many cases, there will be science data only, but there may also be OBs with attached calibration data:

<OBS_ID>

acq sci_raw sci_proc cal_raw cal_proc logs

<OBS_ID>/acq

All acquisition frames (DPR.CATG=ACQUISITION) from the OB are contained in this directory. This directory only exists if such data exist.

<OBS_ID>/sci_raw

All raw science frames (DPR.CATG=SCIENCE) from the OB are contained in this directory.

<OBS_ID>/sci_proc

Here you find the pipeline-processed science data. The naming scheme can be found here.

<OBS_ID>/cal_raw

If measured, raw calibration frames (DPR.CATG=CALIB) produced by the OB are contained in this directory ("attached calibrations"). These are the ones which have been taken upon user's request in addition to the ones from the calibration plan.

Calibrations measured as part of the regular calibration plan are stored under the GEN_CALIB directory.

<OBS_ID>/cal_proc

The pipeline products of the raw attached calibrations are delivered here.

The CALIB products are renamed. The naming scheme can be found here.

<OBS_ID>/logs

This directory holds logging information about processing and packing of your data:

• Association Blocks (.ab)
• association logs (.alog)
• logs of the pipeline processing (extension .rblog)
• scoring results (.html) (optional)
• extraction from the nightlog, OB grade, QC0 report (.qcm)
• a reduction comment (.cmt) (optional)

Description:

• Association Blocks (ABs) are text files which contain all the information required to pipeline-process and pack data. This information includes the reduction recipe, the input raw file(s), the calibration products needed for processing, and the names of the final products. More ...
• Association logs are delivered since P80. They are a simplified version of ABs, designed to provide the association information essential for the user. More ...
• The pipeline processing log is a record of the science reduction process, with a detailed log of reduction steps, results etc.
• The scoring report is intended to give some feedback about the data quality. It is still experimental. More ...
• The nightlog file is an extracted version (per OB) of the summary qc0 report and the NIGHTLOG.html file (see below). More ...

That directory in addition holds QC plots, if available.

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GEN_CALIB

This directory collects all calibration frames from the regular calibration plan that are associated to your science data. It also contains their pipeline products, and calibration frames of a general nature (like static line tables). Calibrations that have been measured by user-defined OBs and that have been used for pipeline processing of science data may be included here in addition.

The directory has four subdirectories (gen, logs, proc, raw), two of which have further fine-structure:

GEN_CALIB
raw	proc	gen	logs
cal1 cal2 cal3 cal4	cal1 cal2 cal3 cal4

GEN_CALIB/raw

Raw calibration files. These divide into raw file types (e.g. BIAS, FLAT etc.; see instrument specific section below).

GEN_CALIB/proc

Calibration products derived from the raw calibrations. These divide into file types like the raw calibration files, see instrument specific section below.

The CALIB products are renamed. The naming scheme can be found here.

GEN_CALIB/logs

Association Blocks, association logs and processing logs for the calibration files under GEN_CALIB. There might also be scoring logs (.html files).

GEN_CALIB/gen

General calibration data of static nature.

Additional or missing raw calibration files may be retrieved anytime from the generic ESO Archive form, or from the instrument specific forms.

Calibration data are public immediately while SCIENCE data normally have a proprietary period of one year.

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GEN_INFO

This directory hosts some general information. It has the following subdirectories:

DIRECTORY	CONTENT
ObservingReports	nightlogs, OB report (HTML files), association report
scripts	executable scripts (presently one: print_all_reports)

 

The data package contains the following report files:

FILE	CONTENT	WHERE
README.html	the package portal page: point your browser here to find all information	top
ServiceMode.html	this file	top
product_codes.html	a table describing the naming scheme for product files	top
archive_<RUN_ID.txt	list of all proprietary files (SCIENCE, attached CALIBs) as read from the archive	GEN_INFO
qc0_<RUN_ID>.txt	list of all SCIENCE files, containing the comparison between the user constraint set and the actual values	GEN_INFO
NIGHTLOG.html	set of html files with nightlog, OB and association information	GEN_INFO/ObservingReports
list_sciRaw_<OBS_ID>.txt etc.	summary report of the fits files in each directory (these files are provided in text [*.txt] and PostScript format)	all data directories

The executable script print_all_reports under GEN_INFO/scripts can be used to print all postscript files in your package.

Archive report: archive_<RUN_ID>

While the above listings are about files in the package, the archive report is the result of a query to the ESO Archive. It is useful as a check on the completeness of the data package. All files created by OBs which have been generated by the PI are listed here. The list includes all SCIENCE files, and the attached calibrations, and acquisitions, if applicable.

archive report
keyword table
sample file

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QC0 report: qc0_<RUN_ID>

This report is sent only for Service Mode runs.

This file contains a report of quality control parameters ('QC level 0' where level 0 stands for Quality Control without pipeline processing) for your raw SCIENCE files. These parameters are airmass, seeing, moon distance, and fractional lunar illumination. They have been measured on site (column 'msrd'). They are compared to the required values as defined in your OBs ('targt') and flagged (OK/NOK).

The list is intended to give a rough indication of whether or not the required constraints have been fulfilled. They should not be interpreted in a too formal way, however. E.g., there may be cases where the seeing was worse than required, but this was compensated by a longer exposure time. Check the night reports for details.

Note that the seeing values reported here are DIMM seeing values, they are not measured on the frame. If the alarm flag ("NOK") is set in the SEEING column, the DIMM seeing value was larger than your seeing constraint during the indicated obseration. However, in many cases, the delivered seeing in the instrument focal plane is better than the DIMM seeing. Whenever possible, the on-site astronomer has measured the focal plane immediately after or during execution to determine the success or failure of your observation. Thus, your observation may have been completed within your specifications, even if the SEEING alarm flag is set. Please review the affected observation carefully and check the night reports for details.

QC0 report
keyword table
sample file (.txt)

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Night logs, OB logs and Association report

This is a set of HTML files with night log information, OB grading information and data association information. All relevant information about the nights contained in your package is included here, as well as information about each OB in your delivery.

Point your browser to GEN_INFO/ObservingReports/NIGHTLOG.html (or start from the package portal page, README.html) and navigate per night (labeled as 1), per OB (2) or per set of files (3).

The HTML files also come as stripped-down, printer-friendly versions. The files are organized to have a summary on top, and details below.

You can use either the navigation bar to jump to a specific night/OB/set of files, or use the up/down arrows (night logs only) to browse sequentially. The OB navigation bar (2) uses colour coding to give you a quick impression about OB grading. There are additional links to ambient condition information.

The association report (3) organizes your data and their association. It has two main levels: the OB (observing block), and the AB (association block) which collects raw file(s) and associated information like product files, calibration files, log files etc. This report gives you an impression how the data in your package are logically linked, while the listings in each directory give you a table of contents. File names in the association report may show up several times, e.g when a calibration file has been used for processing more than one science file.

NOTE:

• The external links (like the ASM links: seeing, sky transparency etc.) will only work with network connection.
• The ASM links require java-enabled browsers.
• The navigation bars read best with style-sheets and java-enabled browsers.

Sample nightlog files
NIGHTLOG.html

Known IRAF problems

• Filename Length. To display or manipulate the FITS files with older versions of IRAF (before 2.11), you can:
  - copy these FITS files to your hard-disk and rename them with filenames <= 32 characters in length;
  - create symbolic links with filenames <= 32 characters in length to your DVD files.
  
  
• Header Interpretation. ESO FITS files use the ESO HIERARCH FITS keyword extensions standard to all ESO telescopes. Note that IRAF treats all ESO HIERARCH header lines as COMMENT lines, i.e. IRAF and IDL cannot automatically interpret the information provided in ESO HIERARCH header lines. The problem may be solved using the tool hierarch28. Find information about this tool here.
  
  
• RA, DEC. Please note that the RA and DEC keywords are recorded in degrees. To translate these keywords so that they can be used by IRAF you have to use the asthedit task in the noao.astutil package. The help file for this task gives an example of how to translate the ESO format to the IRAF format.

Stand-alone FITS handling tools

• There is a list of NACO new, events, issues and problems maintained by SciOps.
• There is a list of NACO issues mainted by QC.