ALMA OT Release Notes for Cycle 3PhaseII

Summary list of the key new capabilities, features and improvements for the Cycle3PhaseII OT.

  1. For Science goals with multiple source velocities/spectral scans each tuning goes into a separate Observing Group
  2. For Science Goals with Custom mosaics:
  3. For autogenerated TP Scheduling Blocks Multiple sources are now written to the same SB
  4. Values for expected RMS are now written into the SB ScienceParameters for each target, for pipeline to read
  5. Frequency Profile Synthesis for ACA is now done in the CDP, not the ACA correlator, so ACA-only modes no longer required
  6. Check sources now have their own intent
  7. WVR ("AP") corrected and uncorrected data are output by default
  8. For Polarization SBs the SessionControl expert parameter is set automatically
ALMA OT Release Notes for Cycle 3 (Update 1)

Update 1 addresses the following known issues for Cycle 3:

  1. C3_001: The time shown on the Cover Sheet for "Multiple visit" Science Goals is too high
  2. C3_002: Copy and paste of a Science Goal followed by an edit of the spectral setup can cause the source line width to change.
  3. C3_003: The time estimate in brackets is not always that due to the sensitivity, but also includes certain minima.
  4. C3_004: Time overrides when two 12-m configurations are required cannot be requested.
  5. C3_005: It is possible to define multiple clusters of pointings using the custom mosaic option.
  6. C3_006: The polarization non-standard time on the cover sheet is too long.
  7. C3_007: Changing between Doppler types doesn't always work properly.
  8. C3_010: Moving to a new Science Goal deselects ACA in the original Science Goal
ALMA OT Release Notes for Cycle 3

Summary list of the key new capabilities, features and improvements since Cycle 2.

  1. Band 10 is now available for limited use.
  2. Free choice of TDM frequency for full polarization observations, in Bands 3, 6 and 7.
  3. Increase in number of antennas: 36 12-m array, 10 7-m array, 2 Total Power array.
  4. Introduction of non-standard modes.
  5. New antenna beamsize definition in use.
  6. Sesame is now used to query source information.
  7. A Science Goal may now contain multiple sources with rectangular field definitions.
  8. The Total Power mapping area is automatically calculated for custom mosaics or single pointings.
  9. Fuller Import/export of pointing positions.
  10. Absolute positions are now supported for pointing centres.
  11. The “Point source” button has been removed.
  12. Source declination is taken into account when determining which array configurations are required.
  13. Total Power will not be scheduled if the 7-m array can achieve the requested Largest Angular Scale.
  14. Noise contribution from the image sideband is now explicitly calculated for DSB receivers (Bands 9 and 10).
  15. Improvements to the time-constrained interface.
  16. Overhaul of Technical Justification node:
  17. The total time for a proposal can be displayed in the main OT GUI - see under "Tool" on the top-level menu bar.
  18. J2000 coordinate system name changed to "FK5 J2000".
  19. The target linewidth may only be specified in velocity units, km/s or m/s.
More detailed information on the above can be found in the Science Portal under Documents and Tools.