CALDB PUBLIC RELEASE NOTES Version: 3.0.0 CalDB Date: 2004-12-14T17:00:00 For release to the public and into SDP during 2004-12-14 to 2004-12-15 Downloading (or upgrading you existing CalDB) to version 3.0.0 will be necessary for the proper functioning of CIAO 3.2 and higher versions. Specifically you will want the new spatially- and time-dependent acis CONTAM file, as well as the phase 2 response and gain files for the tools mkacisrmf / acis_process_events. See the CIAO 3.2 Release notes. CalDB 3.0.0 is a new INTEGRAL version of the Chandra CalDB. Only a few of the live data items have been upgraded, including: ACIS CONTAM (new spatially-dependent file) ACIS P2_RESP (phase 2 response file to go with the new tool "mkacisrmf") ACIS DET_GAIN (ACIS cti-corrected gainfile with tweaks for phase 2 response, i.e., mkacisrmf-compatible) New effective areas for PIMMS (These are NOT user files!) However, with the new version, we have dropped essentially all of the files from the distribution that are marked as "BAD" in the index, that is, which the software CIAO and DS will not locate automatically. Users who would like to minimize the size of their CalDB may be best advised move or throw away their existing CalDB directories (versions 2.0-2.29) and start fresh with new downloads of the CalDB. In this case they will want to follow the instructions for a FULL DOWNLOAD. If users in a multi-user site would like to maintain access to older files they may have used in previous analysis sessions, for verification purposes, they may wish to download the new caldb_3.0.0_main.tar tarball into the same location, and keep their old data structures. Either way will not disturb the operation of your new CalDB 3.0.0, as long as the download and unpacking are completed smoothly. In CalDB 3.0.0 we have split out the ACIS blank-field (background) library of data files, which cuts the size of the CalDB download file by 50%. Users who will be analyzing extended sources, or who anticipate using the blank field background threads for their other work may be well-advised to download the background files tarball after installing the main file. The PSF Library is the same as before, and if you already have those (LARGE!) files in your CalDB directory, you don't need to download them again. If you decide to rebuild your CalDB from scratch, however, you will need to download the PSFLIB tarballs again, if you need them. II. Summary of Changes A. ACIS CONTAM (spatially dependent file) Location: $CALDB/data/chandra/acis/bcf/contam/ Filename: acisD1999-08-13contamN0004.fits The new data are used by mkarf, mkgarf, and mkinstmap (mkexpmap) to estimate the level of contamination versus location and time of observation. The ARDLIB takes care of selecting the appropriate extension(s) for the chip(s) being analyzed. Threads affected: "Correcting Responses for ACIS Contamination" http://cxc.harvard.edu/ciao/threads/aciscontam/ B. ACIS PHASE 2 RESPONSE FILE Location: $CALDB/data/chandra/acis/cpf/p2_resp/ Filename: acisD2000-01-29p2_respN0002.fits Used by mkacisrmf, this file contains the pre-cti-corrected responses for the BI chips and for FI chips 0-3 and 6, as well as scattering matrices for convolving the CTI-effect with the original responses. The file has five extensions, and the software can retrieve the file automatically. New thread included:"Creating ACIS RMFs with mkacisrmf" http://cxc.harvard.edu/ciao/threads/mkacisrmf/ C. ACIS CTI-corrected GAIN file (compatible with the P2_RESP above) Location: $CALDB/data/chandra/acis/bcf/gain/ Filename: acisD2000-01-29gain_ctiN0003.fits This file contains the appropriate gain adjustments for the Phase 2 Responses to be generated by mkacisrmf, for the chips I0, I1, I2, I3, S1, S2, and S3. (Chips S0, S4, and S6 are unchanged, as no Phase 2 responses have been calibrated for them yet.) The gain modifications to the FI chips and S3 are moderate. There is an improvement in the gain function near the Si K-edge, as was released in the manual file acisD2000-01-29p2_gain_ctiN0001.fits (See release notes for CalDB 2.27). Additionally, there is a marked improvement in the gain data for ACIS-S1, which is a bonus for ACIS-S/grating observations. Now that we are releasing the appropriate response data for these new gain functions (See the P2_RESP file in "B" above), these gains will for the first time be used as the defaults in processing for all CTI-corrected ACIS observations. For those who wish to continue to use mkrmf, which is what is used in the script "psextract", the previous default gain file, acisD2000-01-29gain_ctiN0002.fits, will be included in the distribution, but marked bad in the index. To use it, one must select this file manually. Threads affected: "Applying a new ACIS gain map" http://cxc.harvard.edu/ciao/threads/acisgainmap/ D. PIMMS CY07 effective areas These files are included so that the builds of the proposal planning software, which are done at CXC and not by users, will have access to the most recent effective area estimates for sixteen chandra instrument/grating configurations. See the CalDB proposal planning pages for details (http://cxc.harvard.edu/caldb/prop_plan/pimms/index.html). E. Canned GRATING ARFs and RMFs REMOVED from CalDB distribution Locations: $CALDB/data/chandra/tel/grating/hetg/cpf/rmf/ $CALDB/data/chandra/tel/grating/letg/cpf/rmf/ $CALDB/data/chandra/tel/grating/letg/cpf/arf/ The previously-released canned grating RMFs and ARFs have been removed from the CalDB because they are out-of-date, and now totally upstaged by CIAO tools "mkgrmf" and "mkgarf" (or "fullgarf"). See the threads for generating observation-specific versions of these files, rather than using the ones that used to be in these locations. Threads affected: "Create Grating RMFs for ACIS-S Observations" http://cxc.harvard.edu/ciao/threads/mkgrmf_aciss/ "Create Grating RMFs for HRC-S Observations" http://cxc.harvard.edu/ciao/threads/mkgrmf_hrcs/ "Compute HETG/ACIS-S Grating ARFs" http://cxc.harvard.edu/ciao/threads/mkgarf_hetgacis/ "Compute LETG/ACIS-S Grating ARFs" http://cxc.harvard.edu/ciao/threads/mkgarf_letgacis/ "Compute LETG/HRC-S Grating ARFs" http://cxc.harvard.edu/ciao/threads/mkgarf_letghrcs/ F. HRC-S/LETG LSF Parameter file version N0002 marked BAD Location: $CALDB/data/chandra/tel/grating/letg/cpf/lsf/ Filename: hrcsleg1D1999-07-22lsfparmN0002.fits To be superceded by hrcsleg1D1999-07-22lsfparmN0003.fits in both the RAND_TG=0.5 and RAND_TG=0.0 cases. ARDLIB will automatically call version N0003 now no matter what the state of randomization in grating pixels. The N0002 file is being retained in the CalDB and marked BAD in the index. However, use of this file is deprecated by the LETGS calibration team. III. Technical Details A. ACIS spatially-dependent contamination file See the followling links for details on the new CONTAM calibration for ACIS. http://cxc.harvard.edu/cal/Acis/Cal_prods/qeDeg/index.html (PDF file in first link) dated 05/09/2004. Illustrations of the effect of the new CONTAM file on ARFs, GARFs, and EXPMAPS: http://space.mit.edu/CXC/docs/2004.11.05_memo_contamxy.ps.gz B&C. ACIS Phase 2 response and gain See the memorandum "Updates to the RMF model in the ACIS FI CCD's" http://cxc.harvard.edu/cal/Acis/Cal_prods/matrix/matrix.html for details on this new RMF generator and associated gains. D. See http://cxc.harvard.edu/caldb/prop_plan/pimms/index.html on or after the release of the CY07 CfP on 15 Dec 2004. E & F. The list of files included is visible at http://cxc.harvard.edu/caldb/downloads/Release_notes/Included_in_3.0.0.txt The list of files not included with the CalDB 3.0.0 package that had been part of the CalDB 2.29 distribution is given at http://cxc.harvard.edu/caldb/downloads/Release_notes/Omitted_from_3.0.0.txt Proposal planning GARFs and GRMFs may be obtained from the CalDB proposal planning pages: http://cxc.harvard.edu/caldb/prop_plan/grating/index.html These are for those who do not have access to CIAO or who want to have access to ready-made GRATING responses for planning purposes only.