The name of the output instrument map file.

The name of the input file containing spectral weights (if any). If the value of this parameter is "NONE", then a monochromatic instrument map will be computed. Otherwise, a weighted instrument map will be computed using the user-provided spectral weights.

Currently, this file must be a simple ASCII file that consists of 2 columns: The first column specifies the energy in keV (E_i) and the second column specifies a spectral weighting (W_i). The weighted instrument map is then computed via:

weightedinstmap = SUM(over i) W_i * QE(E_i) * Area (E_i)

In other words, a weighted instrument map is a linear combination of monochromatic maps at energies E_i with weights W_i. The spectral weights (W_i) are usually defined such that they sum to one.

Before using this option, make sure that you fully understand how the resulting instrument map, and consequently the exposure map relates to your source. Otherwise, the result may not be what you want. Further information is available in the "Introduction to Exposure Maps" document.

The energy, in keV, for which the instrument map will be computed. This parameter is used only if the value of `SpectrumFile' is "NONE".

This string specifies the detector region and the resolution of the output instrument map image. The recommended format is "x0:x1:#nx,y0:y1:#n2", where x0, x1, y0, y1, nx, and ny are positive integers. This specifies the region on the detector with pixel coordinates (X,Y) satisfying the conditions x0<=X<=x1 and y0<=Y<=y1, and indicates that the region is to be regridded to nx by ny pixels in the output image.

For example, to compute a 1024x1024 instrument map for an ACIS chip, use "1:1024:#1024,1:1024:#1024". To compute a 128x128 instrument map for the HRC-I, use "1:16384:#128,1:16384:#128". The latter will produce an instrument map with a LINEAR WCS to map the 128x128 pixels in the instrument map to the the 16384x16384 detector pixel plane. Since the instmap contains WCS, it is not necessary that the pixel grid should match the eventual output of mkexpmap.

It is useful to remember that each ACIS chip consists of 1024x1024 pixels. The HRC-I pixel plane consists of 16384x16384 pixels, and each HRC-S MCP is mapped to a 4096x16456 pixel plane.

The name of a FITS file containing keywords which specify the mission, detector, SIM offsets, observation date, etc. An aspect histogram file is recommended, but a level 1 event file would suffice.

The value of this parameter is passed to ARDLIB to select a particular detector subsystem so that the appropriate QE can be computed. It specifies the specific device (e.g. the specific chip or MCP of the detector) for which the exposure map is to be computed. For Chandra, it must specify one of the following detector subsystems:

HRC-I
HRC-S1, HRC-S2, HRC-S3
ACIS-I0, ACIS-I1, ACIS-I2, ACIS-I3
ACIS-S0, ACIS-S1, ACIS-S2, ACIS-S3, ACIS-S4, ACIS-S5
ACIS-0, ACIS-1, ACIS-2, ACIS-3,
ACIS-4, ACIS-5, ACIS-6, ACIS-7, ACIS-8, ACIS-9

For these detector subsystems, the following qualifiers or options are supported:

QE=value
UNIFORM (forces QE to be uniform)
CONTAM=yes|no
IDEAL (equivalent to "QE=1;UNIFORM;CONTAM=NO")
TIME=value (in seconds since MJDREF)
CHIP=value (CHIP=4 ==> ACIS-4 (ACIS-S0))
WINDOW=xmin,ymin,xmax,ymax
REGION=BOX(xcenter,ycenter,xsize,ysize)
REGION=RECTANGLE(xmin,xmax,ymin,ymax)

Note that only simple rectangular regions are supported.

For ACIS, the BPMASK qualifier allows one to include bad pixels selected according to the status column in the bad pixel file:

BPMASK=hex value (Specified as, e.g., 0x39ff)
BPMASK=dec value (Specified as, e.g., 14847)
BPMASK=FAINT (=0x39ff, 14847)
BPMASK=VFAINT (=0x3fff, 16383)

If this option is not present, the default is FAINT.

This parameter controls whether or not to compute a zeroth order instrument map. If the value of this parameter is NONE, then a standard imaging instrument map will be computed. Otherwise, the value must be either HETG or LETG causing the corresponding zeroth order to be computed.

The mask file (msk1.fits) for the observation. The mask file is needed in particular when a window or subarray was used. A value of "NONE" indicates that no mask file will be applied.

For Chandra, the mirror parameter must be set to "HRMA". However, the following ARDLIB qualifiers are also supported:

AREA=value
SHELL=value (possible values: 1,3,4,6)
BITMAP=value

For example, to compute an instrument map for using shells 1 and 3, which corresponds to the bitmap "1100", use "HRMA;bitmap=1100" for the value of this parameter. To compute using a mirror area of 1, use "HRMA;AREA=1".

The parameter block file, which defines ACIS pixel clocking parameters, is a standard product of pipeline processing and is available for every observation. This file contains information which defines how long any pixel is exposed before being read-out, which is related to the probability that any pixel will be disabled ("deadened") by cosmic rays. See the description of the "dafile" parameter for more information on ACIS dead area.

Parameter block files have names of the form, "acisf146860615N001_pbk0.fits". The long string of digits refers to the time of observation (seconds since reference date) and "N001" is a revision number.

Since the pbkfile contents are observation-dependent, there is no default other than "NONE". In this case, no dead area correction is applied, and dafile is assumed to have the value "NONE". If pbkfile is set to a valid file, then the dafile parameter must also refer to a calibration file.

The pbkfile parameter is ignored for HRC data.

ACIS "dead area" coefficients file, which may have the values "NONE" (no dead area computation), CALDB (for automatic lookup), or an explicit file reference to an ACIS "dead area" coefficients FITS table.

The ACIS dead area refers to a slight decrease in detector efficiency due to the background cosmic ray flux which temporarily renders some pixels useless. The calibration product is a coefficient (per CCD) which gives the fractional area lost (or "deadened") per second. Since the area lost increases with time, the magnitude of the effect depends upon the ACIS clocking parameters (number of rows, window location, frame-time) which determine how long a pixel was exposed to the background cosmic ray flux during the primary exposure and during electronic readout from the frame-store area. For full-frame timed-exposure, the dead area is about 4% at maximum CHIPY and about 2% at the readout. It is smaller for subarrays.

The ACIS clocking parameters required to scale the coefficients in the dafile are contained in the observation-specific parameter block file, which can be set by the associated parameter of this took, "pbkfile". If dafile=NONE, then pbkfile=NONE is assumed.

The dafile parameter is ignored for HRC data.

The name of the parameter file to be used by ARDLIB. Typically, "ardlib.par" will be used.

The tool-specific parameter file contains no explicit CALDB parameters. Instead, the CALDB parameters are all contained in a separate parameter file selectable using the `ardlibparfile' parameter; "ardlib.par" is the default file name. Calibration files are specified implicitly via the `DetSubsys' and `Mirror' parameters described below.

The verbosity level for messages.

If set to yes, existing output files will be overwritten.