This page gathers TODO, discussed development tasks or enhancements with their statuses (pending, done or postponed) :

Supporter interferometer and instruments :

Here is the list of the current status of Aspro 2 configuration files (xml) embedded in the software package :

• VLTI : period 84 to 87
  • MIDI (2T)
  • AMBER (3T)
  • PIONIER (4T) : P87 only
• CHARA : beam definition to check / update : TODO : Denis Mourard
  • CLASSIC (2T)
  • VEGA (2T, 3T, 4T)
  • CLIMB (3T)
  • MIRC (4T)

Note on CHARA : how to associate a beam to a station (V1 = E1, V2=S2 ...) ? this contributes to the OPD and it is used in CHARA OB. This has been done using the reference file BaseBeam.pdf which contains the associations between switchyard beams and stations per base line. However, it seems (according to Denis Mourard) that this file is not correct for all 2T and 3T Vega baselines.

TODO : Update CHARA Vega configuration with correct beam settings per base lines and instrument modes when Denis M. will release an updated document (2T and 3T)

Think about the configuration packaging and update policy :

• separate jar file
• update the configuration via web service (jmmc.fr/aspro2) ?

Source definition :

• Define manually a target :
  • custom widget to enter coordinates and required magnitudes for a given instrument : partially (only coordinates + an optional star name - no magnitude editor yet)
  • target panel : this panel let the user see all data relative to a target and edit them. It can be located in the Target Model editor panel (close) : pending
• SimBad widget :
  • Simbad can return several query results if the search criteria is not sufficiently restrictive : in such case, the results should be displayed to the user to let him choose among targets.
  • !Simbad mirrors : when the primary Simbad service is down, we could use service mirrors. Moreover, a user preference can be used to set the primary Simbad host to use.
• Import target(s) from an existing observation file (with their models)
• Target ordering (evolution #1287015196) : add actions to move a target in the target list in order to let the user define its own ordering and for instance place a calibrator near its science target
• Better user interface : put the SimBad field before the target list and add the label 'Enter your targets here :'
• Calibrators : find a way to edit the relationship between a science target and its calibrator and represent it in the GUI (calibrators in blue and close to their science target) : pending

Baseline definition :

• VLTI : allow an advanced user to enter manually the list of stations (E0 A0 H0) instead of choosing a valid configuration for the corresponding period

Observability plot

• transit indication : the plot should include a mark (or the time) at the exact time of transit (zenital angle = 0, elevation has its maximum value ) : done (added a diamond mark)
• elevation marks : like aspro1, indicate the elevation of the target with ticks (20,40,60 ...) : done
• zenith limit : useful for CHARA (2 or 5 degrees) i.e. the telescope elevation can not be higher than (90 - zenith_limit) : done
• moon information :
  • illumination fraction (moon rise/set hidden) : done
  • check the distance of a target with the moon is higher than 10° or 20° (per telescope limit)
• interactive UI : the user should have details in a pop up or a contextual window with azimuth / elevation, airmass, atmospheric refraction, distance from sun, moon : postponed (technical issues)
• how to deal with the wind constraint at a particular date on VLTI (related only to azimuth) ?
• twilight limit (evolution #1286892184) : Aspro 2 uses the Astronomical twilight (-18°) but the user may want to use a different twilight limit (Nautical -12° or civil -6°) defined as an user preference. Moreover, a gradient can represent these different twilights when night restrictions are enabled (night / twilights / day)
• time axis (evolution #1286892214) : add a new display option 'center on midnight' to center the plot arround the middle of the night for the current date to have a better view of the complete night

UV coverage plot

• display the legend of the model image i.e. the palette scale
• alternate units to MLambda like meter or arcsec-1. In such case do not display the UV segments representing the the wave length bandpath
• indicate the time corresponding to UV points (Alain) in a pop up (UT / LST / HA)
• custom uv coverage : user defined points = list of (date / UT time) in order to reproduce an observation made at different date/time
• on uv tracks, indicate by a dashed line the track portion that is unobservable (delay line, shadowing ...)
• UV coverage overlapping i.e. base line comparison (evolution #1283846228) : find an ergonomic solution to let the user choose several base lines, see their UV coverages (different colors) and finally choose the appropriate base line for his observations. It could be generalized to simulate a 'merged' UV coverage coming from different observing conditions (interferometer, instrument, base line ...)
• U axis (evolution #1287725739) : add an user preference to use traditional astronomical notation (east to left i.e. flip the x-axis) : requires to handle carefully the zoom on the model image

Model Editor

• add missing models (Gaussian, ring, Limb-Darkened Disk) - see JmmcAsproTargetModel : done
• add a button to normalize the total of flux_weight to 1 : done
• better GUI : hide model variants to the user (elongated or flattened models) and simplify their parameters to ratio and minor / majors diameters (like Aspro 1)
• copy / paste models from a target to another one

Export to Observing blocks

• VLTI OB :
  • AMBER and MIDI instruments : done
  • PIONIER : waiting for OB format specification
  • Note on MIDI : use the IRAS catalog (II/125) Fnu_12 field to set both SEQ.UNCORR.IRFLUX - Uncorrelated flux at 12µm (Jy) - and SEQ.CORR.IRFLUX -Correlated flux at 12µm (Jy)
• CHARA Vega Star List : done
• Calibrator OB : pending

Define the suggested file name with more information like : STAR_INSNAME_CONF_DATE

Export to OI Fits File

• produce a valid OI Fits file for a given target : done
• compute errors and noise modeling on VIS / VIS2 / T3 : done (only AMBER has a OI_VIS table)
• include thermal noise modeling in error estimation : TODO Gilles
• Implement the amdlib computePiston2T : pending
• fill the OI_ARRAY table with the all stations and use correct station index in data tables : pending

OIFitsViewer (current priority)

This component is a generic OIFits file viewer to plot visibilities that must be interoperable with Aspro 2, LITpro ...
A new JMMC module named OITools is in development. Main functionalities are :

• load completely an OIFits file : done
• validate an OIFits file (OIValidator like) or an object model (before saving the file) : done
• save an OIFits file : done
• text summary : provide a textual description of an OIFits file (xml / xslt) with baseline, target, wavelength band, min-max(data) and error_min/error_max(data) for few data columns (VIS, VIS2, T3) - see what is pertinent to users
• plot VIS, VIS2, T3 like Aspro OIFits Explorer (pdf export)
• feature to investigate : reuse and compute the theoretical model to plot on the uv coverage and visibility and phase plots
• uv coverage plot
• GUI must support handling multiple OIFits files to provide a comparison tools (plots, uv coverage)
• display data tables and header information (meta data) with widgets (readonly and later editable)
• provide a data selection tool to flag data as invalid

It uses the nom.tam fits library from HEASARC instead of eso JFits library to support both reading and writing Fits files.

Other main ASPRO features :

• user-defined models (evolution #1287674709) : single Fits image or multiple Fits images (Fits 3D cube) to represent wavelength dependency
• multiple configuration (evolution #1283846228) support on Aspro 2 : study the impacts on observability & uv coverage panels (+ OB and OIFits)

Other items

• interferometer map with station positions and selected base lines : done
• user preferences :
  • model editor options : done
  • model image options : done
  • color palette editor, default target model
• Show more warnings to the user :
  • a target is not observable : done
  • automatic Pop combination : return all equivalent combinations (INFO not WARNING) instead of the first one shown on plots
• Interoperability using SAMP :
  • Interact with SearchCal (calibrators) : partially done (calibrator OB to generate)
  • Interact with LITpro (target + models + OIFits) : done
• Define file names (asprox, pdf, obx, oifits) according to the following convention xxx_STAR_INSNAME_CONF_DATE.* where STAR is the star identifier, INSNAME the instrument name, CONF the configuration (U1_U2_U3) and DATE the observation date : pending
• Add the user info widget to let the user enter his own observation description and comments
• Add a log window that could just contain textual informations:
  • observability details (evolution #1286892262) : [HD, date, observability ranges (UT dates), transit (UT)] with an export to an ASCII file (very close to an observing block)
    • eg: Multiple equivalent combinations of pop could be displayed during the process of best pop computation )
    • eg: Air Mass information
• Sky view : use JSkyCalc to display a sky view for a specific target / interferometer / date

-- LaurentBourges - 06 Sep 2010