ALMA Science Pipeline Old
ALMA Science Pipeline Page
This page provides access to the following pipeline resources:
- Obtaining the Pipeline Software
- Pipeline Documentation
- Pipeline Known Issues
- Pipeline Version Tracker
1. ALMA Science Pipeline Software
The ALMA Science Pipeline is released as part of CASA, the Common Astronomy Software Applications package. Instructions for downloading and installing CASA are available from the Obtaining CASA site.
ALMA data should be able to be processed with a version of the pipeline no older than the version used for the original processing (which is reported in the README file in the archive as well as on the Home page of the WebLog). However, if problems arise you should try using the "User Pipeline Version" corresponding to the "Operations Pipeline Version" as reported in the Pipeline Version Tracker tables on this page.
2. ALMA Science Pipeline Documentation
The following table lists current (bold font) and past versions of the ALMA Science Pipeline User's Guide and Reference Manual.
| ALMA Science Pipeline User's Guide | ALMA Science Pipeline Reference Manual |
| User's Guide for CASA 4.7.0 | Reference Manual for CASA 4.7.0 |
| Quickstart Guide for CASA 4.5.1 | Reference Manual for CASA 4.5.1 |
| Quickstart Guide for CASA 4.3.1 | Reference Manual for CASA 4.3.1 |
| Quickstart Guide for CASA 4.2.2 | Reference Manual for CASA 4.2.2 |
3. Known Issues Affecting the ALMA Science Pipeline
A listing of known pipeline limitations is given in the ALMA Pipeline User's Guide. The following table lists any additional issues which arise after the software release for a given cycle. It will be updated to denote whether an issue has been fixed and whether this fix has made it into an updated release.
| Issue Number | Description | Period when pipeline products affected | Impact and Work-around? | Resolved? | Deployed Version |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CAS-9131 | exportdata adds additional carriage control to FITS files | None (mitigated during packaging) | See Knowledgebase article | Yes | 4.7.0-1 |
| CAS-8995 | Binary data flags ("BDF") are not fully applied for ACA data - it only applies them to the first spectral window in a baseband instead of all. | Oct 2016 - Mar 2017 | Some bad data may not be flagged. No workaround. | Yes | C4R2.1 (due out ~Mar 2017) |
4. ALMA Science Pipeline Version Tracker
The tables below list (1): the Pipeline+CASA versions run by ALMA Operations to calibrate & image ALMA data, and (2) the corresponding Pipeline+CASA versions available to users for restoring ALMA data. In general, pipeline tasks from any CASA release should run successfully on data from that cycle or earlier. Some differences will remain (e.g. the handling of system flags). To get the exact same results as an archived pipeline product, you should use the User version of CASA+Pipeline that corresponds to the Operations version used to produce the corresponding products.
Table 1. Pipeline+CASA Versions Used by ALMA Operations to Calibrate Data
This Table lists the Pipeline+CASA versions the user will see in the WebLog.
| CASA Version for Operations Pipeline | Operations Pipeline Version | Reason for Version Change | Date of Pipeline Installations Upgrades | CASA Version to use to restore Calibrated MS |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4.2.2 r30986 | r31351 | Improved edge channel flagging, a fix to ms restore when BP and Phase calibrator are the same | Nov 21 2014 | most recent |
| 4.2.2 r30986 | r31667 | Reduce flagging of 7m ACA datasets | Nov 28 2014 | most recent |
| 4.3.1 r32491 | r34044 | Heuristics for low signal-to-noise ratio on calibrators, newer CASA version | Aug 13 2015 | most recent |
| 4.5.1 r35996 | r35932 | Newer CASA version, calibration of Cycle 3 data | Feb 2016 | most recent |
| 4.5.2 r36115 | r36252 | Handles change to Cycle 3 data, ephemeris object issue | Mar 2016 | most recent |
| 4.7.0 r38335 | r38377 | Initial Cycle 4 pipeline | Oct 2016 | most recent |
Table 2. Pipeline+CASA Versions To Be Used by User to Restore Calibrated MS Data Packages
This Table lists the Pipeline+CASA versions that should be used by the user to restore calibrated data from tables downloaded from the archive.
| CASA Version for User Pipeline | User Pipeline Version | Reason for Version Change | Date | File Released on casa.nrao.edu |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4.2.2 r30986 | r31090 (Pipeline-Cycle2-R1-B) | first release | Oct 1 2014 | casapy-42.2.30986-pipe-1-64b.tar.gz |
| 4.3.1 r32491 | r34044 (Pipeline-Cycle3-R1-B) | second release | Aug 13 2015 | casa-release-4.3.1-pipe-1-el5.tar.gz or casa-release-4.3.1-pipe-1-el6.tar.gz |
| 4.5.1 r35996 | r35932 (Pipeline-Cycle3-R4-B) | third release | Feb 2016 | casa-release-4.5.1-el5.tar.gz or casa-release-4.5.1-el6.tar.gz |
| 4.5.2 r36115 | r36091 (Pipeline-Cycle3-R4-B) | Handles change to Cycle 3 data | Mar 2016 | casa-release-4.5.2-el5.tar.gz or casa-release-4.5.2-el6.tar.gz |
| 4.7.0-1 r38335 | r38377 (Pipeline-Cycle4-R2-B) | Cycle 4 PL version, updated with patch for CAS-9131 | Oct 2016 | casa-release-4.7.0-1-el7.tar.gz, casa-release-4.7.0-1-el6.tar.gz, casa-release-4.7.0-1-10.10.dmg, casa-release-4.7.0-1-10.11.dmg |
The dates in this table should not be used to determine which Pipeline CASA version was used for the restoring and imaging of data in Operations. Please consult the README file in the data delivery or the version listed in the Home Page of the WebLog to determine which Pipeline CASA version was used.