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JLS Guidelines
JLS Guidelines
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The following are suggested guidelines that the JLS teams should follow for preparing MSBs, arranging for and carrying out observations at the telescope.
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Preparing MSBs
- MSBs should be prepared and submitted using the most recent version of the OT ahead of time.
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Teams should have aims for what they want to achieve in the semester ahead. Observing plans should be developed and MSBs created with those aims in mind.
- Use of MSB "Notes" to provide clear instructions are important as observers at the summit are likely to be from different surveys. Summit observers may not be representing your survey but they will likely be carrying out observations for you if the conditions are appropriate.
- A contact person or MSB author should always be listed in the MSB Notes. This way, if questions are raised at the telescope regarding the programme, the observer will know who to contact.
- In preparing MSBs, use the option of speciying weather band limits to ensure that MSBs are observed within the allocated bands and so that the range of tau that data are observed in can be controlled. For example, your survey may have been allocated time within grade 4 weather but you do not want to observe in weather which is worse than a tau of 0.16. Leaving the MSB to "allocated" will mean that your data will be observed in a tau of 0.18.
- Use sensible and appropriate names for your MSBs as these will be propagated to the science archive. Calling your MSB something like "interesting position west of my favourite blob" is helpful to nobody except (perhaps) yourself. Try and avoid it.
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Summit Occupancy
- The typical observing block will be 6-7 nights.
- Every effort will be made by the telescope scheduler to stick to this policy but at times observing blocks will need to be either extended, foreshortened or split to accommodate engineering requirements, for instance. The JAC will endevour to keep these disruptions to a minimum and will try to maximise the length of notice given to teams when they do occur.
- Each observing block will be assigned to a particular survey team who will be expected to staff the telescope for that period.
- Designated individuals from each survey team are charged with finding volunteers from their teams to staff the telescope for each block assigned to their survey. They will then advise the JAC of who is coming to observe. Currently, these representatives are:
- for SLS: Helen Roberts
- for GBS: Harold Butner
- for NGS: Christine Wilson
Only requests from the designated individuals listed above (or survey coordinators in their absence) will be considered by the JAC.
- The number of observers at the summit (ie. not including the TSS or support scientist) shall number no more than 3 persons.
- The training of students is seen as an important aspect for all JLS activities. Students are encouraged to come to the telescope and participate in the observations but they should be accompanied by their supervisor or someone willing to act as such. In some cases, exceptions to this rule can be made but a formal request to the Associate Director, JCMT should be made giving a justification for it.
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At the telescope:
- The JCMT Board has decided that all seven survey projects have equal priority on the telescope.
- However, the completion rate for each project will be monitored and observing plans for each scheduled block developed which could see the relative priorities of certain projects temporarily rise above others. Only the Associate Director, JCMT will be allowed to implement these changes.
Teams can assign relative priorities between MSBs within their own projects.
- Always observe each MSBs within the allocated weather bands. These are shown on the surveys allocation web page.
- JLS observers should use the QT to plan their observations. The QT will schedule observations based on the current weather conditions and source availability. It is understood that in some circumstances, project specific priorities will require minor deviations from the QT listing.
- Use the "Fetch MSB" button on the QT and read any observer notes and instructions before the observation is sent to the queue.
- If no JLS observations are available within the current weather band, then revert to the national queues. In the QT, activate and search within the 4 national queues (UK, CN, NL, IN) and carry out the highest ranked observing programme available.
- Use the obslog to keep detailed notes:
- Make sure that changing weather conditions are logged.
- Indicate the reasons for moving between projects.
- If data are rejected, for whatever reason, make sure that the observations are marked as BAD in the log. For instance, if you conduct several "experimental" observations, such as searching for emission in the telescope off position, make sure that those observations which are rejected are flagged as BAD in the obslog so that they do not get ingested into the science archive. Make sure to add a comment to explain why you have flagged the observation as BAD.
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