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IntroductionThis document gives details of procedures to be followed by Principal Investigators (PIs) awarded time on UKIRT. UKIRT caters for three communities - UK, Japan and University of Hawaii. The UK time, allocated by PATT, is flexibly scheduled; Japanese and UH time, allocated by the two respective TAGs, is not. Where this results in particular requirements on UK PIs has been indicated by placing the information in a grey box. UH and Japanese PIs can ignore these boxes.Note that this document gives semester-specific information and some UKIRT-specific notes on local procedures. Please consult the Visitor Information page for more general instructions in areas such as accommodation, travel etc. The visitor page is also linked from the "Successful Applicants" page via which you reached this document.
PI TasksAs the principal contact designated for your research program, you need to complete the following tasks in a timely fashion. (Not doing so may jeopardize the success of your observing run.) Please ensure that your Co-Is also visit this link. More details are given below and in the JAC visitor information page.(i) Inform your co-investigators of the observing dates and deadlines for booking accommodation. (ii) At least three weeks in advance of the run, inform the UKIRT Secretary (Anna Lucas) and your support scientist of exactly which individuals will actually be observing in Hawaii. (See Section III, Item 1 under GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR VISITING OBSERVERS AT UKIRT.) (iii) Ensure that all observers fill out and return the accommodation request form to Anna, again at least three weeks in advance. (See Section III, Item 1 under GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR VISITING OBSERVERS AT UKIRT.) (iv) Ensure that each attending observer mails or faxes a signed medical disclaimer form to Anna Lucas if he/she has not done so for a previous run. (See Section III, Item 2 under GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR VISITING OBSERVERS AT UKIRT.) (v) If shipping and/or using visitor instruments, inform us of shipping plans well in advance and clearly state your requirements for backup instruments. (See Section III, Item 3 under GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR VISITING OBSERVERS AT UKIRT.) (vi) Ensure that your team is familiar with the operation and capabilities of all relevant UKIRT instruments, and have read the instrument-specific web documentation on ORAC preparation, data acquisition and reduction. (vii) E-mail Sharlene Hamamoto and your support scientist at least three weeks in advance if any of your team are unable to arrive in Hilo during JAC office hours (Monday - Friday, 8:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.), so that special travel arrangements can be made. (See Section III, Item 5 under GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR VISITING OBSERVERS AT UKIRT.) (viii) Ensure that your team goes through the proper procedures at the JAC office in Hilo prior to the observing run. (See Section III, Item 5 under GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR VISITING OBSERVERS AT UKIRT.) (ix) Ensure your team is aware of the other important issues raised in Section III, Items 6 - 9 under GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR VISITING OBSERVERS AT UKIRT. (x) There may be special circumstances in the coming Semester which will impact your programme. These are detailed immediately following this section; make sure that you read this section and communicate any relevant items to your collaborators. I. SEMESTER-SPECIFIC SPECIAL NOTICES
II. GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR USERS OF ALL INSTRUMENTS1. Data Acquisition and ReductionAll UKIRT instruments acquire and reduce their data through the OMP and ORAC systems. This means that data acquisition sequences are in most cases strongly linked to the required data reduction recipes. Libraries distributed with the Observing Tool (OT) contain standard acquisition sequences to take data in all common modes (slit nodding, sky offsetting with CGS4, the standard jitters and wide-field sequences for IRCAM and UFTI). Please consult your support scientist immediately if you need to request specialist data acquisition sequences (and consequently bespoke reduction recipes). JAC undertakes to provide nonstandard sequences only if given sufficient notice.2. Special notes - Source positionsAs in previous semesters, we issue a warning about positional accuracy required to guarantee successful spectroscopic observing of faint sources with CGS4. If you are using CGS4 and your sources are infrared-faint or optically invisible, it is essential to the success of your observations that your OT programme gives good positions, or contains sequences to obtain infrared images of your source fields in order to measure accurate positions before switching to spectroscopy. For UIST, the OT library contains acquisition observations within each Minimum Schedulable Block.
4. Targets of OpportunityRequests for target-of-opportunity observations are frequently received in Hilo. UKIRT’s policy is to post these requests in the summit control room and in some instances to supply the e-mail addresses of observers to the requesters. Unless otherwise stated, observers are under no obligation to make target-of-opportunity observations. See the ToO page for more details.III. GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR VISITING OBSERVERS AT UKIRT1. Travel Plans, Accommodation, and Transport in HawaiiFor general information on how to arrange travel and arrival procedures, see the JAC's general Visitor Information Page.The rest of this document deals with UKIRT-specific items in related areas. You must read and understand both documents before leaving for Hawaii. 2. Safety BriefingBefore leaving HP for the summit, your support astronomer will brief you on safety. This is intended to provide you with all the information you need should an emergency arise at the summit or on the road. Note that safety procedures may have changed since you last visited UKIRT, so please take this briefing seriously.3. Visitor InstrumentsGroups shipping equipment to Hawaii should consult ahead of time with the JAC head of instrumentation, Tim Chuter. At time of shipment, please advise us of the airway bill number, departure point, and any other relevant information, to enable us to handle your equipment upon arrival in Hilo.Observers using visitor instruments must clarify with local staff, well in advance of their observing dates, (a) whether they require any common-user instruments as back-up and (b) the evenings when they will receive training/support from local staff in the use of the back-up common-user instruments. 4. Common-user InstrumentationObservers using common-user instruments should familiarize themselves with the operation and performance of their specified instrument(s). Up-to-date information is accessible through the UKIRT web page, as above. Contact your support scientist with any questions, and inform her/him of any changes in your scientific requirements. Again, note the requirement to be in Hilo offices in good time to be trained in the ORAC observing tool.5. Procedures in HiloWhile at the JAC office, you should meet your support scientist to discuss preparations for the run, the latest information about telescope and instrument performance and data reduction, to set up a guest account on the JAC system, and to be introduced to the ORAC observing tool and OMP execution systems.If it is not possible for at least one member of your team to arrive at the JAC during normal working hours, you MUST make special arrangements for access to the JAC and to a JAC vehicle. To arrange these you must e-mail Sharlene Hamamoto and your support scientist, THREE WEEKS in advance of your observing run. You will then be informed of alternative plans. Again, refer to the JAC's general instructions page Visitor Information Page. It cannot be guaranteed that JAC personnel will be available in Hilo to assist you outside normal hours. 6. Mountain ProceduresNormally, the support scientist will be present for as much of the first night as it takes to cover both your own observing MSBs and sufficient of the acquisition modes present in the current queue. This may be all of the first night. After that, the telescope operator will know where to locate the support scientist, or a stand-in, if required.Following the observing run, observers are usually scheduled to leave Hale Pohaku at 2:00 p.m. Other arrangements may be made on request, but this CANNOT be guaranteed. It is essential that observers obtain some sleep before driving down from Hale Pohaku. A note on colds, flu, etc.: We do not prevent observers going to the summit while carrying colds, etc. However, we cannot afford to have TSSs taken out of action through infectious diseases caught from a prolonged period of close contact such as an observing run. We therefore ask that if you or your collaborators are under the influence of such diseases you behave accordingly. At the very least, keep your distance and try not to broadcast coughs in the direction of your TSS. 7. BillingBilling issues are discussed in the Visitor Information Page.8. Data TapesNon-WFCAM data should be transferred back to your home institution via the internet, using the OMP project pages for your project. In extreme circumstances, you can ask for your support scientist to generate FITS files or to write tapes, but this is increasingly not the normal mode of operation.If tapes are necessary, we will supply sufficient tapes for one copy of your data. If you want control over the tape’s manufacturer, or if you want more than one copy of your data, bring your own tapes. Tapes are normally written at JAC (Hilo) and cannot be produced at short notice. In particular, if you are leaving Hawaii on the day your run ends, do not expect to carry back the data tape. One will be mailed to you within a few days. In all cases, data tapes should be checked for readability within one week of their arrival at the home site. If you do not do this, your data may have been erased from the local disks and will require dearchiving before a further tape can be written. Tape procedures are always under review and may change during the semester. 9. PublicationsPublications based on data obtained at UKIRT should carry the following acknowledgement: “The United Kingdom Infrared Telescope is operated by the Joint Astronomy Centre on behalf of the U.K. Particle Physics and Astronomy Council”.We ask that copies of all preprints and reprints resulting from your observations be sent to the Head of Operations, UKIRT, at the Joint Astronomy Centre. These are important to our efforts to monitor and report the scientific productivity of UKIRT. |
