Calibration strategies for the Cherenkov Telescope Array

Markus Gaug; David Berge; Michael Daniel; Michele Doro; Andreas Förster; Werner Hofmann; Maria Conetta Maccarone; Dan Parsons; Raquel de los Reyes Lopez; Christopher van Eldik

doi:10.1117/12.2054536

6 August 2014 Calibration strategies for the Cherenkov Telescope Array

Markus Gaug, David Berge, Michael Daniel, Michele Doro, Andreas Förster, Werner Hofmann, Maria Conetta Maccarone, Dan Parsons, Raquel de los Reyes Lopez, Christopher van Eldik

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 9149, Observatory Operations: Strategies, Processes, and Systems V; 914919 (2014) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2054536
Event: SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation, 2014, Montréal, Quebec, Canada

Abstract

The Central Calibration Facilities workpackage of the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) observatory for very high energy gamma ray astronomy defines the overall calibration strategy of the array, develops dedicated hardware and software for the overall array calibration and coordinates the calibration efforts of the different telescopes. The latter include LED-based light pulsers, and various methods and instruments to achieve a calibration of the overall optical throughput. On the array level, methods for the inter-telescope calibration and the absolute calibration of the entire observatory are being developed. Additionally, the atmosphere above the telescopes, used as a calorimeter, will be monitored constantly with state-of-the-art instruments to obtain a full molecular and aerosol profile up to the stratosphere. The aim is to provide a maximal uncertainty of 10% on the reconstructed energy-scale, obtained through various independent methods. Different types of LIDAR in combination with all-sky-cameras will provide the observatory with an online, intelligent scheduling system, which, if the sky is partially covered by clouds, gives preference to sources observable under good atmospheric conditions. Wide-field optical telescopes and Raman Lidars will provide online information about the height-resolved atmospheric extinction, throughout the field-of-view of the cameras, allowing for the correction of the reconstructed energy of each gamma-ray event. The aim is to maximize the duty cycle of the observatory, in terms of usable data, while reducing the dead time introduced by calibration activities to an absolute minimum.

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Markus Gaug, David Berge, Michael Daniel, Michele Doro, Andreas Förster, Werner Hofmann, Maria Conetta Maccarone, Dan Parsons, Raquel de los Reyes Lopez, and Christopher van Eldik "Calibration strategies for the Cherenkov Telescope Array", Proc. SPIE 9149, Observatory Operations: Strategies, Processes, and Systems V, 914919 (6 August 2014); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2054536

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