SAS Validation 5.0 - XMM-Newton

XMM-Newton SAS V5.0 Scientific Validation and Data

SAS V5.0 Scientific Validation

Each SAS release is accompanied by a set of "test data", which allow any SAS user to personally evaluate the quality of software and calibrations. All SAS releases (and the corresponding PPS products) are scientifically validated on each of such test datasets. The scientific validation aims at ensuring a constant and properly documented high quality of the SAS. The main goals of the science validation are therefore to test:

• which instrumental modes are fully supported by SAS,
• which scientific products SAS can produce, and
• the level of accuracy associated with those products.

The outcome of the SAS v5.0 science validation for each test dataset is summarized in a report, available along with the dataset.

The SAS science validation is an intrinsically open process, mainly driven by the need of the SAS user community. If you have any questions on the results reported in one of the science validation reports, or if you would like to suggest possible additional tests (or the results of tests you have performed), do not hesitate to contact the XMM-Newton helpdesk.

SAS v5.1

The SAS v5.1 Scientific Validation Page can be found here.

SAS v5.0 Scientific Validation Data

The data available from this location is the set of standard XMM-Newton data (ODFs and Pipeline Products) used for the SAS v5.0 Scientific Validation.

Data Status

Note: The availability of the different data sets will occur in staggered deliveries. Links in the data section will become active when data or information for an observation is available. Please, check this page from time to time to see latest updates.

Data Processing

The datasets comprise an ODF and a set of Pipeline Products. The ODFs are produced from the spacecraft telemetry by the SOC. Further processing to produce the Pipeline Products is performed on behalf of ESA by the XMM-Newton Survey Science Centre, an independent team comprising a consortium of nine institutions in four countries (UK, France, Germany and Spain).

Relevant XMM-Newton links

• XMM-Newton Main Page
• XMM-Newton Helpdesk
• XMM-Newton Science Analysis System (SAS)
• XMM-Newton Survey Science Centre
• NASA's XMM-Newton Guest Observer Facility.
• XMM-Newton Calibration information

You can also find the data at the XMM-Newton NASA mirror site.

Data format

For a description of the ODF/SDF format and the PIPELINE Products refer to:

• The Data Files Handbook provides a description of the different files generated by the XMM-Newton systems; (current issue is 2.0, compliant with SAS v5.0) (postscript or pdf)
• ODF/SDF Interface Control Document (current issue is 2.8); (postscript or pdf)
• Data Products Interface Control Document (current issue is 2.1); (postscript or pdf)
• SSC Data Products Specification (current issue is 1.1); (postscript)

Data Download

Data can be downloaded from the provided links in each Observation's section or directly accessing the anonymous XMM-Newton ftp site.

The data are wrapped as:

• ODFs: tar.gz of all the ODF constituents. After decompresion and untar all ODF constituent files are already available as individual files. Data in this final form is suited for SAS processing.
  Note: The average size of an ODF (tar.gz) is ~150 Mbytes and usually range between 100 and 250 Mbytes.
   
• Pipeline Products: Each Product Group is available separately as a .TAR file. Each one of these .TAR files contains a full Product Group with the constituent data mostly as compressed (.FTZ) files. In addition, each Pipeline Product contains an .ASC file providing a top level description of the Observation.
  Remarks: The size of the Pipeline Products Groups ranges from less than 1 Mbyte to a few 100's of Mbytes. In those cases where the size of a Product exceeds 200 Mbytes it has been tried to split it in more than one .TAR set to decrease the download size (those cases can be recognized by the _N extension to the name).

Please consider the possibility of using a recovery/recursive download utility (e.g.: wget, available and described at the gnu web site) if your link has problems with the big files.

Available Data

The following objects have been observed and constitute the reference data set. Data availability for an object is marked with an active link or checking the Data Details section below.

Data details and access

The following entries provide the original scheduled details for the observations of the Science Validation Data Set. The actual execution may render slightly different values (e.g.: observation duration).

Each entry lists the following parameters:

• Obs Id: Observation identifier.
• Target Name: As given in the Proposal.
• RA and Dec: Coordinates as given in the Proposal (Epoch: 2000).
• Start and End Times: Scheduled UT for the start and end of the Observation.
• Obs duration: Scheduled duration in seconds (i.e.: End - Start).
• Rev: XMM-Newton Revolution number when the Observation was scheduled.
• Prime Instr.: Prime Instrument (to which the coordinates refer).
• Comments: Any comment of interest about the data. This section contains also a link to the Scientific Validation Report.
• Download: Allows the download of the data (if link active). Refer to the Data format section for details on the form in which the data are downloaded.

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