LSST UK Cadence Workshop

LSST Cadence Workshop

The science of the LSST will, in part, be driven by how it observes the sky (the footprint and cadence of the survey). The objectives of this meeting are to train astronomers in the tools available to simulate the properties of the LSST; to revisit the science drivers for various LSST programs with an eye towards optimization of the baseline observing cadence; and the development of metrics that might be used to quantify the science performance of the LSST as a function of its cadence. Examples where further cadence optimization is likely to yield tangible improvements in the LSST science include the coverage of the Galactic plane, characterization of supernovae light curves, the reduction of systematics through dithering, deep drilling fields, and active area vs. sampling rate tradeoffs (also known as “rolling cadence”).

This workshop will include an introduction to the cadence issues for the LSST, a set of tutorials that will train people in how to use the LSST tools, and a series of breakout or hack sessions where the impact of cadence on the science will be discussed (including summarizing the current understanding of various cadence issues and identifying a roadmap to address these issues in a quantitative manner).

To register for this meeting please go here

Agenda

The following is a draft of the schedule for the workshop; it will be divided into an introduction to the cadence of the LSST, training sessions on how to use the LSST simulation tools, and a series of break out or hack sessions.

Monday 18th May (Ryle):

1:00 - 1.30pm Introduction, logistics, objectives of the meeting

1.30 - 3.30pm The LSST System and Observing Strategy
The Operations Simulator, and Defining an Objective Cadence
Example: Strong Lens Time Delays

3.30 - 4.00pm Coffee

4.00 - 5.30pm The analysis framework for the LSST cadences (tutorial 1)

5.30 - 6.30pm Helpdesk: getting MAF running on your machine

Tuesday 19th May (Ryle, Hoyle, Observatory)

9.00 - 10.30am Building and running your own metrics (tutorial 2)

10.30 - 11.00am Coffee

11.00 - 12.30pm WG hack sessions
- Group 1: Static Science: (Chairs: Victor Debattista, Richard McMahon)
- Group 2: Recovering persistent variables (lightcurves) : (Chairs: Daniel Mortlock, Vasily Belokurov)
- Group 3: Transients (Chairs: Stephen Smartt, Mark Sullivan)
- Group 4: Solar System and proper motions (Chair:Colin Snodgrass)

12.30 - 1.30pm Lunch

1.30 - 3.30pm WG hack sessions
- Group 1: Static Science: (Chairs: Victor Debattista, Richard McMahon)
- Group 2: Recovering persistent variables (lightcurves) : (Chairs: Daniel Mortlock, Vasily Belokurov)
- Group 3: Transients (Chairs: Stephen Smartt, Mark Sullivan)
- Group 4: Solar System and proper motions (Chair:Colin Snodgrass)

3.30 - 4.00pm Coffee

4.00 - 5.00pm Multi-Object Spectroscopic Survey facilities for LSST followup (Roelof de Jong)
5.00 - 5.30pm Discussion of cadence requirements for spectroscopy (Chair: Richard McMahon)

6.30pm Dinner at Clare Hall

Wednesday 20th May (Ryle, Hoyle, Observatory)

9.00 - 10.00am Initial WG presentations (status updates)
10.00 - 10.30am WG hack sessions
- Group 1: Static Science: (Chairs: Victor Debattista, Richard McMahon)
- Group 2: Recovering persistent variables (lightcurves) : (Chairs: Daniel Mortlock, Vasily Belokurov)
- Group 3: Transients (Chairs: Stephen Smartt, Mark Sullivan)
- Group 4: Solar System and proper motions (Chair:Colin Snodgrass)

10.30 - 11.00am Coffee

11.00 - 12.30pm WG hack sessions
- Group 1: Static Science: (Chairs: Victor Debattista, Richard McMahon)
- Group 2: Recovering persistent variables (lightcurves) : (Chairs: Daniel Mortlock, Vasily Belokurov)
- Group 3: Transients (Chairs: Stephen Smartt, Mark Sullivan)
- Group 4: Solar System and proper motions (Chair:Colin Snodgrass)

12.30 - 1.30pm Lunch

1.30 - 3.30pm Presentation of cadence results - next steps

3.30 - 4.00pm Coffee and end

Installation of software for the cadence workshop

Installing the LSST Stack

Start by installing the necessary parts of the LSST software stack and the LSST-installed anaconda. In these instructions we assume you are installing in ~/lsst, however the install directory can be any place in the file system, including a place visible to all users. To install in another location, replace ~/lsst with the desired path in the following instructions.


mkdir -p ~/lsst 


cd ~/lsst


curl -O https://sw.lsstcorp.org/eupspkg/newinstall.sh


bash newinstall.sh

Choose yes when prompted to install Anaconda (the recommended approach). These packages will not interfere with your system installed versions. This step will download about 1 GB of files to your machine and usually takes less than 15 minutes.

Set up the environment and install the simulations code and data.

Source the appropriate shell script and use eups (see here for more info) to install the software and data.


source ~/lsst/loadLSST.bash (if you are using bash)

source ~/lsst/loadLSST.csh (if you are using csh)


eups distrib install sims_maf -t sims

This will install all packages required to analyze the LSST simulated cadences and their dependencies. The installation should take on the order of 2 hours, with a final required installation size of 10GB.

Set up the packages:

In the terminal and directory you will run the ipython notebook from


setup sims_maf -t sims

Download a simulated LSST survey and ipython notebook

Download a simulated survey Enigma_1189 into the the directory you will run the ipython code (NOTE this is 2GB in size and will take a little time).

gunzip enigma_1189.db.gz

Download an ipython notebook. Note you do not need to signup for Dropbox just kill the initial window that requests you to sign in.

Run the notebook to test the simulations analysis code

In the directory and terminal where enigma_1189.db and IntroductionNotebook.ipynb reside

ipython notebook IntroductionNotebook.ipynb

This should start a notebook in your browser. To execute each cell in the notebook just shift click. For an introduction to iPython notebooks see here

Download the rest of the ipython notebooks


git clone https://github.com/lsst-sims/sims_maf_notebooks.git

If you run into difficulties or want more details check out the LSST simulation confluence pages

Accomodation

A block of rooms have been reserved at the Arundel House hotel. The hotel is a short walk from the Institute of Astronomy and from Cambridge City Center. Single and double rooms are available for the nights of 18-21th of May. This reserved blockof rooms will be held until April 18th 2015 so please book soon. The cost of the rooms is,

Double rooms £145 per room including full English Breakfast

Single rooms £90 per room incluiding full English Breakfast

All workshop participants should book directly quoting reference INST180515

We have also reserved one room at the Stables and 2 at Gardeners Cottage B&B at the IoA (£30 and £36 per night per person, including breakfast, shared facilities). Please email Andy Connolly directly for availablity