Next: 6.1 User Examples Up: 4.1 SPECANAL: A First Previous: 4.1.1 What is SPECANAL?

4.1.2 How does it run?

SPECANAL requires the specification of the Target and the time period to analyze. The time period is identified by viewing period or by start and stop dates.

The front-end portion of SPECANAL creates a script of IGORE commands which are then executed either as a batch job or in the foreground. SPECANAL calls the five basic IGORE routines which an investigator would otherwise run manually, assigning file names in an organized fashion and documenting the run. This run can be described in five basic parts.

BLD_QUAD_DIF:
This procedure performs quadratic background estimation and subtraction on the OSSE spectral memory data for the specified target and time range. It performs various types of data screening and generates the daily difference spectral files. Each file contains one day's worth of two-minute difference spectra.

DAY_SUMMER:
This routine sums the two-minute difference spectra into longer intervals, typically orbital or daily totals. Two output files are generated, a day sumfile (DSM) and a good sumfile (GSM). The good sumfile output handles error propagation due to some background correlations.

FFIT_PREP:
This routine prepares the data for fitting, summing the spectra by detector and performing adjustments due to detector operation. In the default mode, it also builds a response matrix. Your particular IGORE installation may not have the routines for building the response matrix.

PLOTANAL:
This routine generates plots of spectra and rate time histories from a variety of perspectives.

BOTTOMLINE:
This routine generates a total count spectrum and deconvolves the count spectrum with a default model to produce a photon spectrum, plotting both results.

Required Inputs:

A Target Specification, either by name, (see Example 1) or a targdef description record including the name and position (in Right Ascension and declination) (see Example 2). If using a target name, it should conform to the format used in the OSSE planning catalog. This standard format has been chosen to conform to the designation in the SIMBAD database. Some alias names are supported from other catalogs.

Time Period, either by viewing period number (see Examples 1 & 2) or by start and stop time specification.

These specifications can be included in the SETUPFILE input parameter or can be identified in keywords, TARGET, VP, START_TIME, STOP_TIME. Setup files provide an easy method for rerunning the programs with identical settings if necessary. Keywords, on the other hand, can be easier to use and are more readily incorporated into an IDL program.

The next section gives examples for performing basic OSSE data analysis with SPECANAL and its friends. These examples are designed as an introductory tool and not meant as an exhaustive tutorial. You are encouraged to experiment with different parameter settings and namelist files.

For those with X-Window terminals, you may find it helpful to setup SPECANAL runs using it's graphical interface extension, OGRE. If you are running the testing version of IGORE at NRL, just type OGRE at the IGORE prompt.

Note: If you wish to run SPECANAL in background from your user account, your LOGIN.COM file must be set to initialize the appropriate version of IGORE, either IGRTST or IGRCM.


Next: 6.1 User Examples Up: 4.1 SPECANAL: A First Previous: 4.1.1 What is SPECANAL?