9th VLA Data Reduction Workshop

NRAO Community Day at the GSFC

11 - 20 October, 2022
Socorro, New Mexico

The 9th NRAO-VLA Data Reduction Workshop will take place from Tuesday, October 11  - Thursday, October 20, 2022. This event will be in-person using the resources at the Pete V. Domenici Science Operations Center in Socorro, NM with presentations recorded and broadcast live for virtual participants. In-person attendance is required for assistance with data reduction. The aim of this workshop is to support observers with the challenges of VLA Data Reduction posed by the vast flexibility and complexity of the instrument.

During the in-person component of the workshop, observers will be able to reduce their own data using hardware provided by NRAO and with NRAO staff experts present for consultation. There will also be presentations by local staff covering CASA and the very latest developments in data reduction techniques, which will be provided in a hybrid format.

This workshop will span over two weeks: The 1st week will include both lectures and some dedicated time for data reduction and imaging of each participant's own data. The 2nd week will be devoted primarily to data reduction and imaging of each participant's own data with the help of NRAO staff. During the weekend of the workshop, on October 15th, the Trinity Site can be visited, for which the city of Socorro is also providing transportation on a first come first served basis.

This is an advanced workshop and not intended for those who are new to radio interferometry. Prior experience with common radio astronomy data reduction packages e.g. AIPS, CASA, or MIRIAD is required.  As we will be using CASA for data reduction, a working knowledge of it would be helpful; we strongly recommend those new to CASA to go through one or more of our tutorials prior to attending the workshop.

Registration for remote participation is still open, while registration for in-person participation is closed. No registration fee is charged. The workshop is limited to about 30 in-person participants considering computing resources and staff support. Once we reach the maximum number of participants, we will start a waiting list. To keep in-person participants and staff safe, in-person attendance will require adherence to NRAO's Covid protocols, which requires up-to-date vaccination (fully vaccinated and 1st booster are required if initial vaccination was more than 6 months ago), and might include masking and daily temperature checks. There is also the option for remote participation in the lecture portion of the workshop during the first week. Registration information for both in-person and remote are found under Registration.

Masking is required for in-person attendees and NRAO staff in the auditorium.

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