FLSAT -- IPAC ISO First Look Tool

Version 5.0

First look ASCII conversion of FITS Binary Files of Satellite data.

Usage:

flsat [-v] -o ascii_filename fits_filename

Description:

FLSAT converts the FITS binary table format of a satellite file into a plain
ASCII table for the purpose of first-look at the contents. The output will
be written into a disk file using "-o table_file" argument, where
"table_file" is the name of the disk file for the output.

AOCS is the Attitude and Orbit Control System file. It contains basic,
detailed information about the satellite pointing which is used by the
Offline Processing pipeline to produce files specific to a single
observation (IIPH and IRPH). The IIPH and IRPH files are more usable to the
astronomer.

FITS header keywords include the file origin, telescope (ISO), the internal
filename and version in the ISO archive, the file creation date, the Offline
Processing system version identification, the equinox, and the telemetry
rate in kilobits/second, as well as a few comments.

The fields contain the Uniform Time Key (UTK is not to be confused with
UTC), the frame quality and raw attitude and control system frames. It is
not anticipated that the Observer will want to use this file directly in
data analysis.

PPH is the Aperture Pointing History. It has 5 keywords in the FITS header
which specify the interval of time covered by information in the file, the
time the file was generated, the satellite revolution (orbit) number, and
the Attitude Pointing History version number.

The APPH file is used by the Offline Processing Pipeline to produce the
Instrument Instantaneous Pointing History (IIPH) and Instrument Reference
Pointing History (IRPH) files at the Standard Processed Data (SPD) level.

It is not yet known that the APPH file will be distributed to observers with
the science data.

EOHA is the Executed Observation History per Astronomical Observing Template
(AOT). It is used to transfer information between the uplink and downlink to
the satellite which is not used in observing but which is used in processing
the data (Transparent Data, TDATA). The EOHA file is related to the EOHI
file because each AOT is made up a series of Instantiated Command Sequences.

It includes information such as the proposal identification, the proposer's
identification, target name, etc. as well as fields which are specific to
each instrument. It also includes the timestamp of the AOT-to-OCT logic
which is used to translate the details of the proposal (as entered by the
observer into the Proposal Generation Aid) into spacecraft-related commands.

It is unlikely that the observer will wish to use the information contained
in this file in analyzing data, however, the observer may wish to establish
(for example) that the AOT-to-OCT logic for a particular AOT may have
changed during the course of the ISO mission.

EOHI is the Executed Observation History per Instantiated Command Sequence
(ICS). It is used to transfer information between the uplink and downlink to
the satellite which is not used in observing but which is used in processing
the data (Transparent Data, TDATA).

It includes information such as the time (UTC) of sending the associated
Instrument Command Sequence. Each instrument uses a field (EOHIMSG1) which
gives AOT-specific information on an ICS-level of detail.

The GEHK file is the General Housekeeping file. It contains information
associated with general housekeeping and science housekeeping.

FITS header keywords include the file origin, telescope (ISO), the internal
filename and version in the ISO archive, the file creation date, the Offline
Processing system version identification, the equinox, and the telemetry
rate in kilobits/second, as well as a few comments.

The fields contain the Uniform Time Key (UTK is not to be confused with
UTC), the frame quality and housekeeping frames.

It is not anticipated that the Observer will want to use this file directly
in data analysis.

The IIPH file is the Instrument Instantaneous Pointing History file. It
gives the pointing direction of the instrument as a function of time. It
refers to a single observation. The IIPH is derived from the Aperture
Pointing History file (APPH) which may (or may not) be distributed to
observers with their science data.

The IIPH file covers the same time period as the Standard Processed Data
(SPD) product. It contains the same standard SPD FITS keywords. The IIPH was
designed to have entries for updated positions (right ascension and
declination, roll angle (all in degree units) every two seconds. During
performance verification phase, the entries contain constant positions per
raster point. At some later date, CAM parallel pointings may be used to
reconstruct any drift during the observations.

The observer will probably wish to examine the IRPH file instead of the IIPH
file as it contains only one point per raster position.

The IRPH file is the Instrument Reference Pointing History. It contains the
reference pointing position for each raster point. Pointing drift with time
during the observation is not included.

The IRPH refers to a single observation. Its contents are derived from the
Aperture Pointing History file (APPH) which may (or may not) be distributed
to observers with their science data.

The IRPH file covers the same time period as the Standard Processed Data
(SPD) product for a given observation. It contains the same standard SPD
FITS keywords. In addition to the standard SPD keywords, the FITS header
contains keywords for quaternions for the startracker, STR/QSS misalignment,
and QSS/instrument alignment.

Various fields give the expected Coordinated Universal Time in seconds since
1989.0, the raster-pointer id, the raster-point quaternion, the right
ascension, declination, and roll angle (the last three are in units of
degrees).

We recommend that the observer compare the requested target position (J2000)
to the actual observed right ascension and declination (in degrees, J2000)
given in this file. There will be several entries if the observation was
made using a raster; for single pointing observations there will be only one
entry.

Options:

-v   Prints out all contents of the header and field values.

-o   Required option. Defines the output file name.

Installation of the package:

FLSAT is an ANSI C package. There is a MAKE file with the package. To
install the package, type the following in the directory where the source
codes are:

make

Bug report:

Suggestions and bug reports are highly appreciated and welcomed at
aew@ipac.caltech.edu (Ann Wehrle) and jing@ipac.caltech.edu (Jing Li).

Last Change: Oct 30, 1996
