BATSE QUICKLOOK PLOTS OF DISCLA RATES Kim Tolbert April 30, 1991 Revised: February 9, 1992 Revised: July 21, 1992 Revised: September 2, 1992 The quicklook plots provide a summary of activity observed by the BATSE detectors on an orbital or full-day basis. Until July 21, 1992, the quicklook plot files were stored in Tektronix format and could be viewed only on Tektronix-capable machines. Now the plot data itself is saved so that the plots can be reconstructed and displayed on the graphics device selected by the user. The graphics devices supported for screen output are X Windows, Tektronix, and Regis, and for printer output are Tektronix and PostScript. I. Orbital Quicklook Plots The orbital quicklook plots include eight traces of DISCLA data for each orbit (90 minutes). The orbit is always plotted from spacecraft midnight to spacecraft midnight. Vertical lines marked by `D' or `N' indicate entry into spacecraft day or night. The eight traces are the following (from top to bottom): a. Count rate in Channel 0 for the most sunward looking detector (x 10^4) b. Count rate in Channel 0 for the second most sunward looking detector (x 10^3) c. Count rate in Channel 0 for the third most sunward looking detector (x 10^2) d. Count rate in Channel 0 for the fourth most sunward looking detector (x 10^1) e. Sum of the rates in Channel 0 for the four sunward looking detectors (-4000) f. Sum of the rates in Channel 1 for the four sunward looking detectors (x 10^-1) g. Sum of the charged particle detector (CPD) rates for the four sunward looking detectors (x 10^-2) h. Sum of the rates in Channel 0 for the four anti-sunward detectors (x 10^-3) The scaling factors for the traces were chosen so that the eight traces would fall approximately in separate decades. To find the true fluxes, divide the plotted value by the scaling factor (except for trace e, which should be added to 4000). II. Full-Day Quicklook Plots The 24-hour quicklook plots include two traces of DISCLA data. Dotted and dashed lines mark entry into spacecraft day and night. The two traces are the following (from top to bottom): a. Count rate in Channel 0 for the most sunward looking detector b. Sum of the rates in Channel 0 for the four anti-sunward detectors (x .05) On both the orbital and full-day plots, times when BATSE burst triggers occurred (indicating the availability of high time and energy resolution data) are marked near the upper x axis with a '*' and peak times of solar flares are marked with a '+'. On the orbital plots, the solar flare number is also displayed. The data plotted are basically raw data - overflow, deadtime, and other conditions are not accounted for. To view the quicklook plot files select option 2 in the main menu to enter the Quicklook Display Program. This program is described in more detail below. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Using the BATSE Quicklook Display Program (Option 2): On entering the program, the user is presented with a menu displaying the current settings of parameters and the available commands. The user changes the value of a parameter by typing the first 3 letters of the parameter description, comma, the new value. When the parameters are set as desired, the user issues a command (again, the first 3 letters are sufficient). Upper or lower case may be used for input. A detailed description of the parameters and commands is given below. A. BATSE Quicklook Display Program Parameters: TIME - Time of plot to display the format YY/MM/DD,HHMM. Specify either date and time or just date. For 24-hour plots, you will get the plot that contains that time. For orbital plots, you will be given the choice of plotting either the orbit that contains the specified time, or plotting a specific orbit (orbit # 1 through 15 or 16) on the day specified by TIME. Example: TIM,91/4/23,1200 or TIM,91/4/23 MULTIPLE PLOTS - Selects number of plots to draw on one page. Specify mxn where m is the number of plots across the page and n is the number of plots down the page. Keeping the same aspect ratio as a single plot (i.e. 2x2 or 3x3) will result in properly reduced plots. To clear the page before all mxn plots are drawn, type MUL,mxn again. Default is 1x1 (single plot). Example: MUL,2x2 or MUL,1 CREATE PLOT FILE - Selects whether to send the plot information to a file in addition to the screen. Screen graphics is faster when no plot file is made, but a plot file is necessary if you plan to make a hardcopy of the plot or mail it to yourself. (The format of the plot file depends on the printer device selected in the SelectDevices command.) Options are ENABLE or DISABLE. Default is DISABLE. Example: CRE,ENA EMAIL ADDRESS - Address for mailing plot file. The first time the user mails a file to himself, he is prompted for his email address. For the rest of the session, that address will be used instead of prompting the user for an address each time. To mail to a different address, reset this parameter. Example: EMA,SDAC::KIM B. BATSE Quicklook Display Program Commands: EXIT - Exit Quicklook Display Program. HARDPLOT - Send plot file to printer. The plot file was created only if you set CREATE to ENABLE before issuing the ORBITPLOT or 24HOURPLOT command. HELP - Display this help file on screen. LISTMENU - Display the menu. MAILPLOT - Mail plot file. The plot file was created only if you set CREATE to ENABLE before issuing the ORBITPLOT or 24HOURPLOT command. You will be prompted for your email address if you haven't already supplied it. ORBITPLOT - Plot orbital plot. You will be prompted to press return if you want to see the plot containing the time specified in TIME, or to enter an orbit number (1 through 15 or 16) to see a specific orbit on the day specified in TIME. Format for screen plot (and plot file if CREATE is ENABLED) depends on selections made in the SelectDevices command. SELECTDEVICES - Enters a menu that allows you to select screen and printer output device formats. Options for screen format are X Windows, Tektronix, and Regis. Your machine must be capable of handling the format you choose. You may select X Windows only if you supplied the display node when prompted at the beginning of this session. Options for printer format are Tektronix and PostScript. The selected format will be used for the plot file if CREATE is set to ENABLE before drawing the plot. SEQUENTIALPLOTS - Plots the sequence of plots that fall within a requested time range. Prompts you for whether to plot orbital or full-day plots, end time of range (start time is taken from TIME parameter), and whether you want to draw the plots on the screen, plot on the screen and mail the plot files, or plot on the screen and print the plot files. 24HOURPLOT - Plot full-day plot for day containing time specified in TIME. Format for screen plot (and plot file if CREATE is ENABLED) depends on selections made in the SelectDevices command. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- (This information is stored in file BATSE$DATA:HELP_QUICKLOOK.TXT.)