CORE-A032 (Continuous Observations of the Rotation of the Earth-A032) 1998 March 24 Notes prepared by Cynthia Thomas, NVI/GSFC Schedule name: CA032.SKD on CDDIS Nominal Start: 18:00 U.T. on March 24 (day 083) first observation at 18:00 U.T. on 1044+719 for AP-GC-MA-WF first observation at 18:00 U.T. on 1057-797 for HH-HO Duration: 24 hours Nominal Stop: 18:00 U.T. on March 25 (day 084) last observation at 17:59 U.T. on 1144-379 for HH-HO last observation at 18:02 U.T. on 0955+476 for AP-GC-MA-WF Correlator: Washington **Frequency Sequence**: CDP-WBCA - Modified CDP wide-band SX sequence. (720 MHz wide at X, 125 MHz wide at S), Shifted to avoid RFI at Matera 1 letter 2 letter Station Code Code # of tapes # of obs Occupation Code Algonquin G AP 2 (HDT) 332 72828201 Fairbanks A GC 1 (TT) 343 40476601 HartRAO J HH 3 (HDT) 222 72326201 Hobart H HO 2 (HDT) 181 72425901 Matera I MA 3 (HDT) 315 72435701 Westford E WF 1 (TT) 361 72097301 Purpose ======= The CORE-A sessions measure EOP simultaneously with NEOS, using an independent network of comparable or better precision. The purpose of the parallel sessions is to assess the true accuracy of VLBI results for EOP by comparing the measurements from the two networks. Note on Core-A 1998 results to date: As of early January 1998, 18 CORE-A sessions from 1997 have been completed and analyzed. The comparisons of the EOP results from these sessions with NEOS are quite encouraging. The levels of agreement for daily measurements are 125 micro-arcsec for X-pole, 105 micro-arcsec for Y-pole, and 7.4 microsec for UT1 and 20 microsec for LOD. The corresponding Chi-squares per degree of freedom are 1.2, 1.3, 2.2, and 2.4, respectively. The goals for EOP in the Mark IV era are 25 micro-arcsec for the pole components and 1 microsec for UT1. (No goal for LOD has been set.) We have a lot of work remaining, but these goals are not out of reach. Schedule ======== This is a new schedule generated by C. Thomas with the automatic mode of sked. The following are the characteristics of the schedule: 1) This schedule was optimized for sky coverage. 2) Only the observations in the previous hour of the schedule were considered for the minor options. The best 70% of the configurations were considered for minor options. 3) The "minor options" were set to select observations to maximize the total number of observations, to minimize the idle time between scans, and to minimize time between scans on the same source by twenty minutes. 5) The minimum SNR limits for most baselines were set to 20 for X-band and 15 for S-band. 6) This schedule was made using 59 sources which helped improve the sky coverage. 7) The source models were updated as of mid August 1997 by Dave Shaffer. Procedures ========== Please use the modified CDP Wide-band SX sequence, CDP-WBCA, for this experiment. Correlation ========== This experiment will be correlated at the Washington Correlator with all baselines being correlated. SKED Summary from file ./ca032.skd for experiment CA032 (all scans with at least one subnet station) SOURCE |0 6 12 18 | #SCANS #OBS #Obs/bl 0003-066I I 0 0 .0 0048-097I I 0 0 .0 0059+581Ix x x x x x x x xx x x x x xx x x x I 19 108 10.8 0104-408I x x xx xx x x xx x I 11 15 4.9 0106+013I I 0 0 .0 0119+115I xxx xx x x x x x x I 11 22 2.7 0119+041I x x x I 3 7 1.0 0208-512I x x x xx x x I 7 7 2.9 0229+131I x x x x x x x x xI 9 22 2.8 0235+164I x I 1 1 .1 CTA26 I x x xx x xI 6 14 2.2 0402-362I x xx x xxx x x x x I 11 15 4.8 0454-234I x xx xx xxx x x xx x x x xI 16 26 5.2 0458-020I x x x xx x x xx x x xI 12 18 2.8 0530-727I I 0 0 .0 0528+134I xx x x xxx x xx x xxx xx x xI 18 54 7.3 0537-441I x I 1 1 .3 0552+398Ix x x x x x x xx x x x x x x xx xx xx I 22 94 10.4 0556+238Ix x x x xx x x xx x xI 12 38 4.1 0637-752I x x x x x x x x x x x I 11 11 4.5 0718+793I x x I 2 6 .6 0727-115I x x x x x xx x xxx xxx x xx xI 18 33 6.2 0749+540Ix x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x I 16 93 9.4 0804+499I x I 1 1 .1 0805+410I x x x x x xx x x xx x x x I 14 39 3.7 0823+033I x x x x x x x x xI 9 24 3.5 OJ287 I x x I 2 2 .2 0919-260I x x x I 3 3 1.2 0920-397I x I 1 1 .3 4C39.25 I x x xx x x x x x x x x x x x xx xI 18 89 10.5 OK290 I x x x x I 4 10 1.1 0955+476Ixx x x xx x x x x x x x x x x xxx x x x I 22 92 10.7 1034-293I x x x xx xx x xx x xI 12 14 3.2 1044+719Ix x x x x x xx x x x x x xx x x x x I 19 102 10.2 1053+815I I 0 0 .0 1057-797Ix x x xx x x x x I 9 9 3.7 1104-445I I 0 0 .0 1124-186I x x x x xx x xI 8 8 1.8 1128+385I x xx x x x x x x x x x xxx x x I 17 63 6.4 1144-379I xxx xx x xI 7 7 2.4 1219+044I x xx xx x x I 7 22 3.2 1255-316I I 0 0 .0 1300+580I I 0 0 .0 1308+326I x xx x x x x xx x x xx x I 14 34 3.2 1313-333I x x x x x xx x xI 9 9 2.4 1334-127I xxx x x x x x x xx xxxx I 15 19 3.2 1351-018I x x I 2 4 .6 1357+769Ix x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x I 18 99 9.9 1424-418I x x x x xxI 6 6 2.0 1451-375I xx x I 3 3 1.0 1606+106I x xx x x x x xx xxx xxxx xx x x I 20 49 6.4 1610-771I x x x x x x x xI 8 8 3.3 1622-253I x x x x I 4 4 1.4 NRAO512 Ix x x x x x x xxx x x x x xx x xx x x I 21 90 10.6 1726+455I x x x x x x x I 7 22 2.6 1739+522Ix x xx x x x x x x x x x x x x xx x x xx I 22 109 11.6 1741-038I x x xxx xx x x x xxx x xxxx xxx xx I 23 59 9.5 1749+096I x x x x xxx xxx I 10 33 4.5 1815-553I x x I 2 2 .8 1908-201I xx xx xx x x xx x xx I 13 15 3.9 1921-293Ixxx xx x x xx x x x x xx x I 16 16 3.9 1954-388I xx x xx x x x x x I 10 10 3.3 1958-179Ix xx x x x I 6 8 1.7 2005-489I I 0 0 .0 2052-474I I 0 0 .0 2121+053I x x x x I 4 4 .6 2128-123I xxx x x x x x x x x x I 12 16 2.8 2134+00 I x x x xx I 5 5 .8 2145+067I x x x xx x x x x x x x x x x xx x xI 19 46 6.4 2234+282I x xx x I 4 12 1.3 2255-282I xx x x x x xx I 8 12 2.9 Total scans, obs: 640 1765 Average number of obs. per baseline per source (normalized by up-time) = 3.6 Min = .0 Max = 24.6 (Baseline Ap-Wf on 1741-038) RMS = 5.9 Total time: 1443 minutes ( 24.1 hours). Key: Ap=ALGOPARK Gc=GILCREEK Hh=HARTRAO Ho=HOBART26 Ma=MATERA Wf=WESTFORD Ap Gc Hh Ho Ma Wf Avg % obs. time: 26 37 35 32 40 44 36 % cal. time: 3 3 2 2 3 4 3 % slew time: 54 20 43 25 17 13 29 % idle time: 14 37 18 39 38 37 31 # of tapes : 1.8 .7 2.3 2.0 2.4 .8 total # scans: 332 343 222 181 315 361 292 # scans/hour : 13 14 9 7 13 15 12.2 Avg scan (sec): 70 95 140 154 112 107 113 # OF OBSERVATIONS BY BASELINE | Ap Gc Hh Ho Ma Wf StnTotal -------------------------------------- Ap|332 248 21 6 165 320 587 Gc| 343 18 46 195 256 798 Hh| 222 128 107 29 320 Ho| 181 19 9 640 Ma| 315 198 823 Wf| 361 362 Number of 2-station scans: 331 Number of 3-station scans: 156 Number of 4-station scans: 141 Number of 5-station scans: 12 Number of 6-station scans: 0 Total # of scans, observations: 640 1765 Average baseline components for all observations Average XY = 4955. Average XZ = 4583. Average YZ = 3922. Average length = 5749.