CORE-A033 (Continuous Observations of the Rotation of the Earth-A033) 1998 April 07 Notes prepared by Cynthia Thomas, NVI/GSFC Schedule name: CA033.SKD on CDDIS Nominal Start: 18:00 U.T. on April 07 (day 097) first observation at 18:00 U.T. on 4C39.25 for AP-HH-MA-WF first observation at 18:00 U.T. on 1606+106 for GC-HO Duration: 24 hours Nominal Stop: 18:00 U.T. on April 08 (day 098) last observation at 17:57 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) 337 72828201 Fairbanks A GC 1 (TT) 342 40476601 HartRAO J HH 3 (HDT) 225 72326201 Hobart H HO 2 (HDT) 172 72425901 Matera I MA 3 (HDT) 312 72435701 Westford E WF 1 (TT) 369 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 March 1998 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 ./ca033.skd for experiment CA033 (all scans with at least one subnet station) SOURCE |0 6 12 18 | #SCANS #OBS #Obs/bl 0003-066I x xx xx xx I 7 13 2.3 0048-097I x x xxxx xx xx x xx x x x x x x xxI 21 41 7.0 0059+581I x x x xx x xx xx x x x x x xx x x x xI 21 108 10.8 0104-408I x x x xx xx x x x I 10 14 4.6 0106+013I I 0 0 .0 0119+115I I 0 0 .0 0119+041I I 0 0 .0 0208-512I x x x x x x x x I 8 8 3.3 0229+131Ix x x x x xx I 7 15 1.9 0235+164I x xI 2 2 .3 CTA26 Ix x x x xx x I 7 11 1.8 0402-362I x xx xxx x x x x I 10 14 4.6 0454-234Ix x xxxxxx x xxx x x x x x I 17 25 4.9 0458-020Ix x x xx x x x x I 9 15 2.4 0530-727I I 0 0 .0 0528+134Ix x x x x xx x x xx x x x xI 15 48 6.4 0537-441I x I 1 1 .3 0552+398I x x x x x x xx x xx x x x x x x x xx I 20 90 10.5 0556+238I xxx x x xx I 7 20 2.1 0637-752I x x x x x x xx x x I 10 10 4.1 0718+793I x x I 2 6 .6 0727-115I xx x xx xx xxxx xxx x xxx x x I 20 35 7.3 0749+540Ix x x x x x x x x x xx x xx x x x x x x x I 22 126 12.7 0804+499I I 0 0 .0 0805+410I x x x x x x xx xx x x x x x x I 16 54 5.2 0823+033I xx xx xx x x x x x xx I 13 27 3.9 OJ287 I x x x x x I 5 7 .8 0919-260I x xx I 3 3 1.2 0920-397I x I 1 1 .3 4C39.25 I x x x x xx x x x xx x x x xx xx x x I 20 89 10.8 OK290 I x x x x x xI 6 8 .9 0955+476Ixx x x x x x x x x xx xx x xx x x x x I 21 86 10.0 1034-293I x x x xx x x xI 8 8 1.9 1044+719I x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x xI 17 99 9.9 1053+815I I 0 0 .0 1057-797Ix x x x x x x I 7 7 2.9 1104-445I I 0 0 .0 1124-186I xx xx x xx x x xx I 11 11 2.5 1128+385I x x x xx x x I 7 16 1.4 1144-379I xx xx x x x xxI 9 9 3.1 1219+044I x x xxx x x I 7 20 2.9 1255-316I x x I 2 2 1.3 1300+580I I 0 0 .0 1308+326I x x x x xx xx xx xx xxI 14 30 2.8 1313-333I x x x x x x x xI 8 8 2.2 1334-127I xx xx x xx x x x x xx x I 14 22 3.8 1351-018I x xx x x I 5 13 2.1 1357+769I x x x x x x x x x x x x xx x x x xI 18 99 9.9 1424-418I x x xI 3 3 1.0 1451-375I x x I 2 2 .7 1606+106Ix x x x x x x x xxx x xx x x xxx x x I 21 44 5.7 1610-771I x x x x x x x x x xI 10 10 4.1 1622-253I x xx xx x x x I 8 8 2.5 NRAO512 Ix x xx x x x x x xx x x x x x x I 17 76 8.7 1726+455Ix x x x xx x x I 8 23 2.7 1739+522I x x x x x x x x x x x xxx x xx x I 18 94 10.0 1741-038Ix xx x xx x x x xx x xxx x x x x x x I 21 53 8.5 1749+096Ix x xx x x x xx x xx x x xxx x xx xx x x I 24 73 10.0 1815-553I x I 1 1 .4 1908-201I xxx x x xx x x x xx x I 13 13 3.1 1921-293I x xx x xx xx x x x x x x xx I 16 16 4.2 1954-388I x xx x x x x x x I 9 9 3.1 1958-179I x x x x xI 5 5 1.2 2005-489I I 0 0 .0 2052-474I I 0 0 .0 2121+053I x I 1 1 .1 2128-123I x x x x x x x xx x I 10 14 2.5 2134+00 I x x x x xx x xx I 9 9 1.4 2145+067I x x xxx x x x x x x x x xx xI 16 39 5.4 2234+282I x xx x I 4 10 1.0 2255-282I x x x x x x I 6 8 2.8 Total scans, obs: 650 1732 Average number of obs. per baseline per source (normalized by up-time) = 3.6 Min = .0 Max = 38.1 (Baseline Gc-Ho on 0727-115) RMS = 6.1 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: 27 40 33 28 39 44 35 % cal. time: 3 3 2 1 3 4 3 % slew time: 54 20 44 23 17 13 29 % idle time: 14 35 19 45 39 38 32 # of tapes : 1.8 .7 2.1 1.8 2.3 .8 total # scans: 337 342 225 172 312 369 292 # scans/hour : 14 14 9 7 12 15 12.2 Avg scan (sec): 70 101 129 141 108 103 108 # OF OBSERVATIONS BY BASELINE | Ap Gc Hh Ho Ma Wf StnTotal -------------------------------------- Ap|337 240 26 8 152 324 587 Gc| 342 16 50 182 250 788 Hh| 225 116 119 34 315 Ho| 172 15 9 617 Ma| 312 191 789 Wf| 369 368 Number of 2-station scans: 351 Number of 3-station scans: 151 Number of 4-station scans: 138 Number of 5-station scans: 10 Number of 6-station scans: 0 Total # of scans, observations: 650 1732 Average baseline components for all observations Average XY = 4863. Average XZ = 4574. Average YZ = 3983. Average length = 5731.