Coadd 3D Spectra

Overview

This document describes how to combine a set of fully reduced 2D spectra from multiple exposures into a single 3D datacube for IFU spectrographs.

This must be done outside of the data reduction pipeline (run_pypeit); i.e., PypeIt will not coadd your spectra as part of the data reduction process.

pypeit_coadd_datacube

The primary script is called pypeit_coadd_datacube, which takes an input file to guide the process.

usage

The script usage can be displayed by calling the script with the -h option:

$ pypeit_coadd_datacube -h
usage: pypeit_coadd_datacube [-h] [--det DET] [-o] [-v VERBOSITY] file

Read in an array of spec2D files and convert them into a datacube

positional arguments:
  file                  filename.coadd3d file

options:
  -h, --help            show this help message and exit
  --det DET             Detector (default: 1)
  -o, --overwrite       Overwrite any existing files/directories (default:
                        False)
  -v VERBOSITY, --verbosity VERBOSITY
                        Verbosity level between 0 [none] and 2 [all]. Default:
                        1. Level 2 writes a log with filename
                        coadd_datacube_YYYYMMDD-HHMM.log (default: 1)

coadd3d file

The pypeit_coadd_datacube script requires an input file to guide the process. The format of this type of Input File Format includes a Parameter Block (required) and a Data Block (required). In the following example for keck_kcwi, the coadd3d file will be saved as BB1245p4238.coadd3d:

# User-defined execution parameters
[rdx]
    spectrograph = keck_kcwi
    detnum = 1
[reduce]
    [[cube]]
        combine = True
        output_filename = BB1245p4238_datacube.fits
        save_whitelight = True

# Read in the data
spec2d read
                           filename  |  scale_corr
Science/spec2d_scienceframe_01.fits  |  Science/spec2d_scalecorr.fits
Science/spec2d_scienceframe_02.fits  |  Science/spec2d_scalecorr.fits
spec2d end

The opening block sets parameters for the reduction steps. Note, by default, pypeit_coadd_datacube will convert all spec2d files into a spec3d file (i.e. individual datacubes for each exposure). If you want to combine all exposures into a single datacube, you need to set combine = True, as in the above example, and provide an output_filename. This is very useful if you want to combine several standard star exposures into a single datacube for flux calibration, for example.

The spec2d block provides a list of Spec2D Output files. You can also specify an optional scale correction as part of the spec2d block. This relative scale correction ensures that the relative spectral sensitivity of the datacube is constant across the field of view. The spec2d file used for the scale_corr column should either be a twilight or dome flat reduced as a science frame (see KECK KCWI for a description of what you need to do). In order to use this functionality, you should not reduce your science data with a spectral illumination correction. In other words, in your PypeIt Reduction File file, set the following when you execute run_pypeit:

[scienceframe]
    [[process]]
        use_specillum = False

run

Then run the script:

pypeit_coadd_datacube BB1245p4238.coadd3d -o

Combination options

PypeIt currently supports two different methods to convert an spec2d frame into a datacube; these options are called subpixel (default) and NGP (which is short for, nearest grid point), and can be set using the following keyword arguments:

[reduce]
    [[cube]]
        method = ngp

The default option is called subpixel, which divides each pixel in the spec2d frame into many subpixels, and assigns each subpixel to a voxel of the datacube. Flux is conserved, but voxels are correlated, and the error spectrum does not account for covariance between adjacent voxels. The subpixellation scale can be separately set in the spatial and spectral direction on the 2D detector. If you would like to change the subpixellation factors from the default values (5), you can set the spec_subpixel and spat_subpixel keywords as follows:

[reduce]
    [[cube]]
        method = subpixel
        spec_subpixel = 8
        spat_subpixel = 10

The total number of subpixels generated for each detector pixel on the spec2d frame is spec_subpixel x spat_subpixel. The default values (5) divide each spec2d pixel into 25 subpixels during datacube creation. As an alternative, you can convert the spec2d frames into a datacube with the NGP method. This algorithm is effectively a 3D histogram. This approach is faster than subpixel, flux is conserved, and voxels are not correlated. However, this option suffers the same downsides as any histogram; the choice of bin sizes can change how the datacube appears. This algorithm takes each pixel on the spec2d frame and puts the flux of this pixel into one voxel in the datacube. Depending on the binning used, some voxels may be empty (zero flux) while a neighbouring voxel might contain the flux from two spec2d pixels.

Flux calibration

If you would like to flux calibrate your datacube, you need to produce your standard star datacube first, and when generating the datacube of the science frame you must pass in the name of the standard star cube in your coadd3d file as follows:

[reduce]
    [[cube]]
        standard_cube = standard_star_cube.fits

Sky Subtraction

The default behaviour of PypeIt is to subtract the model sky that is derived from the science frame during the reduction. If you would like to turn off sky subtraction, set the following keyword argument (all lowercase):

[reduce]
    [[cube]]
        skysub_frame = none

If you would like to use a dedicated sky frame for sky subtraction that is separate from the science frame, then you need to provide the relative path+file of the spec2d file that you would like to use. If you need a different sky frame for different science frames, then you can specify the skysub_frame in the spec2d block of the .coadd3d file, similar to the way scale_corr is set in the example above. If you have dedicated sky frames, then it is generally recommended to reduce these frames as if they are regular science frames, but add the following keyword arguments at the top of your PypeIt Reduction File:

[reduce]
    [[skysub]]
        joint_fit = True
        user_regions = :
[flexure]
    spec_method = slitcen

This ensures that all pixels in the slit are used to generate a complete model of the sky.

Grating correction

The grating correction is needed if any of the data are recorded with even a very slightly different setup (e.g. data taken on two different nights with the same intended wavelength coverage, but the grating angle of the two nights were slightly different). This is also needed if your standard star observations were taken with a slightly different setup. This correction requires that you have taken calibrations (i.e. flatfields) with the two different setups. By default, the grating correction will be applied, but it can be disabled by setting the following keyword argument in your coadd3d file:

[reduce]
    [[cube]]
        grating_corr = False

Astrometric correction

If you would like to perform an astrometric correction, you need to install scikit-image (version > 0.17; see Install via pip or simply install scikit-image with pip directly). The default option is to perform the astrometric correction, if a Alignment frame has been computed. To disable the astrometric correction, set the following keyword argument in your coadd3d file:

[reduce]
    [[cube]]
        astrometric = False

White light image

A white light image can be generated for the combined frame, or for each individual frame if combine=False, by setting the following keyword argument:

[reduce]
    [[cube]]
        save_whitelight = True

White light images are not produced by default. The output filename for the white light images are given the suffix _whitelight.fits.

Spatial alignment with different setups

If you have multiple setups that you want to align so that all pixels are spatially coincident, you must first produce the datacube that you wish to use as a reference. Then, define the WCS parameters using the keyword arguments in your coadd3d file:

[reduce]
    [[cube]]
        reference_image = reference_cube_whitelight.fits
        ra_min = 191.398441
        ra_max = 191.401419
        dec_min = 42.634352
        dec_max = 42.639988
        spatial_delta = 0.339462

where these values are printed as terminal output after reference_cube.fits is generated.

Note that PypeIt is not currently setup to stitch together cubes covering different wavelength range, but it can coadd multiple spec2D files into a single datacube if the wavelength setup overlaps, and the spatial positions are very similar.

Combining multiple datacubes

PypeIt is able to combine standard star frames for flux calibration, and should not have any difficulty with this. If your science observations are designed so that there is very little overlap between exposures, you should not assume that the automatic combination algorithm will perform well. Instead, you may prefer to output individual data cubes and manually combine the cubes with some other purpose-built software. If you know the relative offsets very well, then you can specify these, and PypeIt can combine all frames into a single combined datacube. This is the recommended approach, provided that you know the relative offsets of each frame. In the following example, the first cube is assumed to be the reference cube (0.0 offset in both RA and Dec), and the second science frame is offset relative to the first by:

Delta RA x cos(Dec) = 1.0" W
Delta Dec = 2.0" N

The offset convention used in PypeIt is that positive offsets translate the RA and Dec of a frame to higher RA (i.e. more East) and higher Dec (i.e. more North). In the above example, frame 2 is 1” to the West of frame 1, meaning that we need to move frame 2 by 1” to the East (i.e. a correction of +1”). Similarly, we need to more frame 2 by 2” South (i.e. a correction of -2”). Therefore, in the above example, the coadd3d file would look like the following:

# User-defined execution parameters
[rdx]
    spectrograph = keck_kcwi
    detnum = 1
[reduce]
    [[cube]]
        combine = True
        output_filename = BB1245p4238_datacube.fits
        align = True

# Read in the data
spec2d read
                           filename  |  ra_offset | dec_offset
Science/spec2d_scienceframe_01.fits  |  0.0       | 0.0
Science/spec2d_scienceframe_02.fits  |  1.0       | -2.0
spec2d end

Current Coadd3D Data Model

The output is a single fits file that contains a datacube, and a cube with the same shape that stores the variance. The units are stored in the FLUXUNIT header keyword.

Here is a short python script that will allow you to read in and plot a wavelength slice of the cube:

from matplotlib import pyplot as plt
from astropy.visualization import ZScaleInterval, ImageNormalize
from pypeit.coadd3d import DataCube

filename = "datacube.fits"
cube = DataCube.from_file(filename)
flux_cube = cube.flux  # Flux datacube
error_cube = cube.sig  # Errors associated with each voxel of the flux datacube
ivar_cube = cube.ivar  # Inverse variance cube
wcs = cube.wcs
wave_slice = 1000
norm = ImageNormalize(flux_cube[wave_slice,:,:], interval=ZScaleInterval())
fig = plt.figure()
fig.add_subplot(111, projection=wcs, slices=('x', 'y', wave_slice))
plt.imshow(flux_cube[wave_slice,:,:], origin='lower', cmap=plt.cm.viridis, norm=norm)
plt.xlabel('RA')
plt.ylabel('Dec')
plt.show()