Data model: plateDefault

General description: These files describe the default settings for a given mode of plate design. It contains is a list of keyword-value pairs in the header, and no structures. These set such things as how many fibers are to be assigned to each instrument, constraints on fiber assignment, sources for standards, ferrule sizes, and the like. The parameters set herein can be overridden by a plateDefinition file for a particular plate.

Naming convention: plateDefault-TYPE-VERSION.par, where TYPE indicates the type name to specify in the plateDefinition file to use these defaults, and VERSION specifies the platedesign product version.

Approximate size: 5 kbytes.

File type: Yanny

Read by products: platedesign

Written by products: none

Required header keywords:

• instruments[N] (string): list of instrument names that are used in this type of plate (allowed: "SDSS", "BOSS", "MARVELS", "APOGEE")
• targettypes[N] (string): types of targets which the file will specify a certain number of (allowed: "science", "sky", "standard")
• nPointings (int32): number of pointings that the plate is designed to make; each pointing will correspond to one or more exposures during observation; number must be less than or equal to 6
• nOffsets (int32): number of offsets to perform within each exposure
• ninstrument_targettype[npointings] (int32): for each instrument and target type, specify the number of fibers to assign within each pointing.
• gfiberType (string): type of guide fibers to assume (old "gfiber" or new "gfiber2")
• guideType[npointings] (string): for each pointing, the source to search for guide fibers from (can be "SDSS" or "2MASS")
• guideNumspointing[N] (string): for specified pointing, list of guide stars to assign in that pointing
• ferruleSizeinstrument (float32): for specified instrument, diameter of ferrule in mm; must exist for all instruments, plus also for instrument=GUIDE
• bufferSizeinstrument (float32): for specified instrument, buffer to include outside ferrule for checking for conflicts; must exist for all instruments, plus also for instrument=GUIDE
• max_off_fiber_for_ha (float32): set HA limits (ha_observable_min, haobservable_max) to guarantee no offsets greater than this limit, in arcsec (platedesign v1_27 and above)

Optional header keywords:

• pointingexptimepointing (int32): for specified pointing, expected exposure time in seconds (before any offsets); only passed along to output files, doesn't actually affect observations
• minstdinblockinstrument (int32):for the given instrument, specify if we have a minimum number of standards we want to assign per fiber block (default 0)
• minskyinblockinstrument (int32): for the given instrument, specify if we have a minimum number of skies we want to assign per fiber block (default 0)
• maxskyinblockinstrument (int32): for the given instrument, specify if we have a maximum number of skies we want to assign per fiber block (default 0)
• plateDesignStandards[N] (string): specify what instruments we want plate design to find standards for; otherwise one of the plateInput files specified by the plateDefinition file should find them; (default: plate design doesn't find standards)
• standardType[npointings] (string): for each pointing, type of standard to find (can be "SDSS" or "2MASS", or "None" --- in fact, any value other than SDSS or 2MASS is equivalent to "None")
• plateDesignSkies[N] (string): specify what instruments we want plate design to find skies for, if any
• skyType[npointings] (string): for each pointing, type of skies to find (can be "SDSS" or "2MASS")
• guidemag_minmax[2] (float32): minimum and maximum g-band magnitudes for guide stars (default: [13, 15.5])
• nguidemax[2] (int32): maximum number of possible guide stars to track, otherwise tracks 10s of thousands at low b (default: infinite)
• collectfactor (int32): oversampling factor for collecting skies and standards; to ensure pluggability, should be at least 5 (default: 5)
• bossmagtype (string): type of magnitude used for fiber magnitudes for BOSS targets
• plugmapstyle (string): type of plugmap file to create (default "plplugmap")
• standardmag_minmax_instrument[2] (float32): for specified instrument, minimum and maximum g-band magnitudes of standards (default [15.5, 17])
• pointing_name[npointings]: "names" of the pointings; default is "A B C D E F"; mostly useful if you want to make a single pointing but specify that it is the B-side (as is the case for MARVELS sometimes)
• replace_fibers (int32): for MARVELS plates; set to 1 to allow the plate design software to seek further down the priority list to ensure pluggability
• respect_fiberid (int32): for repeated MARVELS plates (though available to any survey); uses fiber numbers specified in the plateInput file, instead of reassigning
• relaxed_fiber_classes (int32): for APOGEE, do not break target classes up into bright/medium/faint.

Example file: plateDefault-MARVELS_PRE-v0_1.par