Description

exp_to_source is a data reorganization tool that is used to convert Stage 2 exposure-based data products to Stage 3 source-based data products. It is only used when there is a known source list for the exposure data, which is required in order to reorganize the data by source. Hence it is only useable for NIRSpec MOS, NIRSpec fixed-slit, NIRCam WFSS, and NIRISS WFSS data. Details on the operation for each mode are given below.

The tool is run near the beginning of the calwebb_spec3 pipeline, immediately after the master background step.

In general, the tool takes as input multiple exposure-based “cal” products created during Stage 2 spectroscopic (calwebb_spec2) processing and reorganizes the data in them to create a set of output source-based “cal” products, which are then processed through the remaining steps of the calwebb_spec3 pipeline. For example, if the input consists of a set of 3 exposure-based “cal” files (from a 3-point nod dither pattern, for example), each one of which contains data for 5 defined sources, then the output consists of a set of 5 source-based “cal” products (one per source), each of which contains the data from the 3 exposures for each source. This is done as a convenience, in order to have all the data for a given source contained in a single product. All data arrays associated with a given source, e.g. SCI, ERR, DQ, WAVELENGTH, VAR_POISSON, etc., are copied from each input product into the corresponding output product.

NIRSpec MOS

NIRSpec MOS observations are created at the APT level by defining a configuration of MSA slitlets with a source assigned to each slitlet. The source-to-slitlet linkage is carried along in the information contained in the MSA metadata file used during calwebb_spec2 processing. Each slitlet instance created by the extract_2d step stores the source name in the SRCNAME keyword of the SCI extension header for the slitlet. The exp_to_source tool uses the SRCNAME values to sort the data from each input product into an appropriate source-based output product.

If fixed slit targets are planned as part of a NIRSpec MOS exposure, they will also have sources identified by the MSA metadata file. The associated SRCNAME values are used to sort the data from these slits in the same way the MSA slitlets are sorted. In this combined mode, the products containing MOS slitlets are marked with EXP_TYPE = “NRS_MSASPEC” after sorting; the models containing fixed slits are marked with EXP_TYPE = “NRS_FIXEDSLIT”.

NIRSpec Fixed Slit

NIRSpec fixed slit observations do not have sources identified with each slit, so the slit names, e.g. S200A1, S1600A1, etc., are mapped to predefined source ID values, as follows:

Slit Name

Source ID

S200A1

1

S200A2

2

S400A1

3

S1600A1

4

S200B1

5

The assigned source ID values are used by exp_to_source to sort the data from each slit into the appropriate source-based output product.

NIRCam and NIRISS WFSS

Wide-Field Slitless Spectroscopy (WFSS) modes do not have a predefined source list, but a source list is created by the calwebb_image3 pipeline when it processes the direct image exposures that are included in a WFSS observation. That source catalog is then used during calwebb_spec2 processing of the grism exposures to define and create cutouts for each identified source. Like NIRSpec MOS mode, each “slit” instance is identified by the source ID number from the catalog and is used by the exp_to_source tool to reorganize exposures into source-based products.

File Name Syntax

The input exposure-based “cal” products have file names that follow the standard Stage 2 exposure syntax, such as:

jw93065002001_02101_00001_nrs1_cal.fits

See exposure-based file names for more details on the meaning of each field in the file names.

The FITS file naming scheme for the source-based “cal” products follows the standard Stage 3 syntax, such as:

jw10006-o010_s000000061_nirspec_f170lp-g235m_cal.fits

where “s000000061” in this example is the source ID. See source-based file names for more details on the meaning of each field in this type of file name.