Common data formats and packages

• Don't lose sight of the sky
  • The physical relationships between interferometry data and astrophysical emission mechanisms
• All interferometry data packages support similar operations
  • Removing bad data
  • Comparing visibility data with models to correct for atmospheric and other errors
  • Fourier Transforming the visibility data and removing artefacts from the resulting image
  • Visualisation and measurement of the resulting data cubes etc.
• How to choose a package
  • Most packages originally developed for specific instruments
  • Some have been greatly extended - what does what you might want in future as well as now?
  • Ease of scripting/pipelining
  • Support
• AIPS and CASA
  • Outlines of packages
  • Data formats - FITS and MS
• Where to get packages and help
  • Limitations and specificity
• A few basic utilities
  • Getting data in and out
  • What have I got?
  • What's in the data?
  • What did that command just do?
    • Where did it put the result?
  • How do I look at that?
• Structure of the forthcoming tutorials