Automated calibration and imaging with the Allen Telescope Array

Abstract

Planned instruments such as the Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA), the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST) and the Square Kilometer Array (SKA) will measure their data in petabytes. Innovative approaches in signal processing, computing hardware, algorithms, and data handling are necessary. The Allen Telescope Array (ATA) is a 42-antenna aperture synthesis array equipped with broadband, dual polarization receivers from 0.5 to 11 GHz. Four independent IF bands feed 4 spectral cross correlators and 3 beamformers. In this paper we describe the automated data processing to handle the high data rate and RFI in close to real time at the ATA.