APEX, a telescope dwarfed by the majestic mountains
With Arnaud Belloche, we tried to understand the way the APEX Time Estimator works for On-the-fly (OTF) observations and run some tests (simulating OTF map noise and processing it with the standard OTF tools provided by CLASS to optimize the observation process, post-treatment and time request). We found that 1) the time estimator estimate is too optimistic and 2) the standard OTF parameters used at APEX are not compatible with the standard data reduction treatment. Solutions are proposed.
Our report:
Pagani, L. & Belloche, A. On the calculation of observing time with APEX in the spectral line OTF mode and other considerations