Date: Thu, 26 Feb 1998 18:22:51 -0800 (PST)
Message-Id: <199802270222.SAA12696@colman.ipac.caltech.edu>
To: 2mass
Subject: IPAC 2MASS WG Mtg #144 Minutes
Cc: chas, sstrom@donald.phast.umass.edu, stiening, bgreen
Content-Length: 2948
X-Lines: 78
Status: RO

           IPAC 2MASS Working Group Meeting #144 Minutes
                             2/24/98

Attendees: R. Beck, T. Chester, R. Cutri, D. Engler, T. Evans,
           J. Fowler, L. Fullmer, B. Green, T. Jarrett,
           D. Kirkpatrick, G. Kopan, J. Mazzarella, H. McCallon,
           B. Nelson, B. Wheaton, S. Wheelock, J. White
          

          
AGENDA

1.) Introductions
2.) Southern Observatory Status
3.) 2MAPPS 2.0 Test Status
4.) Science Team Meeting



DISCUSSION


1.) Introductions

    The meeting was attended by B. Green, the new IPAC Manager,
who introduced himself to the working group members. Each member
then provided Bill with a self-introduction and a brief task
description. Some discussion followed that ranged over various
topics, including 2MASS experience that might prove beneficial to
SIRTF.


2.) Southern Observatory Status

    R. Cutri reported that the camera for the southern
observatory has been received in Santiago and is working its way
through customs. A complete set of spare electronics is now also
on its way.
    A test data set has been received at IPAC from M. Skrutskie
intended to prepare for rapid-turnaround processing in support of
setup operations at the southern observatory. Since the FTP link
from the observatory is very slow, some very effective
compression scheme will be needed for fast data transfer. The
test data are scans compressed with a special-purpose technique
that eliminates most information not needed for the setup support
processing. The decompression algorithm has been applied, and the
scans have been processed through POSFRM. The same scans have
been processed normally, so that the correct results are known,
and the processing of the compressed data yielded the correct
results to within sufficient accuracy for the setup support. As
soon as the hardware can be assembled, the setup processing will
begin, and some support staff will be needed at IPAC. This is all
expected to begin sometime next week.


3.) 2MAPPS 2.0 Test Status

    The testing of 2MAPPS 2.0 has been continuing, and many
problems have been resolved, but some remain. Photometric
dispersion of certain calibration scans has been degraded by one
of the recent changes to the system, and the origin of this is
being sought. The change to the photometric zero points via the
pipe.cal file is suspected, and this clue will be followed up by
B. Wheaton.

   [Note added in proof - This problem was associated with the  
    introduction of the new instrumental magnitude zero points,  
    and has been rectified.]


4.) Science Team Meeting

    The science team meeting at which the 2MAPPS 2.0 readiness
will be examined is scheduled for next Monday, March 2. It is
expected that some modifications may be requested at the meeting,
or at least some parameter settings may need to be changed, so
that it is not clear how soon after the meeting 2MAPPS 2.0 will
be put into full production mode.