Help for the Run Progress Pages

The run progress pages document the execution of Service Mode and Visitor Mode observing runs carried out at the Paranal Observatory. A summary of the run's characteristics is given, as well as a time-stamped list of all Observation Blocks (OB) that were executed until now. Details of each execution are given below the OB Summary list. If reduced data for the given run exist, those are also reported in both the OB Summary table and in the details. These pages are generated automatically when accessed, based on the current content of the Paranal Night Log Tool, and of the Phase 3 database.

PDF Night Reports

By selecting one or more runs on the main page it is possible to retrieve Night Reports in PDF format for up to 7 (consecutive) nights for those runs. If no observations are taken for any of the selected runs, the report for that night will only contain information about the weather and instruments used. If there are observations taken for the selected run(s), then all raw data for that run and the calibration data taken for the same instrument (including all calibration plan data even for modes that may differ from the one of the specific run) are included.

From individual Run Progress pages the PDF night report generation on-the-fly is also possible through the menu on the left. In this case again up to 7 nights can be requested.

Note that the generation of these reports may be sometimes slow because it is done on-the-fly and the speed will depend on the number of nights selected and the other database queries.

OB Summary

At the top of the progress page you can find a brief summary about your observing run: run code, instrument, allocated time, etc. A progress bar also depicts what proportion of your run has already been executed. Please note that clicking on the run code will take you directly to the ESO Archive page listing all the raw data files available for your observing run. See below how to get to the reduced data instead, when available.

The entries in the top table correspond to the following information:

Reduced: information shown only if pipeline-processed reduced data exist for the OB
OB ID: link that jumps to the detailed OB slot section
Date: night when the OB was executed
Time: the start and the end of the OB execution time
OB Name: self-explanatory.
Grade: quality control grade given by the observer
Weather symbol (): link to the summary weather report for the night

OB ID entries with a gray background in the summary table indicate an execution during the astronomical twilight. Columns with underlined Column Name can be sorted in ascending/descending order by clicking on the column name.

It is possible to select several OBs from the table (using the checkboxes) and then click on either the "Raw data for selected OBs" or the "Reduced data for selected OBs" button. As the name suggests, this will take you to the list of all data files (for either raw or reduced data) available for the selected OBs. Note that the checkbox appears only once for any given OB: all the executions of any selected OB will appear in the results of the Archive query.

In case at least one reduced data product exists for the run, it is possible to use the filtering "Show all slots" pulldown menu, to visualise in the OB summary table either:

All slots (Show all slots) [default]
OBs for which no reduced data exist (Show slots with NO reduced products)
OBs for which reduced data exist (Show slots WITH reduced products only)

The number in parentheses corresponds to the number of slots for each of the categories.

(*) Note: Reduced data are available only for certain instrument modes, please refer to the list of currently available pipeline-processed science data products, with the associated data release descriptions (in PDF format) which explain in detail which modes are supported, under which conditions, with all details about the pipeline settings, the data format, etc..

The entry "Retrieve OBs per date" in the left-hand menu will allow you to restrict your query to the Archive of raw or reduced data to a given date range, for the concerned observing run.

OB details

Hovering with the mouse over the symbols and items for each OB execution will make some tooltips appear.

Folder icon ()

opens a summary list of raw files produced by the execution of the OB. Raw files shown on gray background were taken during the time that was declared as partial loss; files may be affected by issues during acquisition.

OB ID

links to the ESO Archive to the list of (Raw) or (Reduced) data files corresponding to this particular execution of the OB.

indicates that the OB was executed and set to status 'Completed'

indicates that the OB was executed and set to status 'Must repeat'

indicates that the OB was aborted

Weather

ACD: link to Ambient Conditions Database
: opens a weather summary for the night

Quality control grades and OB status

Quality control (QC) grades are the following:

A �� fully within constraints
B �� mostly within constraints (some constraint may be violated up to 10%)
C �� executed out of constraints and OB must be repeated
D �� executed out of constraints but OB will not be repeated
X �� QC grade not applicable; typically automatically assigned when an OB was aborted
? or "-" �� no QC grade assigned; this should not appear for service mode OBs; if present it indicates some problems and the OB will be repeated

OBs with QC grades A, B or D are considered completed. In case of a different QC grade, the OB is automatically queued for a later execution.