All AMBER raw files carry the FITS keyword 'HIERARCH ESO OBS PROG ID'. Depending on its content, two cases are distinguished concerning the distribution of files in the Service Mode package:

• Files with DPR CATG=SCIENCE: here a strict check on the PROG_ID is made. You will receive all files which carry your PROG_ID, and only those.
• Files with the DPR CATG=CALIB. In this case, there are two different types of CALIB files :
  • the technical calibration files (part of the calibration plan, these are not driven by a PROG_ID), you will receive the raw files for the technical calibrations relevant to your observations,
  • the files measuring fringes on a astronomical calibrator which contains a PROG_ID. You will receive the raw files taken on the astronomical calibrator with your PROG_ID. You can also access the astronomical CALIB files which carry another PROG_ID as soon as they are in the archive in Garching (here).

• archive file name (FITS keyword: ARCFILE): this is the unique name of a raw file which consists of the parent instrument name and the timestamp of its generation. Raw files always have extension '.fits'. AMBER ARCFILE names always start with 'AMBER'. These files follow the Optical/IR interferometry conventions. Find informations about this format here.
• original file name (FITS keyword: ORIGFILE): this is the name of a raw file generated by the instrument workstation. In case of AMBER, it consists of:
  - the name of the parent instrument which is AMBER,
  - the time stamp of the first light on the detector for this file, the format is the same than for the ARCFILE (YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS.sss),
  - and a sequence number counted within the exposure.

The association of raw files of different types (CALIB and SCIENCE) is a non-trivial task given the many different possible modes of AMBER data. To support in this task, we have created the list files which you find in each data directory.

The AMBER association scheme is described here.

General policy of data distribution

Check out here.

Do I have to submit a request to receive my Service Mode data package?

No. Service Mode programmes are declared completed by the Users Support Group. This signal is sent to the Data Flow Operations Group which then prepares the AMBER package. The data are copied onto DVDs and sent to the PI as soon as possible.

When can I expect to receive my AMBER data package?

You can check the status of AMBER Service Mode runs here

General information about ServiceMode Observing can be found here.

Why are there no reduced data in my package?

We have developped a first version of the AMBER pipeline, which process most of the files taken in HIGH_SENS mode. It is possible that howerver some of these files cannot be processed with the present version of the pipleine