Prerequisites
==============

Interferometric data
---------------------

The interferometric (continuum/spectral line) data from GMRT can be analysed using NRAO's 
Common Astronomy Software Applications (`CASA`_) or Astronomical Image Processing System (`AIPS`_).
We will focus on the analysis using CASA in these tutorials.

CASA
~~~~~

You need to download and install CASA. It is important to read the CASA `documentation`_ in order to understand the details of the CASA tasks and the overall functioning of CASA. It will be useful to get familiar with the `usage`_ at the ipython prompt before 
starting the tutorials. The specific CASA version in which the tutorial was prepared is provided at the beginning 
of the individual tutorials.

The participants of Radio Astronomy School 2024 will follow the instructions on the following link for the tutorials held in the E-lab: `RAS2024`_ 

Pulsar/Beam data
-----------------

The pulsar/beam data are typically recorded using the phased-array (PA) and the
incoherent-array (IA) observing modes of the GMRT. The format of the native beam
data is same for both the PA and the IA observing modes. After a simple format
conversion using `SIGPROC`_/`RFIClean`_, the native beam data from GMRT can be
used with the publicly available softwares such as `SIGPROC`_, `PRESTO`_, `DSPSR`_,
etc. The tutorial will use data already converted to the SIGPROC filterbank format.
The primary softwares needed for the tutorial are `PRESTO`_, `tempo2`_, and their
dependencies.




.. _SIGPROC: https://github.com/SixByNine/sigproc.git
.. _PRESTO: https://github.com/scottransom/presto
.. _DSPSR: https://github.com/demorest/dspsr
.. _RFIClean: https://github.com/ymaan4/RFIClean
.. _TEMPO2: https://bitbucket.org/psrsoft/tempo2.git
.. _CASA: https://casadocs.readthedocs.io/en/stable/
.. _AIPS: http://www.aips.nrao.edu/index.shtml
.. _documentation: https://casadocs.readthedocs.io/en/stable/api/casatasks.html
.. _usage: https://casadocs.readthedocs.io/en/stable/notebooks/usingcasa.html
.. _RAS2024: https://gmrt-tutorials.readthedocs.io/en/latest/ras2024.html