The optimisation of short-term scheduling of science observations at Paranal observatory (VLT and ELT)

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Main Authors: Anderson, Joseph P., Sedaghati, Elyar, Cikota, Aleksandar, Behara, Natalie, Bian, Fuyan, Otarola, Angel, Mieske, Steffen
Format: Preprint
Published: 2024
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author Anderson, Joseph P.
Sedaghati, Elyar
Cikota, Aleksandar
Behara, Natalie
Bian, Fuyan
Otarola, Angel
Mieske, Steffen
author_facet Anderson, Joseph P.
Sedaghati, Elyar
Cikota, Aleksandar
Behara, Natalie
Bian, Fuyan
Otarola, Angel
Mieske, Steffen
contents The efficiency of science observation Short-Term Scheduling (STS) can be defined as being a function of how many highly ranked observations are completed per unit time. Current STS at ESO's Paranal observatory is achieved through filtering and ranking observations via well-defined algorithms, leading to a proposed observation at time t. This Paranal STS model has been successfully employed for more than a decade. Here, we summarise the current VLT(I) STS model, and outline ongoing efforts of optimising the scientific return of both the VLT(I) and future ELT. We describe the STS simulator we have built that enables us to evaluate how changes in model assumptions affect STS effectiveness. Such changes include: using short-term predictions of atmospheric parameters instead of assuming their constant time evolution; assessing how the ranking weights on different observation parameters can be changed to optimise the scheduling; changing STS to be more `dynamic' to consider medium-term scheduling constraints. We present specific results comparing how machine learning predictions of the seeing can improve STS efficiency when compared to the current model of using the last 10\,min median of the measured seeing for observation selection.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2407_16049
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle The optimisation of short-term scheduling of science observations at Paranal observatory (VLT and ELT)
Anderson, Joseph P.
Sedaghati, Elyar
Cikota, Aleksandar
Behara, Natalie
Bian, Fuyan
Otarola, Angel
Mieske, Steffen
Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics
The efficiency of science observation Short-Term Scheduling (STS) can be defined as being a function of how many highly ranked observations are completed per unit time. Current STS at ESO's Paranal observatory is achieved through filtering and ranking observations via well-defined algorithms, leading to a proposed observation at time t. This Paranal STS model has been successfully employed for more than a decade. Here, we summarise the current VLT(I) STS model, and outline ongoing efforts of optimising the scientific return of both the VLT(I) and future ELT. We describe the STS simulator we have built that enables us to evaluate how changes in model assumptions affect STS effectiveness. Such changes include: using short-term predictions of atmospheric parameters instead of assuming their constant time evolution; assessing how the ranking weights on different observation parameters can be changed to optimise the scheduling; changing STS to be more `dynamic' to consider medium-term scheduling constraints. We present specific results comparing how machine learning predictions of the seeing can improve STS efficiency when compared to the current model of using the last 10\,min median of the measured seeing for observation selection.
title The optimisation of short-term scheduling of science observations at Paranal observatory (VLT and ELT)
topic Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2407.16049