Pixel-Based Non-Linearity Correction for the WFC3 IR Detector

Fuente: arXiv
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Autori principali: Shenoy, Sachindev S., Huynh, Ky, Bajaj, Varun, Mack, Jennifer
Natura: Preprint
Pubblicazione: 2025
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author Shenoy, Sachindev S.
Huynh, Ky
Bajaj, Varun
Mack, Jennifer
author_facet Shenoy, Sachindev S.
Huynh, Ky
Bajaj, Varun
Mack, Jennifer
contents The current non-linearity correction for the Wide Field Camera 3 Infrared (WFC3/IR) channel is based on ground-based data acquired during WFC3's Thermal Vacuum 3 (TV3) testing campaign. In the current reference file, the correction coefficients derived for each pixel are averaged over each of the four detector quadrants. In this work, we compute a new pixel-based non-linearity correction using in-flight calibration observations with the internal tungsten lamp flats acquired between 2011 and 2013. We derive the new correction coefficients by fitting a third-order polynomial to the accumulated signal ``up-the-ramp" for each pixel. Approximately 2\% of IR detector pixels are flagged as bad, and a solution cannot be computed. For these, we use the quadrant averages of the new correction coefficients. An accompanying report (\cite{huynh2025}) provides detailed testing results using both internal flats and external science targets acquired in a variety of observing modes. The report highlights improvements in photometry derived from ``\_flt.fits" data products calibrated using the new reference file, with the largest improvement for pixels with fluence levels approaching the full well limit of $\sim$80,000 $e^- $. A new NLINFILE reference file was delivered in October 2025 and will be used to reprocess all WFC3/IR imaging and grism observations in the MAST archive.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2512_01951
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Pixel-Based Non-Linearity Correction for the WFC3 IR Detector
Shenoy, Sachindev S.
Huynh, Ky
Bajaj, Varun
Mack, Jennifer
Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics
The current non-linearity correction for the Wide Field Camera 3 Infrared (WFC3/IR) channel is based on ground-based data acquired during WFC3's Thermal Vacuum 3 (TV3) testing campaign. In the current reference file, the correction coefficients derived for each pixel are averaged over each of the four detector quadrants. In this work, we compute a new pixel-based non-linearity correction using in-flight calibration observations with the internal tungsten lamp flats acquired between 2011 and 2013. We derive the new correction coefficients by fitting a third-order polynomial to the accumulated signal ``up-the-ramp" for each pixel. Approximately 2\% of IR detector pixels are flagged as bad, and a solution cannot be computed. For these, we use the quadrant averages of the new correction coefficients. An accompanying report (\cite{huynh2025}) provides detailed testing results using both internal flats and external science targets acquired in a variety of observing modes. The report highlights improvements in photometry derived from ``\_flt.fits" data products calibrated using the new reference file, with the largest improvement for pixels with fluence levels approaching the full well limit of $\sim$80,000 $e^- $. A new NLINFILE reference file was delivered in October 2025 and will be used to reprocess all WFC3/IR imaging and grism observations in the MAST archive.
title Pixel-Based Non-Linearity Correction for the WFC3 IR Detector
topic Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2512.01951