PulseBlast 2

PulseBlast 2 is a mass directory scanner for Unix, Darwin and DOS/NT kernels that allows the user to analyze PSRFITS data all the way from raw time series to fully calibrated and RFI excised TOAs. Many PSRFITS software packages in the past have dealt with data on the scale of a single file and many optimization methods for pulsar data currently used are used in PulseBlast 2 for individual file analysis. However, what sets PulseBlast 2 apart is its optimization across many directories spread out across the OS.

Mac Setup:

After cloning both PulseBlast2 and PyPulse (and installing packages as needed), add PulseBlast2 and PyPulse to your PYTHONPATH in .bashrc as follows:

export PYTHONPATH=[directory_for_python3]:[directory_for_pypulse]:[directory_for_pulseblast2]:$PYTHONPATH

Windows Setup:

Coming soon... maybe

Usage:

Each module can be run as a standalone unit with the PSR name and directories parsed in, or:

Run pulseblast2.py in the terminal to start PulseBlast2. You will be met by the following command prompt:

Welcome to PulseBlast V2

Please type your command in here...

Type help to get a full list of features and input flags.

The first two commands must be the directories to search through (can be None for a default option) followed by the pulsar name as given in the PSRFITS files you wish to analyze.

Main block commands (-r, -c, -t) are interpreted in order, so dirs psr_name -r -c -t will do RFI excision followed by calibration and then will create TOAs, whereas dirs psr_name -c -r -t will calibrate, then do RFI excision before making TOAs. All main block flags are optional.

Timing

-t Runs the timing algorithm

RFI Excision

-r/-rs/-rb/-rn [-i iterations] [-q "temp_dir"] [-g "saveddata_dir"] [-e]

-r RFI mitigation (defaults to sigma-clipping)

-rs RFI mitigation by sigma-clipping

-rb RFI mitigation by Bayesian interference modulation (not-imp)

-rn RFI mitigation by deep-learning neural network 1D image recognition (not-imp)

-i iterations Specifies number excision iterations {int} (optional)

-q "temp_dir" Specifies the template directory {str} (optional)

-g "saveddata_dir" Specifies the directory to save data to {str} (optional)

-e Specifies whether to average in the time domain before RFI excision (defaults to False if not given)

Calibration

-c -n "cont_name" [-w "cont_dir"] [-d "saveddata_dir"]

-c Flux calibration

-n "cont_name" Specifies continuum source name {str} (required)

-w "cont_dir" Specifies continuum source cal file directory {str} (optional)

-d "saveddata_dir" Specifies the directory to save data to {str} (optional)

Templates

Builder:

-m -f "frontend" -s subbands [-p "template directory"]

-m Template builder

-f "frontend" Specifies the observation frontend {str} (required)

-s subbands Specifies the number of sub-bands to make templates for {int} (required)

-p "template directory" Specifies the template output directory {str} (optional)

Plotter:

Run python template_plotter.py as a separate program once you have a template.

Requires:

Python 3.X

PyPulse
numpy
scipy
astropy
matplotlib

Notes:

It is suggested to have the most up-to-date versions of the packages listed. To upgrade all python packages at once, try the following command:

pip list --outdated --format=freeze | grep -v '^\-e' | cut -d = -f 1  | xargs -n1 pip install -U