Facilities > VLA > Data Processing > Analysis Packages > Analysis Packages

Analysis Packages

The two main analysis packages used for the processing of VLA data are AIPS and CASA.

CASA

Common Astronomy Software Applications (CASA) package is a set of C++ tools bundled together under an iPython interface as a set of data reduction tasks. The CASA collaboration is led by the National Radio Astronomy Observatory, with the primary goal of supporting the data post-processing needs of ALMA and the VLA. The CASA tasks are oriented towards end-user data processing and analysis, while the toolkit is geared towards the support of algorithm development and the construction of tasks.

AIPS

The Astronomical Image Processing System is a software package from the National Radio Astronomy Observatory that is used for calibration, data analysis, imaging, image display, plotting, and a variety of ancillary tasks on astronomical data (primarily radio data). Strategies for VLA data reduction using AIPS can be found in the AIPS CookBook.