Curtin University Homepage
  • Library
  • Help
    • Admin

    espace - Curtin’s institutional repository

    JavaScript is disabled for your browser. Some features of this site may not work without it.
    View Item 
    • espace Home
    • espace
    • Curtin Research Publications
    • View Item
    • espace Home
    • espace
    • Curtin Research Publications
    • View Item

    Optimization of survey strategies for detecting slow radio transients

    212994_212994.pdf (304.6Kb)
    Access Status
    Open access
    Authors
    Macquart, Jean-Pierre
    Date
    2014
    Type
    Journal Article
    
    Metadata
    Show full item record
    Citation
    Macquart, J. 2014. Optimization of survey strategies for detecting slow radio transients. Publications of the Astronomical Society of Australia. 31: e031 (16 pp.).
    Source Title
    Publications of the Astronomical Society of Australia
    DOI
    10.1017/pasa.2014.27
    ISSN
    1323-3580
    School
    Curtin Institute of Radio Astronomy (Physics)
    Remarks

    This paper has been accepted for publication and will appear in a revised form, subsequent to peer review and/or editorial input by Cambridge University Press, in Publications of the Astronomical Society of Australia.

    Copyright © Astronomical Society of Australia 2014. Published by Cambridge University Press

    URI
    http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/26898
    Collection
    • Curtin Research Publications
    Abstract

    We investigate the optimal tradeoff between sensitivity and field of view in surveys for slow radio transients using the event detection rate as the survey metric. This tradeoff bears implications for the design of surveys conducted with upcoming widefield radio interferometers, such as the ASKAP VAST survey and the MeerKAT TRAPUM survey. We investigate (i) a survey in which the events are distributed homogeneously throughout a volume centred on the Earth, (ii) a survey in which the events are homogeneously distributed, but are only detectable beyond a certain minimum distance, and (iii) a survey in which all the events occur at an identical distance, as is appropriate for a targetted survey of a particular field which subtends Npoint telescope pointings. For a survey of fixed duration, Tobs, we determine the optimal tradeoff between number of telescope pointings, N, and integration time per field. We consider a population in which the event luminosity distribution follows a power law with index − α, and tslew is the slewing time between fields or, for a drift scan, the time taken for the telescope drift by one beamwidth. Several orders of magnitude improvement in detection rate is possible by optimization of the survey parameters. The optimal value of N for case (i) is Nmax ~ Tobs/4tslew, while for case (iii) we find Nmax = (Lmax/L0)2[(3 − α)/2]2/(α − 1), where Lmax is the maximum luminosity of a transient event and L0 is the minimum luminosity event detectable in an integration of duration Tobs. (The instance Nmax > Npoint in (iii) implies re-observation of fields over the survey area, except when the duration of transient events exceeds that between re-observations of the same field, where Nmax = Npoint applies instead.) We consider the balance in survey optimization between telescope field of view, Ω, and sensitivity, characterised by the minimum detectable flux density, S0. For homogeneously distributed events (i), the detection rate scales as NΩS−3/20, while for targetted events (iii) it scales as NΩS1 − α0. However, if the targetted survey is optimised for N the event detection rate scales instead as ΩS−20. This analysis bears implications for the assessment of telescope designs: the quantity ΩS−20 is often used as the metric of telescope performance in the SKA transients literature, but only under special circumstances is it the metric that optimises the event detection rate.

    Related items

    Showing items related by title, author, creator and subject.

    • Detection Rates for Surveys for Fast Transients with Next Generation Radio Arrays
      Macquart, Jean-pierre (2011)
      We relate the underlying properties of a population of fast radio-emitting transient events to its expected detection rate in a survey of finite sensitivity. The distribution of the distances of the detected events is ...
    • A pilot ASKAP survey of radio transient events in the region around the intermittent pulsar PSR J1107-5907
      Hobbs, G.; Heywood, I.; Bell, M.; Kerr, M.; Rowlinson, A.; Johnston, S.; Shannon, R.; Voronkov, M.; Ward, C.; Banyer, J.; Hancock, P.; Murphy, T.; Allison, J.; Amy, S.; Ball, L.; Bannister, K.; Bock, D.; Brodrick, D.; Brothers, M.; Brown, A.; Bunton, J.; Chapman, J.; Chippendale, A.; Chung, Y.; DeBoer, D.; Diamond, P.; Edwards, P.; Ekers, Ronald; Ferris, R.; Forsyth, R.; Gough, R.; Grancea, A.; Gupta, N.; Harvey-Smith, L.; Hay, S.; Hayman, D.; Hotan, A.; Hoyle, S.; Humphreys, B.; Indermuehle, B.; Jacka, C.; Jackson, C.; Jackson, S.; Jeganathan, K.; Joseph, J.; Kenda, R.; Kiraly, D.; Koribalski, B.; Leach, M.; Lenc, E.; MacLeod, A.; Mader, S.; Marquarding, M.; Marvil, J.; McClure-Griffiths, N.; McConnell, D.; Mirtschin, P.; Neuhold, S.; Ng, A.; Norris, R.; O'Sullivan, J.; Pearce, S.; Phillips, C.; Popping, A.; Qiao, R.; Reynolds, J.; Roberts, P.; Sault, R.; Schinckel, A.; Serra, P.; Shaw, R.; Shimwel, T.; Storey, M.; Sweetnam, A.; Tzioumis, A.; Westmeier, T.; Whitingl, M.; Wilson, C. (2016)
      We use observations from the Boolardy Engineering Test Array (BETA) of the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder (ASKAP) telescope to search for transient radio sources in the field around the intermittent pulsar ...
    • A search for variable and transient radio sources in the extended Chandra Deep Field South at 5.5 GHz
      Bell, M.; Huynh, M.; Hancock, Paul; Murphy, T.; Gaensler, B.; Burlon, D.; Trott, C.; Bannister, K. (2015)
      We present a three epoch survey for transient and variables in the extended Chandra Deep Field South at 5.5 GHz with the Australia Telescope Compact Array. A region covering ~0.3 deg2 was observed on time-scales of 2.5 ...
    Advanced search

    Browse

    Communities & CollectionsIssue DateAuthorTitleSubjectDocument TypeThis CollectionIssue DateAuthorTitleSubjectDocument Type

    My Account

    Admin

    Statistics

    Most Popular ItemsStatistics by CountryMost Popular Authors

    Follow Curtin

    • 
    • 
    • 
    • 
    • 

    CRICOS Provider Code: 00301JABN: 99 143 842 569TEQSA: PRV12158

    Copyright | Disclaimer | Privacy statement | Accessibility

    Curtin would like to pay respect to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander members of our community by acknowledging the traditional owners of the land on which the Perth campus is located, the Whadjuk people of the Nyungar Nation; and on our Kalgoorlie campus, the Wongutha people of the North-Eastern Goldfields.