27–30 Jul 2026
Engineering Research Center, Brown University
US/Eastern timezone

MWA vs. LOFAR: Analyzing LOFAR data using MWA software

Not scheduled
20m
Main sessions: Room 190, Break-out sessions: Room 125 (Engineering Research Center, Brown University)

Main sessions: Room 190, Break-out sessions: Room 125

Engineering Research Center, Brown University

Providence, Rhode Island
Presentation Epoch of Reionization

Speaker

Nichole Barry (University of New South Wales)

Description

The Epoch of Reionisation (EoR) is one of the prime science directives for many current and future low-frequency radio interferometers, including the Murchison Widefield Array (MWA) and the Low Frequency Array (LOFAR). This elusive signal has yet to be measured, despite over a decade of measurements. Up until this point, analysis of MWA and LOFAR EoR data has been entirely separate, even though they share a similar instrumental foundation. In this work, we seek to learn about our current analytical systematic floor in MWA pipelines by analyzing LOFAR data. This is aided in part by WODEN, the GPU-enabled visibility simulator, which provides instrumentally accurate simulations of the sky for both LOFAR and the MWA. Given the shared instrumental history between the two instruments, this parallel study investigates noise propagation, calibration, observation strategies, integration methods, and foreground mitigation between the analysis pipelines of each community in an effort to open up the degrees of freedom to shed light on unknown causes of contamination. We will provide an update on the parallel study, particularly from the standpoint of analyzing LOFAR data using MWA software. This work is complementary to a talk submitted by Satyapan Munshi, which focuses on the converse problem of analyzing MWA data using LOFAR techniques.

Timeslot preferences Would prefer slightly longer talk slots (i.e 25 min). Aiming to attend in person.

Author

Nichole Barry (University of New South Wales)

Co-author

Satyapan Munshi (Australian National University)

Presentation materials

There are no materials yet.