Calibration software for HST/WFC3, HST/ACS, and HST/STIS.
HSTCAL is a C-based package which is comprised of the science calibration
software in support of the Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS), Space Telescope
Imaging Spectrograph (STIS), and Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3) pipelines. Initially, the
pipelines were written using C, but were encapsulated within the IRAF/STSDAS
environment, relying on IRAF to perform I/O and other basic interface
functions. HSTCAL replaces all the low-level IRAF-based functionality with routines
based on the third-party package CFITSIO. This allows all the pipeline
software to be compiled and run without any dependence on IRAF. Not only
can HST data be processed using the C code directly via the C executables,
but the pipelines can also be run by using a high-level Python interface
(via subprocess)
comprised of thin wrappers for the C executables. The wrappers are available
as part of the xxxtools Python packages mentioned below.
HSTCAL can be obtained as part of the
Space Telescope Environment (stenv),
a conda environment. The instructions found at this URL describe
choosing the stenv release, building the stenv
environment from the YAML file, and activating your new environment. Once your environment
is activated, you can invoke any of the HSTCAL executables.
# Use HSTCAL
$ calacs.e [...]
$ calwf3.e [...]
$ cs[...].e
The HSTCAL package is resident on conda-forge and you can use the following command to perform the installation:
$ conda install -c conda-forge hstcal==X.Y.ZThe X.Y.Z is the desired version number.
See detailed installation instructions.
The following environment variables must be defined for the respective cal[...].e pipelines
to be able to find calibration reference files. For more information, see the
CRDS user guide.
jref must point to a path containing ACS reference files. For example:
export jref="/grp/crds/cache/references/hst/"If your machine is not connected to the Central Storage mentioned above, please set the location to where the calibration reference files exist on your own machine.
For more information, please see the ACS Data Handbook and the acstools documentation.
iref must point to a path containing WFC3 reference files. For example:
export iref="/grp/crds/cache/references/hst/"If your machine is not connected to the Central Storage mentioned above, please set the location to where the calibration reference files exist on your own machine.
For more information, please see the WFC3 Data Handbook and the wfc3tools documentation.
oref must point to a path containing STIS reference files. For example:
export oref="/grp/crds/cache/references/hst/"If your machine is not connected to the Central Storage mentioned above, please set the location to where the calibration reference files exist on your own machine.
For more information, please see the STIS Data Handbook and the stistools documentation.
The following are also part of the standard HST pipeline, but are independent software packages written in Python or Python layered on C:
- COS pipeline (
calcosandcostools): See COS Data Handbook and costools documentation - Drizzlepac
Nightly regression test results are available from RegressionTests hstcal workflow.
HSTCAL conda-forge recipe is hosted at hstcal-feedstock.
DMS deliveries are managed by stasis.
If you need further assistance, please contact HST Help Desk.