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Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe
The data made available through this page has been updated. The most recent version of this data may be accessed through /product/map/current/
Description
As part of the foreground analysis, the Stokes I frequency band maps were smoothed to 1° resolution. These smoothed maps play a part in creating a CMB map used in the MEM and ILC foreground modeling efforts discussed in Hinshaw, et.al., 2006; see that paper for details.
WMAP maps are stored in FITS binary table extensions. The maps are stored in the first extension in a file; the format of this table depends upon whether polarization maps have been included in the file. Some files also contain the polarization covariance matrices for the maps; if supplied these matrices are stored in a second binary table extension.
As previously stated, the first FITS extension contains the maps. These maps
are in a nested HEALPix format, with
each row representing a single pixel. There are either four or two columns
depending upon whether or not polarization maps are included; these columns
are:
| TEMPERATURE | The Stokes I, or temperature, measurement in mK (thermodynamic). |
| Q_POLARISATION | The Stokes Q polarization measurement in mK (thermodynamic). |
| U_POLARISATION | The Stokes U polarization measurement in mK (thermodynamic). |
| N_OBS | The effective number of observations. |
The column names were selected to be compatible with existing HEALPix software. The TEMPERATURE and N_OBS columns are the only columns that exist in files that do not contain polarization maps.
Additional Information
- Three-Year Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) Observations: Beam Profiles, Data Processing, Radiometer Characterization and Systematic Error Limits, N. Jarosik, et.al. (2006)
- Three-Year Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) Observations: Temperature Analysis, G. Hinshaw, et.al. (2006)
- Three-Year Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) Observations: Polarization Analysis, L. Page, et.al. (2006)
- WMAP Three Year Explanatory Supplement
