LAMBDA News
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
A number of WMAP data analysis applications use pixel masks which exclude foreground-contaminated portions of the sky from the analysis. Diffuse emission is masked using a combination of cuts in the K band map and a model of thermal dust emission. Point sources are masked based on a combination of external catalog data and WMAP-detected sources. A source exclusion radius of 0.6 degree is used for the intensity masks and 1.0 degrees for the polarization masks.
| Mask | sky cut % |
Description |
|---|---|---|
| Kp2 Intensity | 15.3 | The standard intensity mask. |
| Kp0 Intensity | 23.5 | A more aggressive intensity mask. |
| Processing | 5.7 | The mask used in map-making. |
| Source Only | 2.4 | The point source intensity mask. |
| Polarization | 26.5 | The standard polarization mask (P06). |
| P04 Polarization | 31.1 | A more aggressive polarization mask. |
| P02 Polarization | 44.6 | A more aggressive polarization mask. |
| Polarization Sources | 0.2 | The point source polarization mask. |
Mask values for each map pixel are provided in the N_obs field of the data file (the 'Temperature' field is set to zero for all pixels). A mask value of zero means the pixel is rejected; a value of one means the pixel is accepted.
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)
- Three-Year Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) Observations: Implications for Cosmology, D. Spergel, et.al (2006).
- WMAP Three Year Explanatory Supplement
