SHIFTS : simulator for the Herschel imaging fourier transform spectrometer

Abstract

The Spectral and Photometric Imaging Receiver (SPIRE) is one of three scientific instruments on the European Space Agency's (ESA's) Herschel Space Observatory (HSO). The medium resolution spectroscopic capabilities of SPIRE are provided by an imaging Fourier transform spectrometer (IFTS). A software simulator of the SPIRE IFTS was written to generate realistic data products, making use of available qualification and test data. We present the design and implementation of the simulator. Component and end-to-end simulations were compared to results from the first SPIRE instrument proto-flight model (PFMI) test campaign conducted at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory (RAL) in Oxford, England in 2005. Final characterization of the simulator involved the determination of astronomical quantities from the synthetic data products of a simple molecular cloud.