WFC3/IR Banding
Abstract
A small fraction of WFC3/IR observations exhibit an anomaly known as banding. The banding anomaly is characterized by a rectangular region in which background pixel values are a few DN above or below the rest of the image. This region is centered vertically, and extends horizontally across the entire image and into the reference pixels. The height of the band varies from image to image, but is always either 64, 128, 256, or 512 pixels. Banding is not obviously seen until the third readout of an affected exposure. Furthermore, there appears to be a causal connection between the height of the band in a given banded image and the readout mode of the IR image(s) that preceded it. In this report, we describe this anomaly in detail, using surveys of preflight ground-test and on-orbit data, speculate on possible causes, and suggest strategies that observers can use to mitigate the effects of banding.
- Publication:
-
Space Telescope WFC Instrument Science Report
- Pub Date:
- February 2011
- Bibcode:
- 2011wfc..rept....4D
- Keywords:
-
- Hubble Space Telescope;
- HST;
- Space Telescope Science Institute;
- WFC3;
- Wide Field Camera 3