Rebin a region of a data grid astRebinX
Note, if you will be rebining a sequence of input arrays and then co-adding them into a single array, the alternative astRebinSeqX functions will in general be more efficient.
You should use a rebinning function which matches the
numerical type of the data you are processing by replacing
X
in the generic function name astRebinX
by an appropriate 1- or 2-character type code. For example, if you are rebinning
data with type "
float"
, you should use the function astRebinF (see the "
Data Type Codes"
section below for the codes appropriate to other numerical
types).
Rebinning of the grid of input data is performed by transforming the coordinates of the
centre of each input grid element (or pixel) into the coordinate system of the output
grid. The input pixel value is then divided up and assigned to the output pixels in the
neighbourhood of the central output coordinates. A choice of schemes are provided for
determining how each input pixel value is divided up between the output pixels. In
general, each output pixel may be assigned values from more than one input pixel. All
contributions to a given output pixel are summed to produce the final output pixel
value. Output pixels can be set to the supplied bad value if they receive contributions
from an insufficient number of input pixels. This is controlled by the "
wlim"
parameter.
Input pixel coordinates are transformed into the coordinate system of the output grid
using the forward transformation of the Mapping which is supplied. This means
that geometrical features in the input data are subjected to the Mapping’
s
forward transformation as they are transferred from the input to the output
grid.
In practice, transforming the coordinates of every pixel of a large data grid can be time-consuming, especially if the Mapping involves complicated functions, such as sky projections. To improve performance, it is therefore possible to approximate non-linear Mappings by a set of linear transformations which are applied piece-wise to separate sub-regions of the data. This approximation process is applied automatically by an adaptive algorithm, under control of an accuracy criterion which expresses the maximum tolerable geometrical distortion which may be introduced, as a fraction of a pixel.
This algorithm first attempts to approximate the Mapping with a linear transformation applied over the whole region of the input grid which is being used. If this proves to be insufficiently accurate, the input region is sub-divided into two along its largest dimension and the process is repeated within each of the resulting sub-regions. This process of sub-division continues until a sufficiently good linear approximation is found, or the region to which it is being applied becomes too small (in which case the original Mapping is used directly).
The number of input coordinates used by this Mapping (as given by its Nin attribute)
should match the number of input grid dimensions given by the value of "
ndim_in"
below. Similarly, the number of output coordinates (Nout attribute) should match the
number of output grid dimensions given by "
ndim_out"
.
"
wlim"
value, then the
output pixel value is returned set to the supplied bad value. "
ndim_in"
elements, containing the coordinates
of the centre of the first pixel in the input grid along each dimension. "
ndim_in"
elements, containing
the coordinates of the centre of the last pixel in the input grid along each
dimension.
Note that "
lbnd_in"
and "
ubnd_in"
together define the shape and size of
the input grid, its extent along a particular (j’
th) dimension being
ubnd_in[j]-lbnd_in[j]1
(assuming the index "
j"
to be zero-based). They also define the input grid’
s
coordinate system, each pixel having unit extent along each dimension with integral
coordinate values at its centre.
"
float"
).
The storage order of data within this array should be such that the index of the first grid dimension varies most rapidly and that of the final dimension least rapidly (i.e. Fortran array indexing is used).
"
in"
array. If given, this should contain a set of
non-negative values which represent estimates of the statistical variance associated
with each element of the "
in"
array. If this array is supplied (together with the
corresponding "
out_var"
array), then estimates of the variance of the rebined output
data will be calculated.
If no input variance estimates are being provided, a NULL pointer should be given.
"
Pixel
Spreading Schemes"
section below. If a value of zero is supplied, then the default
linear spreading scheme is used (equivalent to supplying the value AST__LINEAR). "
Pixel Spreading Schemes"
section
below.
If no additional parameters are required, this array is not used and a NULL pointer may be given.
"
Control Flags"
section below for a description of the options available. If
no flag values are to be set, a value of zero should be given. ’
s coordinate
system.
If piece-wise linear approximation is not required, a value of zero may be given. This will ensure that the Mapping is used without any approximation, but may increase execution time.
If the value is too high, discontinuities between the linear approximations used in adjacent panel will be higher, and may cause the edges of the panel to be visible when viewing the output image at high contrast. If this is a problem, reduce the tolerance value used.
If a smaller value is used, the input region will first be divided into sub-regions
whose size does not exceed "
maxpix"
pixels in any dimension. Only at this point will
attempts at approximation commence.
This value may occasionally be useful in preventing false convergence of the adaptive algorithm in cases where the Mapping appears approximately linear on large scales, but has irregularities (e.g. holes) on smaller scales. A value of, say, 50 to 100 pixels can also be employed as a safeguard in general-purpose software, since the effect on performance is minimal.
If too small a value is given, it will have the effect of inhibiting linear
approximation altogether (equivalent to setting "
tol"
to zero). Although this
may degrade performance, accurate results will still be obtained.
"
in"
array. It
specifies the value used to flag missing data (bad pixels) in the input and output
arrays.
If the AST__USEBAD flag is set via the "
flags"
parameter, then this value is used to
test for bad pixels in the "
in"
(and "
in_var"
) array(s).
In all cases, this value is also used to flag any output elements in the "
out"
(and "
out_var"
) array(s) for which rebined values could not be obtained (see the "
Propagation of Missing Data"
section below for details of the circumstances under which
this may occur).
"
ndim_out"
elements,
containing the coordinates of the centre of the first pixel in the output grid along
each dimension. "
ndim_out"
elements, containing the coordinates of the centre of the last pixel in the output grid
along each dimension.
Note that "
lbnd_out"
and "
ubnd_out"
together define the shape, size and coordinate
system of the output grid in the same way as "
lbnd_in"
and "
ubnd_in"
define the
shape, size and coordinate system of the input grid.
"
ndim_in"
elements, containing the coordinates of the first pixel in
the region of the input grid which is to be included in the rebined output array. "
ndim_in"
elements, containing the
coordinates of the last pixel in the region of the input grid which is to be included
in the rebined output array.
Note that "
lbnd"
and "
ubnd"
together define the shape and position of a
(hyper-)rectangular region of the input grid which is to be included in the
rebined output array. This region should lie wholly within the extent of the
input grid (as defined by the "
lbnd_in"
and "
ubnd_in"
arrays). Regions of the
input grid lying outside this region will not be used.
"
in"
array, and the data storage order should be such that the
index of the first grid dimension varies most rapidly and that of the final
dimension least rapidly (i.e. Fortran array indexing is used). "
out"
array. If
given, this array will be used to return variance estimates for the rebined
data values. This array will only be used if the "
in_var"
array has also been
supplied.
The output variance values will be calculated on the assumption that errors on the input data values are statistically independent and that their variance estimates may simply be summed (with appropriate weighting factors) when several input pixels contribute to an output data value. If this assumption is not valid, then the output error estimates may be biased. In addition, note that the statistical errors on neighbouring output data values (as well as the estimates of those errors) may often be correlated, even if the above assumption about the input data is correct, because of the pixel spreading schemes employed.
If no output variance estimates are required, a NULL pointer should be given.
D: double
F: float
I: int
B: byte (signed char)
UB: unsigned byte (unsigned char)
For example, astRebinD would be used to process "
double"
data, while astRebinI would
be used to process "
int"
data, etc.
Note that, unlike astResampleX, the astRebinX set of functions does not yet support unsigned integer data types or integers of different sizes.
The binning algorithm used has the ability to introduce artifacts not seen when using a resampling algorithm. Particularly, when viewing the output image at high contrast, systems of curves lines covering the entire image may be visible. These are caused by a beating effect between the input pixel positions and the output pixels position, and their nature and strength depend critically upon the nature of the Mapping and the spreading function being used. In general, the nearest neighbour spreading function demonstrates this effect more clearly than the other functions, and for this reason should be used with caution.
The following values (defined in the "
ast.h"
header file) may be assigned to the "
spread"
parameter. See the
astResampleX
documentation for details of these schemes including the use of the "
fspread"
and "
params"
parameters:
AST__NEAREST
AST__LINEAR
AST__SINC
AST__SINCSINC
AST__SINCCOS
AST__SINCGAUSS
AST__SOMBCOS
In addition, the following schemes can be used with astRebinX but not with astResampleX:
AST__GAUSS: This scheme uses a kernel of the form
exp(-kxx),
with k a positive constant determined by the full-width at half-maximum (FWHM). The
FWHM should be supplied in units of output pixels by means of the "
params[1]"
value and should be at least 0.1. The "
params[0]"
value should be used to
specify at what point the Gaussian is truncated to zero. This should be given
as a number of output pixels on either side of the central output point in
each dimension (the nearest integer value is used).
"
ast.h"
header file and may be used to
provide additional control over the rebinning process. Having selected a set
of flags, you should supply the bitwise OR of their values via the "
flags"
parameter:
AST__USEBAD: Indicates that there may be bad pixels in the input array(s) which must be
recognised by comparing with the value given for "
badval"
and propagated to the output
array(s). If this flag is not set, all input values are treated literally and the "
badval"
value is only used for flagging output array values.
"
badval"
value in the "
out"
array. These are produced if
the sum of the weights of the contributing input pixels is less than "
wlim"
.
An input pixel is considered bad (and is consequently ignored) if its data
value is equal to "
badval"
and the AST__USEBAD flag is set via the "
flags"
parameter.
In addition, associated output variance estimates (if calculated) may be declared bad
and flagged with the "
badval"
value in the "
out_var"
array for similar reasons.
"
8-byte"
interface for this
function should be used. This alternative interface uses 8 byte integer arguments
(instead of 4-byte) to hold pixel indices and pixel counts. Specifically, the arguments
"
lbnd_in"
, "
ubnd_in"
, "
lbnd_out"
, "
ubnd_out"
, "
lbnd"
, "
ubnd"
are changed
from type "
int"
to type "
int64_t"
(defined in header file stdint.h). The
function return type is similarly changed to type int64_t. The function name is
changed by inserting the digit "
8"
before the trailing data type code. Thus,
astRebinX
becomes astRebin8X.