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Observing Tool

The ALMA Observing Tool (OT) is a Java application used for the preparation and submission of ALMA Phase I (observing proposal) and Phase II (telescope runfiles for accepted proposals) materials.  The current Cycle 0 release of the OT is configured for the Early Science Capabilities of ALMA as described in the Cycle 0 Call For Proposals. Note that in order to submit proposals you will have to register with the ALMA Science Portal beforehand.

Download & Installation

The OT will run on most common operating systems, as long as you have Java 6 installed (see the troubleshooting page if you are experiencing Java problems). The ALMA OT is available in two flavours: WebStart and tarball.

The WebStart application has the advantage that the OT is automatically downloaded and installed on your computer. However, your Java Webstart needs to be working. Note that the WebStart does not work with the Open JDK versions of Java such as the "Iced Tea" flavour common on many modern Linux installations. If this is the case, the tarball installation of the OT should be used.

The tarball must be installed manually, however it has the advantage that it is more robust than the WebStart application and will work with most versions of Java 6. For Linux users we also provide a download of the OT complete with a recommended version of the Java run time environment. Please use this if you have any problems running the OT tarball install with your default Java.

WebStart Download Page

Tarball Download Page

Documentation

Extensive documentation is available to help you work with the OT and optimally prepare your proposal:

  • If you are a novice OT user you should start with the Phase I Quickstart Guide, which takes you through the basic steps of ALMA proposal preparation.
  • Audio-visual illustrations of different aspects of the OT can be found in the OT video tutorials. These are recommended for novices and advanced users alike.
  • More in-depth information on the OT can be found in the User Manual, while concise explanations of all fields and menu items in the OT are given in the Reference Manual. These two documents are also available within the OT under the Help menu.

Troubleshooting

If you have problems with the installation and/or startup of the OT, please see the troubleshooting page. A list of currently known bugs, their status and possible workarounds can be found on the regularly updated known OT Issues page. Any  bugs that are not listed here should be reported via the Helpdesk (accessible from the Science Portal).