by Steven Diehl & Tom Statler
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WVT Binning is a spatially adaptive 2-dimensional binning algorithm, designed to bin sparse X-ray data. It can handle background subtracted, exposure corrected data to produce intensity images, hardness ratio maps, or temperature maps. We have already successfully applied WVT Binning to bin X-ray data of galaxy clusters, individual galaxies, and supernova remnants, as well as integral field spectroscopy from SAURON. Details about WVT Binning are described in "Adaptive Binning of X-ray Data with Weighted Voronoi Tesselations" (Diehl & Statler 2006). The algorithm is an extension of Cappellari & Copin's (2003) Voronoi binning code.
The algorithm uses Weighted Voronoi Tesselations (WVT) to produce a very compact binning structure with a constant S/N per bin. The bin size adjusts to the required resolution in single-pixel steps, which minimizes the scatter around the target S/N. The code is very versatile and can in principle be applied to any type of data. The user manual contains instructions on how to apply the WVT binning code to X-ray data and how to extend the algorithm to other problems.
Intensity Maps/Gas Maps Chandra surface brightness map for the hot gas in NGC5044, binned to a S/N of 4 |
Temperature Maps Chandra temperature map for NGC4636, binned to a S/N of 30, i.e. 900 counts/bin |
Hardness Ratio Maps Chandra color map for the core of the Perseus cluster (25ksec exposure), binned to a S/N of 10 |
Integral Field Spectroscopy SAURON IFS data for NGC2273, binned to a S/N of 50 |
WVT Binning is a generalization of Cappellari & Copin's Voronoi binning algorithm. If you find this algorithm useful for you analysis, we ask you to cite both papers, e.g. "We made use of the WVT binning algorithm by Diehl & Statler (2006), which is a generalization of Cappellari & Copin's (2003) Voronoi binning algorithm."
WVT Binning is provided free of charge, and without any warranty. For more detailed copyright information, please refer to the header of WVT_BINNING.PRO
If you have any questions about the functionality of the algorithm, please send an email to diehl@helios.phy.ohiou.edu We also appreciate any bug reports and/or suggestions for improvement of the code. Feel free to contact me if you have trouble to apply WVT binning to other types of data.