NDData Arithmetic

Introduction

NDDataRef implements the following arithmetic operations:

Using basic arithmetic methods

Using the standard arithmetic methods requires that the first operand is an NDDataRef instance

>>> from astropy.nddata import NDDataRef
>>> import numpy as np
>>> ndd1 = NDDataRef([1, 2, 3, 4])

while the requirement for the second operand is simply: It must be convertible to the first operand. It can be a number:

>>> ndd1.add(3)
NDDataRef([4, 5, 6, 7])

or a list:

>>> ndd1.subtract([1,1,1,1])
NDDataRef([0, 1, 2, 3])

a numpy.ndarray:

>>> ndd1.multiply(np.arange(4, 8))
NDDataRef([ 4, 10, 18, 28])
>>> ndd1.divide(np.arange(1,13).reshape(3,4))  # a 3 x 4 numpy array  
NDDataRef([[1.        , 1.        , 1.        , 1.        ],
           [0.2       , 0.33333333, 0.42857143, 0.5       ],
           [0.11111111, 0.2       , 0.27272727, 0.33333333]])

here broadcasting takes care of the different dimensions. Also several other classes are possible.

Using arithmetic classmethods

Here both operands don’t need to be NDDataRef-like:

>>> NDDataRef.add(1, 3)
NDDataRef(4)

or to wrap the result of an arithmetic operation between two Quantities:

>>> import astropy.units as u
>>> ndd = NDDataRef.multiply([1,2] * u.m, [10, 20] * u.cm)
>>> ndd  
NDDataRef([10., 40.])
>>> ndd.unit
Unit("cm m")

or taking the inverse of a NDDataRef object:

>>> NDDataRef.divide(1, ndd1)  
NDDataRef([1.        , 0.5       , 0.33333333, 0.25      ])

Possible operands

The possible types of input for operands are:

  • scalars of any type
  • lists containing numbers (or nested lists)
  • numpy arrays
  • numpy masked arrays
  • astropy quantities
  • other nddata classes or subclasses

Advanced options

The normal python operators +, -, … are not implemented because the methods provide several options how to proceed with the additional attributes.

data, unit

For data and unit there are no parameters. Every arithmetic operation lets the astropy.units.Quantity-framework evaluate the result or fail and abort the operation.

Adding two NDData objects with the same unit works:

>>> ndd1 = NDDataRef([1,2,3,4,5], unit='m')
>>> ndd2 = NDDataRef([100,150,200,50,500], unit='m')

>>> ndd = ndd1.add(ndd2)
>>> ndd.data  
array([101., 152., 203.,  54., 505.])
>>> ndd.unit
Unit("m")

Adding two NDData objects with compatible units also works:

>>> ndd1 = NDDataRef(ndd1, unit='pc')
INFO: overwriting NDData's current unit with specified unit. [astropy.nddata.nddata]
>>> ndd2 = NDDataRef(ndd2, unit='lyr')
INFO: overwriting NDData's current unit with specified unit. [astropy.nddata.nddata]

>>> ndd = ndd1.subtract(ndd2)
>>> ndd.data  
array([ -29.66013938,  -43.99020907,  -58.32027876,  -11.33006969,
       -148.30069689])
>>> ndd.unit
Unit("pc")

this will keep by default the unit of the first operand. However units will not be decomposed during division:

>>> ndd = ndd2.divide(ndd1)
>>> ndd.data  
array([100.        ,  75.        ,  66.66666667,  12.5       , 100.        ])
>>> ndd.unit
Unit("lyr / pc")

mask

The handle_mask parameter for the arithmetic operations implements what the resulting mask will be. There are several options.

  • None, the result will have no mask:

    >>> ndd1 = NDDataRef(1, mask=True)
>>> ndd2 = NDDataRef(1, mask=False)
>>> ndd1.add(ndd2, handle_mask=None).mask is None
True

  • "first_found" or "ff", the result will have the mask of the first operand or if that is None the mask of the second operand:

    >>> ndd1 = NDDataRef(1, mask=True)
>>> ndd2 = NDDataRef(1, mask=False)
>>> ndd1.add(ndd2, handle_mask="first_found").mask
True
>>> ndd3 = NDDataRef(1)
>>> ndd3.add(ndd2, handle_mask="first_found").mask
False

  • a function (or an arbitrary callable) that takes at least two arguments. For example numpy.logical_or is the default:

    >>> ndd1 = NDDataRef(1, mask=np.array([True, False, True, False]))
>>> ndd2 = NDDataRef(1, mask=np.array([True, False, False, True]))
>>> ndd1.add(ndd2).mask
array([ True, False,  True,  True]...)

    This defaults to "first_found" in case only one mask is not None:

    >>> ndd1 = NDDataRef(1)
>>> ndd2 = NDDataRef(1, mask=np.array([True, False, False, True]))
>>> ndd1.add(ndd2).mask
array([ True, False, False,  True]...)

    Custom functions are also possible:

    >>> def take_alternating_values(mask1, mask2, start=0):
...     result = np.zeros(mask1.shape, dtype=np.bool)
...     result[start::2] = mask1[start::2]
...     result[start+1::2] = mask2[start+1::2]
...     return result

    This function is non-sense but let’s see how it performs:

    >>> ndd1 = NDDataRef(1, mask=np.array([True, False, True, False]))
>>> ndd2 = NDDataRef(1, mask=np.array([True, False, False, True]))
>>> ndd1.add(ndd2, handle_mask=take_alternating_values).mask
array([ True, False,  True,  True]...)

    Additional parameters can be given by prefixing them with mask_ (which will be stripped before passing it to the function):

    >>> ndd1.add(ndd2, handle_mask=take_alternating_values, mask_start=1).mask
array([False, False, False, False]...)
>>> ndd1.add(ndd2, handle_mask=take_alternating_values, mask_start=2).mask
array([False, False,  True,  True]...)

meta

The handle_meta parameter for the arithmetic operations implements what the resulting meta will be. The options are the same as for the mask:

  • If None the resulting meta will be an empty collections.OrderedDict.

    >>> ndd1 = NDDataRef(1, meta={'object': 'sun'})
>>> ndd2 = NDDataRef(1, meta={'object': 'moon'})
>>> ndd1.add(ndd2, handle_meta=None).meta
OrderedDict()

    For meta this is the default so you don’t need to pass it in this case:

    >>> ndd1.add(ndd2).meta
OrderedDict()

  • If "first_found" or "ff" the resulting meta will be the meta of the first operand or if that contains no keys the meta of the second operand is taken.

    >>> ndd1 = NDDataRef(1, meta={'object': 'sun'})
>>> ndd2 = NDDataRef(1, meta={'object': 'moon'})
>>> ndd1.add(ndd2, handle_meta='ff').meta
{'object': 'sun'}

  • If it’s a callable it must take at least two arguments. Both meta attributes will be passed to this function (even if one or both of them are empty) and the callable evaluates the result’s meta. For example just a function that merges these two:

    >>> # It's expected with arithmetics that the result is not a reference,
>>> # so we need to copy
>>> from copy import deepcopy

>>> def combine_meta(meta1, meta2):
...     if not meta1:
...         return deepcopy(meta2)
...     elif not meta2:
...         return deepcopy(meta1)
...     else:
...         meta_final = deepcopy(meta1)
...         meta_final.update(meta2)
...         return meta_final

>>> ndd1 = NDDataRef(1, meta={'time': 'today'})
>>> ndd2 = NDDataRef(1, meta={'object': 'moon'})
>>> ndd1.subtract(ndd2, handle_meta=combine_meta).meta 
{'object': 'moon', 'time': 'today'}

    Here again additional arguments for the function can be passed in using the prefix meta_ (which will be stripped away before passing it to this) function. See the description for the mask-attribute for further details.

wcs

The compare_wcs argument will determine what the result’s wcs will be or if the operation should be forbidden. The possible values are identical to mask and meta:

  • If None the resulting wcs will be an empty None.

    >>> ndd1 = NDDataRef(1, wcs=0)
>>> ndd2 = NDDataRef(1, wcs=1)
>>> ndd1.add(ndd2, compare_wcs=None).wcs is None
True

  • If "first_found" or "ff" the resulting wcs will be the wcs of the first operand or if that is None the meta of the second operand is taken.

    >>> ndd1 = NDDataRef(1, wcs=1)
>>> ndd2 = NDDataRef(1, wcs=0)
>>> ndd1.add(ndd2, compare_wcs='ff').wcs
1

  • If it’s a callable it must take at least two arguments. Both wcs attributes will be passed to this function (even if one or both of them are None) and the callable should return True if these wcs are identical (enough) to allow the arithmetic operation or False if the arithmetic operation should be aborted with a ValueError. If True the wcs are identical and the first one is used for the result:

    >>> def compare_wcs_scalar(wcs1, wcs2, allowed_deviation=0.1):
...     if wcs1 is None and wcs2 is None:
...         return True  # both have no WCS so they are identical
...     if wcs1 is None or wcs2 is None:
...         return False  # one has WCS, the other doesn't not possible
...     else:
...         return abs(wcs1 - wcs2) < allowed_deviation

>>> ndd1 = NDDataRef(1, wcs=1)
>>> ndd2 = NDDataRef(1, wcs=1)
>>> ndd1.subtract(ndd2, compare_wcs=compare_wcs_scalar).wcs
1

    Additional arguments can be passed in prefixing them with wcs_ (this prefix will be stripped away before passing it to the function):

    >>> ndd1 = NDDataRef(1, wcs=1)
>>> ndd2 = NDDataRef(1, wcs=2)
>>> ndd1.subtract(ndd2, compare_wcs=compare_wcs_scalar, wcs_allowed_deviation=2).wcs
1

    If one is using WCS objects a very handy function to use might be:

    >>> def wcs_compare(wcs1, wcs2, *args, **kwargs):
...     return wcs1.wcs.compare(wcs2.wcs, *args, **kwargs)

    see astropy.wcs.Wcsprm.compare() for the arguments this comparison allows.

uncertainty

The propagate_uncertainties argument can be used to turn the propagation of uncertainties on or off.

  • If None the result will have no uncertainty:

    >>> from astropy.nddata import StdDevUncertainty
>>> ndd1 = NDDataRef(1, uncertainty=StdDevUncertainty(0))
>>> ndd2 = NDDataRef(1, uncertainty=StdDevUncertainty(1))
>>> ndd1.add(ndd2, propagate_uncertainties=None).uncertainty is None
True

  • If False the result will have the first found uncertainty.

    Note

    Setting propagate_uncertainties=False is not generally not recommended.

  • If True both uncertainties must be NDUncertainty subclasses that implement propagation. This is possible for StdDevUncertainty:

    >>> ndd1 = NDDataRef(1, uncertainty=StdDevUncertainty([10]))
>>> ndd2 = NDDataRef(1, uncertainty=StdDevUncertainty([10]))
>>> ndd1.add(ndd2, propagate_uncertainties=True).uncertainty  
StdDevUncertainty([14.14213562])

uncertainty with correlation

If propagate_uncertainties is True you can give also an argument for uncertainty_correlation. StdDevUncertainty cannot keep track of it’s correlations by itself but it can evaluate the correct resulting uncertainty if the correct correlation is given.

The default (0) represents uncorrelated while 1 means correlated and -1 anti-correlated. If given a numpy.ndarray it should represent the element-wise correlation coefficient.

For example without correlation subtracting a NDDataRef instance from itself results in a non-zero uncertainty:

>>> ndd1 = NDDataRef(1, uncertainty=StdDevUncertainty([10]))
>>> ndd1.subtract(ndd1, propagate_uncertainties=True).uncertainty  
StdDevUncertainty([14.14213562])

Given a correlation of 1 because they clearly correlate gives the correct uncertainty of 0:

>>> ndd1 = NDDataRef(1, uncertainty=StdDevUncertainty([10]))
>>> ndd1.subtract(ndd1, propagate_uncertainties=True,
...               uncertainty_correlation=1).uncertainty  
StdDevUncertainty([0.])

which would be consistent with the equivalent operation ndd1 * 0:

>>> ndd1.multiply(0, propagate_uncertainties=True).uncertainty 
StdDevUncertainty([0.])

Warning

The user needs to calculate or know the appropriate value or array manually and pass it to uncertainty_correlation. The implementation follows general first order error propagation formulas, see for example: Wikipedia.

You can also give element-wise correlations:

>>> ndd1 = NDDataRef([1,1,1,1], uncertainty=StdDevUncertainty([1,1,1,1]))
>>> ndd2 = NDDataRef([2,2,2,2], uncertainty=StdDevUncertainty([2,2,2,2]))
>>> ndd1.add(ndd2,uncertainty_correlation=np.array([1,0.5,0,-1])).uncertainty  
StdDevUncertainty([3.        , 2.64575131, 2.23606798, 1.        ])

The correlation np.array([1, 0.5, 0, -1]) would indicate that the first element is fully correlated, the second element partially correlates while element 3 is uncorrelated and 4 is anti-correlated.

uncertainty with unit

StdDevUncertainty implements correct error propagation even if the unit of the data differs from the unit of the uncertainty:

>>> ndd1 = NDDataRef([10], unit='m', uncertainty=StdDevUncertainty([10], unit='cm'))
>>> ndd2 = NDDataRef([20], unit='m', uncertainty=StdDevUncertainty([10]))
>>> ndd1.subtract(ndd2, propagate_uncertainties=True).uncertainty  
StdDevUncertainty([10.00049999])

but it needs to be convertible to the unit for the data.