Connecting to File Formats group: request that resolution kernel (as probability distribution pointwise defined) be supported in standard reduced-data formats

[bmaranville]

[andyfaff]

canSAS is holding a meeting on this on Mar 25/26. https://indico.esss.lu.se/event/2506/

[andyfaff]

The likelihood of being able to have an in-person CanSAS meeting this year is looking slim. So, following up from the last CanSAS meeting and subsequent discussion, we thought it would be a good idea to have an online workshop on questions related to instrumental resolution.

In order to maximise the information extracted from SANS data, it is important to have a well characterized resolution function for the instrument and measurement conditions used. The combination of geometric (collimation, detection element size) and wavelength components in quadrature to produce a gaussian representation of the resolution at each Q value is well known, and widely used. However, there are a number of areas that have emerged where this representation does not adequately describe the measured data.
The Data Formats Working Group of canSAS is holding a workshop via video conference on the 25th and 26th March, 2021 to discuss SAXS/SANS resolution and in particular address the following points:

Resolution close to Q=0 / close to the beamstop
Effect on resolution of non-gaussian beam shapes / structure in the beam profile
Non-infinite slit geometries – e.g. VSANS
The workshop will address the questions by breaking them down into four areas:

CALCULATE : Can we calculate these effects? First principles, approximations, simulations.
MEASURE : How can we measure the resolution functions? Standard samples, measurement strategies.
ANALYSE : How do we apply these resolution effects into our data analysis? What information is needed by analysis software? How do we determine what is appropriate usage of these effects?
STORE : How can we represent the resolution functions and store the data in a manner that can be used for analysis?