Kepler Fourier concepts: The performance of the Kepler data pipeline

TL;DR

This paper examines the Kepler data pipeline's performance, focusing on how it mitigates instrumental artefacts and the impact of noise injection on light-curve data quality.

Contribution

It provides an analysis of the latest Kepler data processing pipeline (PDC-MAP) and discusses noise injection effects on asteroseismology data.

Findings

PDC-MAP pipeline improves data quality for asteroseismology.

Approximately 15% of light-curves are affected by noise injection.

Instrumental artefacts mitigation is crucial for precise Kepler data analysis.

Abstract

Given the extreme precision attainable with the Kepler Space Telescope, the mitigation of instrumental artefacts is very important. In an earlier paper (Murphy 2012), the characteristics of Kepler data were discussed in light of their effect on asteroseismology. We continue this discussion now that data processed with the new PDC-MAP pipeline are publicly available; users should use the latest data reductions available at the Mikulski Archive for Space Telescopes (MAST), not just for PDC, but also for improvements in the attached meta-data. We discuss the injection of noise in the frequency range 0-24 c/d (up to ~277 {\mu}Hz) by the PDC-LS pipeline into ~15 per cent of light-curves.