6.5 Empirical Corrections

Empirical corrections provide an alternate way to correct point-source observations for CTE losses or estimate future CTE loss levels. Noeske et al. (WFC3 ISR 2012-09) studied star clusters NGC6791 and 47 Tuc and examined how the measured fluxes of stars varied when particular stars were placed close to and far from the readout register. They documented the losses experienced by point sources as a function of (1) the total flux (in electrons) of the point source, (2) the detector Y position of the source, (3) the image background level, and (4) the date of the observation.

These corrections are provided in the form of polynomials and can be used to estimate how many electrons were originally present in the aperture before the readout process. The conclusions in WFC3 ISR 2012-09 and in more recent follow-up studies (WFC3 ISR 2016-17, WFC3 ISR 2017-09, WFC3 ISR 2021-06, and WFC3 ISR 2024-04) mirror the conclusions from the pixel-based-model CTE study: namely, that as of 2024, a background of ~20 electrons or more can have a significantly ameliorative effect on charge-transfer efficiency. The most recent empirical corrections are described in WFC3 ISR 2024-04, which also provides an analysis of the long term behavior of the UVIS CTE using observations of star clusters. This information is also kept updated on the WFC3 CTE page at: http://www.stsci.edu/hst/instrumentation/wfc3/performance/cte.