Simulation analysis: from Planck calibration towards an end-to-end simulator for instrument operations applied to the Euclid mission

The Ph.D. project described in this work is based on two main activities. The first one is the analysis of Jupiter flux time-lines aimed at the intercalibration between the Planck and WMAP mission, to properly calibrate the beam pattern and to study Jupiter atmosphere. The second is the implementation of a prototype end-to-end simulator, using the Euclid mission as a test case, designed to assess mission performance and support instrument operations. The spectral energy distribution (SED) at millimetric wavelengths of planets is an important benchmark to inter-calibrate different CMB experiments, to properly calibrate the beam pattern and it is a source of information on the atmospheric structure of those bodies. Despite their importance, there is a lack of very accurate measures of SED for those bodies. Planck observed Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune from three to eight times during the mission. In particular, Planck furnished a good measurement of the brightness temperature for Jupiter, with an accuracy better than half a percent. Jupiter flux analysis not only improved the SED results previously quoted in literature, but was also part of the Planck/LFI pipeline, due to its importance for the detector beam reconstruction and for the inter-calibration between Planck itself and its predecessor WMAP. The analysis represents also an important test bench for the second part of this Ph.D. project, aimed at developing an End-to-End simulator for the Euclid mission. End-to-End mission performance Simulators (E2ES) enable the generation of simulated output data for selected test scenarios to support the assessment of the mission performance. I have been involved in the design of a reference architecture of an E2ES aimed at supporting instrument operations and in the development of a prototype, providing basic functionalities. The Euclid Mission has been selected as test case.