Talks on VO infrastructure (see PDF), the VO as a tool for science (PDF), and a snapshot of first results from the CoSADIE data center census (PDF).
12:00 - 13:00
Lunch at the IWH
13:00-15:00
Inputs from Data Centers Ia
Short contributions by data providers on what they did or need to do to get their data out.
S. Erard - A Planetary Science VO prototype (13:00), PDF
In the framework of the Europlanet-RI program, VO-Paris Data Centre has contributed to setup a prototype Virtual Observatory dedicated to Planetary Science.
Most of the activity was dedicated to the definition of standards to handle data in this field. The aim was to facilitate searches in big archives as well as sparse databases, to make on-line data access and visualization possible, and to allow small data providers to make their data available in an interoperable environment with minimum effort. This system makes intensive use of studies and developments led in Astronomy (IVOA), Solar Science (HELIO), and space archive services (IPDA). In particular, it remains consistent with extensions of IVOA standards.
The architecture currently foreseen is to connect existing data services with IVOA protocols (Cone Search, TAP...) or with the IPDA protocol (PDAP) whenever relevant. However, a more general standard has been devised to handle the specific complexity of Planetary Science, e.g. in terms of measurement types and coordinate frames. This protocol, named EPN-TAP, is based on TAP and includes precise requirements to describe the contents of a data service. A light framework (DaCHS/GAVO) and a procedure have been identified to install small data services, and two hands- on sessions have been organized already. The data services are declared in the extended IVOA registry based at VO-Paris.
Although TAP services can be accessed and queried from tools such as TopCat, a full client is being developed at VO-Paris. It is able to use all the mandatory parameters in EPN-TAP, plus extra parameters from individual services. The results can be sent to VO visualization tools such as TopCat or Aladin though the SAMP protocol. Open source GIS tools can also be used to mosaic images. A special handling mode has been developed to access PDS3 data files on-line. A resolver for target names and an ephemeris service are also available.
The next step will be to publish new data services and to encourage external teams to share their data in this system, with a focus on planetary mission support (Rosetta, Cassini...).
C. Espinosa - The IAC80 telescope data to the Virtual Observatory (13:20), PDF
The IAC80, setted for visible range observations at Teide Observatory, was completely designed and built by the Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias (IAC).
It is perfect for urgent observations in service and/or 'routine' observation modes, target of opportunity, simultaneous or multiband collaborations with other telescopes, long-term programmes, student practice and observational or instrumentation technics tests. IAC80 is a key part in the Teide Observatory because of its versatility and availibity. The most frequently used instrument at the IAC80 telescope is the CCD imager CAMELOT. It contains a back illuminated chip with 0.304 arcsec pixels corresponding to a 10.4x10.4 arc minutes field of view. Through use of standard virtual observatory (VO) tools, we have recently made available to the entire community all the IAC80-CAMELOT data base from 2009 to present.
J. Retzlaff - Releasing ESO public survey data through the Phase 3 (13:40), PDF
The ESO archive is the collection point for the survey products and the primary point of publication/availability of these products to the ESO community. For this purpose the Phase 3 process has been devised to manage the reception, validation and publication of data products from the public survey projects and large programmes to the ESO Science Archive Facility. This presentation summarizes the application of the Phase 3 concept to the data resulting from ESO public surveys and other programmes, including an overview of the specific requirements, the implemented data flow, and the role of Virtual Observatory standards. The new dedicated web-based user interface to catalogue data is highlighted , which adds to the existing functionalities of the ESO science archive the capability to query the catalogue by content using positional and non-positional constraints and, finally, to download the resulting data set for further scientific analysis by the user.
A. Micol - ESO science archive: 1D spectra publishing process (14:00), PDF
The ESO Science Archive Facility, via its Phase 3 process (see J.Retzlaff's presentation), is preparing the acceptance, archiving and publishing of science-grade 1D spectra generated by the ESO Spectroscopic Public Survey teams, and later by the PIs of the Large Programs. The involved process will be described including: the ESO 1d spectrum science data product standard, the acceptance of externally generated spectra (validation), the archiving of the products, and finally the user interfaces. The same process will also support 1d spectra generated internally to ESO, allowing the publication of pipeline-generated products of selected instrument modes (via a conversion tool). The conformance of the adopted ESO 1d-spectrum science data product standard to the VO spectrum data model will be highlighted.
P. Le Sidaner - VOParis Data Centre as a VO Archive (14:20), PDF
VO Paris Data Centre ("VOPDC") is a collaboration between seven scientific departments of Observatoire de Paris, the goal of which is to promote the Virtual Observatory and develop data centre activities. Our mission is to share the data centre infrastructure as well as the knowledge and skills in associated technologies for the benefits of the astronomical research community. We are also building a sustainable data archive. The archive holds data of various subject and types (images, spectrum, tables, atmospheric profiles, data cubes, etc.) We provide these data using the IVOA protocols for astronomy: SIA, SSA, CS, implemented internally. We also provide TAP services using DaCHS. VOPDC is reachable through its web portal http://voparis-srv.obspm.fr/portal which provides access to all VOPDC data.
I will start by presenting the hardware, system and storage architecture based on visualization of systems and storage. The organization on two independent site allows a Business Continuity Plan and storage security. Then I will develop the archive approach that we need to provide for long time preservation of data. According to others presentations in the meeting I will briefly describe the databases that are not part of others presentations.
15:00 - 15:30
Coffee Break
15:30-16:50
Inputs from Data Centers Ib
Short contributions by data providers on what they did or need to do to get their data out.
C. Boisson - Data from the Cherenkov Teleskope Array (15:30), PDF
O. Fors - The integration of the data from Telescope Fabra ROA Montsec to the Virtual Observatory (16:00), PDF
The telescope Fabra ROA Montsec (TFRM) is a 50cm f/1 Baker-Nunn Camera robotically operated by the Reial Academia de Ciencies i Arts de Barcelona (RACAB) - Observatori Fabra, and Real Instituto y Observatorio de la Armada (ROA) since Feb 2011 at Observatori Astronomic del Montsec (OAdM).
TFRM currently operates surveys such as transiting exoplanets around M-dwarfs, NEOs and space debris in GEO ring. The wide field of view of TFRM (4.4ºx4.4º), and the long-term monitoring conducted for some specific areas of the sky makes the TFRM archive a valuable resource of a plethora of transient phenomena which could be of interest to a broad range of astronomers. That is why we are culminating the effort of publishing part of the TFRM image archive to the Virtual Observatory.
Identification of required VO standards, assistance from VO centres in publication organizational, and VO technology aspects will be commented as a key part of the last step of TFRM integration into VO.
R. Henderson - Easing the Pain of Astronomical Database Access (16:20), PDF
VODb is a desktop application designed to simplify the process of accessing astronomical databases. Originally developed for the data-intensive Pan-STARRS project, VODb has since been broadened to access a multitude of archives using the table access protocol (TAP). Conveniences such as a graphical query builder, graphical query diagnostics, mask generators and astronomical date and coordinate converters all help to make SQL generation as painless as possible. 'Plug-in queries', curated online by experts, provide a dynamic way for users to run successful queries then adapt or refine the SQL. The extensible design means non-standard database interfaces can be incorporated in the future with relative ease.
A. Ederoclite - The Processing and Archiving Unit of the Javalambre Astrophysical Observatory.
(16:40), PDF
The Javalambre Astrophysical Observatory (OAJ) is a new facility being built in Spain. The observatory is going to be equipped with two wide field telescopes, one with an 80 cm main mirror and a field of view of 2 square degrees and one with a 2.5m main mirror and a 3 square degrees field of view (Javalambre Survey Telescope, JST). The T250 will be devoted, during its first 5 years to the J-PAS project, a cosmological survey covering 8000 square degrees in 56 narrow band filters.The JAST will carry out the photometric calibration for the JST.
In this talk, we present the expected type of data which will be produced during our surveys. We will describe both images and catalogs. We will present how the data will be moved, stored and distributed. Finally, we will also describe the data centre that is being built and the foreseen connection with the virtual observatory.
16:50-18:00
Publishing to the VO
This session will feature talks on: what means publishing to the VO, what do you get when you do and how to publish data to the VO.
What is Publishing to the VO? [Markus Demleitner], PDF
One of the Virtual Observatory's key phrases is interoperability, i.e., technical measures taken to ensure that all players (clients and servers) "understand" each other. In this talk, we will discuss
those technical measures. First, this is about formats, which in the VO means primarily FITS and VOTable, with some brief stints into plain XML. Second, this is about data models, i.e., abstract definitions of the structure of "things" in the domain like "a spectrum" or "a service", as well as their serialization. Third, this is about protocols, i.e., prescriptions of how the various players communicate. In short, the talk will provide a view of the VO Architecture (http://www.ivoa.net/Documents/Notes/IVOAArchitecture/ from a technical perspective.
While in the VO we try design our recommendations such that the implementation effort for the data providers is as low as possible,
we know it is certaily not negligible. This talk will try to show why this effort is well spent. Starting from structured queries to the VO Registry that will lead to your data, we will show how the support of open protocols opens your service to a wealth of clients, and how using standard software you can support advanced functionalities -- say, allowing user uploads. Finally, we will show how standard formats and desktop protocols allow users to combine their selection of tools into an integrated workbench.
Virtual Observatory interoperability requires a technological infrastructure and (rewarded) efforts to publish resources within this infrastructure. This talk presents resource publishing from a practical point of view, differentiating on data providers' needs and technical experience. Since various paths can be followed to effectively publish data to the VO, a starting point for software libraries, tools and toolkits will be shown and examples from Data Centers that already expose their data as VO resources will be presented.
Tuesday, June 11
8:50-11:10
Inputs from Data Centers II
Short contributions by data providers on what they did or need to do to get their data out.
E. Solano - The GranTeCan and Calar Alto data centres (9:10), PDF
E. Michel - The SpaceInn project: Exploitation of Space Data for Innovative Helio- and Asteroseismology (9:30), PDF
The SpaceInn projet (www.spaceinn.eu) is funded under EU's Framework Programme 7, since January 2013 and for 4 years. Its main objective is to promote a wide and coordinated use of the space- and ground-based data for a full exploitation of the helio- and asteroseismology potential.
Space-based observations play a leading role in helio- and asteroseismology, in close synergy with ground-based observations as well as theoretical modelling. The growing amount of data available from space missions (SOHO, CoRoT, Kepler, SDO,...) but also from ground-based observations (GONG, Bison, ground-based large programmes,...), stellar modelling and numerical simulations, creates new scientific perspectives e.g. to characterize stellar populations in our Galaxy or to characterize planetary systems by giving model-independent global properties of stars such as mass, radius, and surface gravity within several percent accuracy, as well as to constrain the age.
These applications address a broad scientific community beyond the solar and stellar one and require combining indexes elaborated with data from different data bases (e.g. Space seismic archives and ground-based spectroscopic surveys). It is thus a basic requirement to develop a simple
and efficient access to these various data resources and dedicated tools.
K. Riebe - Data at the Leibnitz Institute for Astrophysics (10:10), PDF
K. Dassas - SITools2 as VO service provider: an example with Herschel SAG-4 at IDOC (10:30), PDF
SITools2 is a new CNES generic tool performed by a joint effort between CNES and scientific laboratories. The aim of SITools is to provide a self-manageable data access layer deployed on already existing scientific laboratory databases. It is a secure Client/Sever application based on a REST architecture allowing User and Data sources management and access through a WEB2.0 interface. It also provides several web services, for VO interoperability. I will present the case of HESIOD, delivering the Herschel/SPIRE Guaranteed Time Program on Interstellar Medium at IDOC. Using SItools2, HESIOD is the first provider of Herschel data in the VO.
P. Skoda - Employing VO standards in handling proprietary stellar data (10:50), PDF
Astronomical Institute of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic operates the 2m Perek telescope at Ondrejov Observatory and has been sharing part of the observing time at 1.54m Danish Telescope at La Silla after its robotization. Archives of both telescopes represent a valuable resource of mid resolution spectroscopy and CCD photometry for stellar community. However, the intention of publishing these data faces a number of obstacles - technical, organisational and even psychological. We will try to identify them, to show benefits of using VO standards in accessing the proprietary or consortional archives and give recommendations for necessary changes in VO publishing manners in order to convince the conservative data producers to put their hands on VO technology.
11:10 - 11:40
Coffee Break
11:40 - 13:00
Panel Discussion
This will focus on requirements and feedback. There will be about four panelists, and you are invited to apply.
