Cambridge Astronomical Survey Unit 2009-14 (revision Aug 09)

Observational astronomy in the UK is in a strong position with the advent of the pioneering near-infrared (NIR) survey facilities of VISTA and WFCAM and the opportunities for detailed followup provided by membership of ESO. Significant advances in astronomy have always relied heavily on surveys of the sky from radio, through optical to X-ray wavelengths and the new era of deep NIR surveys is the latest stage in this progression. It is also one where the UK has both a substantial lead and the requisite expertise in the Cambridge and Edinburgh survey units to exploit this advance in wide field astronomy. Recognising the benefits of this, ESO are now also heavily committed to public surveys through the VST and VISTA telescopes and to wider exploitation of expertly processed and archived science data products. Members of the Cambridge Astronomy Survey Unit (CASU) have played a leading role in survey astronomy, not only by pioneering techniques to optimally extract knowledge from survey data, but also by taking a proactive role in exploiting this information to produce world-leading research. This synergy and feedback between data processing and exploitation is crucial. It has been a deliberate strategy that has provided the main strength and motivation of the group. In the modern era wide-field digital survey cameras produce enormous volumes of data that are way beyond the resource capacity and analysis skills of non-specialist astronomers. Systematic pipeline processing, calibration and legacy curation of observational data are a fundamental requirement of an end-to-end integrated observing strategy and a crucial component of a global Virtual Observatory. The CASU facility has been developed to allow an optimal ergonomic solution to this avalanche of data, through access to multi-Tbyte data storage systems and expert pipeline processing systems. Continuing development of the CASU processing and analysis pipelines will not only benefit the UK astronomy community now, but will also be relevant in the era of Extremely Large Telescopes and the radio Square Kilometer Array, by developing the infrastructure to analyse the data from these facilities. This rolling grant proposal builds on the tremendous advances already made and requests funding for CASU for the period 2008-2013 for the following activities: continued operation and maintenance of the WFCAM data processing and calibration pipeline; advanced development, enhancement, and operation of the UK VISTA pipelines; maintenance and upgrades for the VDFS ESO pipeline deliverables; operational support and pipeline processing for the UK-led VST public surveys in the southern hemisphere and the equivalent precursor surveys in the northern hemisphere; support to provide a range of science data products and services as a UK contribution to the global Virtual Observatory initiative; continuation of support for maintaining and developing the UK ground-based telescope archives; and a modest research component for the research-active members of the group.