VISTA science exploitation
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Cambridge
Department Name: Institute of Astronomy
Abstract
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. 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 Vista Data Flow System (VDFS) has been developed to allow an optimal ergonomic solution to this avalanche of data, through access to multi-Tbyte data storage systems, expert pipeline processing systems and science user support. Continuing development of the VDFS 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 further developing the infrastructure to analyse the data from these facilities. This standard grant proposal is a bid for resource to complete the full development of the VDFS and thereby provide fully integrated data processing support for the UK-led VISTA public surveys. This also includes the operational equipment necessary to carry out the data processing and store the data products. By building on the tremendous advances already made at CASU this will enable a cost-effective and optimal solution to the problem of converting the enormous quantities of VISTA data to fully calibrated science-ready products ripe for exploitation.
People |
ORCID iD |
Michael Irwin (Principal Investigator) |
Publications
D'Abrusco R
(2009)
Quasar candidates selection in the Virtual Observatory era
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
De Boer T
(2012)
The star formation and chemical evolution history of the sculptor dwarf spheroidal galaxy
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
De Boer T
(2011)
Deep wide-field imaging down to the oldest main sequence turn-offs in the Sculptor dwarf spheroidal galaxy
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Deacon N
(2009)
The IPHAS-POSS-I proper motion survey of the Galactic plane
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Deleuil M
(2009)
EXO-DAT : AN INFORMATION SYSTEM IN SUPPORT OF THE CoRoT /EXOPLANET SCIENCE
in The Astronomical Journal
Eales S
(2010)
First results from HerMES on the evolution of the submillimetre luminosity function
in Astronomy and Astrophysics
Eales S.
(2010)
The Herschel ATLAS
in PUBLICATIONS OF THE ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY OF THE PACIFIC
Falder J
(2011)
THE SPITZER EXTRAGALACTIC REPRESENTATIVE VOLUME SURVEY: THE ENVIRONMENTS OF HIGH- z SDSS QUASI-STELLAR OBJECTS
in The Astrophysical Journal
Filgas R
(2011)
The two-component jet of GRB 080413B
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Findlay J
(2012)
Selection constraints on high-redshift quasar searches in the VISTA Kilo-degree Infrared Galaxy survey Quasar selection in VIKING
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Fleuren S
(2012)
Herschel -ATLAS: VISTA VIKING near-infrared counterparts in the Phase 1 GAMA 9-h data ? Herschel-ATLAS: VIKING counterparts
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Fraternali F
(2009)
Life at the periphery of the Local Group: the kinematics of the Tucana dwarf galaxy
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Gauza B
(2012)
A new L dwarf member of the moderately metal poor triple system HD 221356 A new L dwarf member of the HD 221356 system
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Gavazzi R
(2011)
MODELING OF THE HERMES SUBMILLIMETER SOURCE LENSED BY A DARK MATTER DOMINATED FOREGROUND GROUP OF GALAXIES
in The Astrophysical Journal
González-Solares E
(2011)
Wide-field optical imaging on ELAIS N1, ELAIS N2, First Look Survey and Lockman Hole: observations and source catalogues Wide-field optical imaging
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Goulding N
(2013)
J-band variability of M dwarfs in the WFCAM Transit Survey
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Greiner J
(2010)
The nature of "dark" gamma-ray bursts
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Greiss S
(2012)
INITIAL DATA RELEASE OF THE KEPLER -INT SURVEY
in The Astronomical Journal
Groot P
(2009)
The UV-Excess survey of the northern Galactic plane
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Hales A
(2009)
IPHAS A-TYPE STARS WITH MID-INFRARED EXCESSES IN SPITZER SURVEYS
in The Astrophysical Journal
Hatziminaoglou E
(2010)
HerMES: Far infrared properties of known AGN in the HerMES fields
in Astronomy and Astrophysics
Hebb L
(2010)
MML 53: a new low-mass, pre-main sequence eclipsing binary in the Upper Centaurus-Lupus region discovered by SuperWASP
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Hernán-Caballero A
(2009)
Mid-infrared spectroscopy of infrared-luminous galaxies at z ~ 0.5-3
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Hodgkin S
(2009)
The UKIRT wide field camera ZYJHK photometric system: calibration from 2MASS
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Huxor A
(2011)
Exploring the properties of the M31 halo globular cluster system The M31 halo globular cluster system
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Huxor A
(2009)
THE DISCOVERY OF REMOTE GLOBULAR CLUSTERS IN M33
in The Astrophysical Journal
Ibata R
(2009)
DENSITY AND KINEMATIC CUSPS IN M54 AT THE HEART OF THE SAGITTARIUS DWARF GALAXY: EVIDENCE FOR A 10 4 M ? BLACK HOLE?
in The Astrophysical Journal
Ibata RA
(2013)
A vast, thin plane of corotating dwarf galaxies orbiting the Andromeda galaxy.
in Nature
Irwin J
(2009)
The Monitor project: rotation periods of low-mass stars in M50
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Irwin M
(2008)
Andromeda XVII: A New Low-Luminosity Satellite of M31
in The Astrophysical Journal
Jarvis M
(2013)
The VISTA Deep Extragalactic Observations (VIDEO) survey?
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Koch A
(2009)
A SPECTROSCOPIC CONFIRMATION OF THE BOOTES II DWARF SPHEROIDAL
in The Astrophysical Journal
Koposov S
(2012)
THE SAGITTARIUS STREAMS IN THE SOUTHERN GALACTIC HEMISPHERE
in The Astrophysical Journal
Koposov S.
(2008)
The luminosity function of the Milky Way satellites
in ASTROPHYSICAL JOURNAL
Kowalski M.
(2008)
IMPROVED COSMOLOGICAL CONSTRAINTS FROM NEW, OLD, AND COMBINED SUPERNOVA DATA SETS
in ASTROPHYSICAL JOURNAL
Krühler T
(2011)
Photometric redshifts for gamma-ray burst afterglows from GROND and Swift /UVOT
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Krühler T
(2011)
The SEDs and host galaxies of the dustiest GRB afterglows
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
L. Cioni M
(2009)
AGB stars as tracers of metallicity and mean age across M 33
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Leaman R
(2012)
THE RESOLVED STRUCTURE AND DYNAMICS OF AN ISOLATED DWARF GALAXY: A VLT AND KECK SPECTROSCOPIC SURVEY OF WLM
in The Astrophysical Journal
Leaman R
(2009)
STELLAR METALLICITIES AND KINEMATICS IN A GAS-RICH DWARF GALAXY: FIRST CALCIUM TRIPLET SPECTROSCOPY OF RED GIANT BRANCH STARS IN WLM
in The Astrophysical Journal
Lemasle B
(2012)
VLT/FLAMES spectroscopy of red giant branch stars in the Carina dwarf spheroidal galaxy
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Letarte B
(2010)
A high-resolution VLT/FLAMES study of individual stars in the centre of the Fornax dwarf spheroidal galaxy
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Letarte B
(2009)
A Keck/DEIMOS spectroscopic survey of the faint Mâ??31 satellites Andâ??XV and Andâ??XVI
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Lewis G
(2013)
PAndAS IN THE MIST: THE STELLAR AND GASEOUS MASS WITHIN THE HALOS OF M31 AND M33
in The Astrophysical Journal
Lo Faro B
(2013)
THE COMPLEX PHYSICS OF DUSTY STAR-FORMING GALAXIES AT HIGH REDSHIFTS AS REVEALED BY HERSCHEL AND SPITZER
in The Astrophysical Journal
Lodieu N
(2012)
First T dwarfs in the VISTA Hemisphere Survey
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Mackey A
(2010)
Deep Gemini/GMOS imaging of an extremely isolated globular cluster in the Local Group
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Mackey A
(2010)
EVIDENCE FOR AN ACCRETION ORIGIN FOR THE OUTER HALO GLOBULAR CLUSTER SYSTEM OF M31
in The Astrophysical Journal
Mackey A
(2013)
Young accreted globular clusters in the outer halo of M31
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Mahaffy P
(2012)
The Sample Analysis at Mars Investigation and Instrument Suite
in Space Science Reviews
Description | This grant was awarded for completing the development of the Vista Data Flow System (VDFS). The VDFS has been developed to allow an optimal ergonomic solution to dealing with the avalanche of data (up to 1TB per night) generated on the VISTA survey telescope. Systematic pipeline processing, calibration and legacy curation of observational data are a fundamental requirement of an end-to-end integrated observing strategy and vital for exploiting the full science capabilities of this type of facility. The success of this programme is manifest in the range of science exploitation lead by UK PIs that it is supporting. Members of 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 has been crucial for the success of the programme. |
Exploitation Route | The infrastructure required for optimal exploitation of astronomical survey data has lead to many innovative solutions to data processing and analysis problems which have wide applicability across all image processing domains. As an example, we have been carrying out a collaborative medical imaging research project helping develop analysis tools applicable to Tissue Micro Arrays used for research into cancer diagnostic markers. |
Sectors | Aerospace, Defence and Marine,Digital/Communication/Information Technologies (including Software),Other |
URL | http://casu.ast.cam.ac.uk/surveys-projects/ |
Description | Science exploitation of the VISTA survey facility was contingent on delivery and refinement of a high throughput data processing pipeline, the VISTA Data Flow System (VDFS). The VDFS has been used to optimally process and calibrate ALL science data taken on the VISTA survey telescope located at ESO's Paranal observatory. CASU are responsible for the development, delivery, operational deployment and maintenance of the processing pipelines that constitute the VDFS. All of the UK-lead VISTA public surveys are completely dependent on the VDFS data products for their own science programmes and also for fulfilling the requirement on the survey PIs to deliver science grade products back to ESO in exchange for further telescope time allocations. |
First Year Of Impact | 2009 |
Sector | Aerospace, Defence and Marine,Digital/Communication/Information Technologies (including Software),Other |
Impact Types | Cultural |
Description | Vista Data Flow System |
Organisation | Royal Observatory Edinburgh |
Department | Wide Field Astronomy Unit |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | Collaborative venture to process and archive ALL data obtained on the VISTA telescope run by ESO in Paranal. |
Collaborator Contribution | CASU handle all the data processing and calibration. |
Impact | All of the VISTA public survey programmes are dependent on this collaboration. |
Start Year | 2009 |