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
Barb
(2011)
Advances in the VVV-2MASS photometric transformations from Galactic disk CASU catalogues: Milky Way demographics with the VVV survey
in Boletin de la Asociacion Argentina de Astronomia La Plata Argentina
{Robb}, R.~M. And {Vincent}, J. And {Henderson}, H. And {Greimel}, R. And {Drew}, J.~E. And {Gonzalez-Solares}, E.~A.
(2008)
The New Contact Binary GSC 2414-0797
in Information Bulletin on Variable Stars
Irwin J
(2009)
The Monitor project: rotation periods of low-mass stars in M50
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Cappetta M
(2012)
The first planet detected in the WTS: an inflated hot Jupiter in a 3.35 d orbit around a late F star Inflated HJ in close orbit around a late-F-star
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Collins M
(2011)
The kinematic identification of a thick stellar disc in M31?† The thick disc in M31
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Tanvir N
(2012)
The structure of star clusters in the outer halo of M31 Halo star clusters of M31
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Mapelli M
(2009)
Blue straggler stars in dwarf spheroidal galaxies - II. Sculptor and Fornax
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Groot P
(2009)
The UV-Excess survey of the northern Galactic plane
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Smith M
(2009)
Kinematics of SDSS subdwarfs: structure and substructure of the Milky Way halo
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Nefs S
(2012)
Four ultra-short-period eclipsing M-dwarf binaries in the WFCAM Transit Survey Eclipsing M-dwarf binaries in WTS
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
Collins M
(2010)
A Keck/DEIMOS spectroscopic survey of the faint M31 satellites And IX, And XI, And XII and And XIII?† The faint dSphs of M31
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Sale S
(2010)
The structure of the outer Galactic disc as revealed by IPHAS early A stars
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
Collins M
(2011)
The scatter about the 'Universal' dwarf spheroidal mass profile: a kinematic study of the M31 satellites And V and And VI Scatter about Universal dwarf spheroidal mass
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Bayliss K
(2011)
[O ii] emitters in the GOODS field at z~ 1.85: a homogeneous measure of evolving star formation [O ii] emitters in the GOODS field at z ~ 1.85
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Rowan-Robinson M
(2013)
Revised SWIRE photometric redshifts
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Chapman S
(2013)
Dynamics in the satellite system of Triangulum: is And XXII a dwarf satellite of M33?
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
Oliver S
(2012)
The Herschel Multi-tiered Extragalactic Survey: HerMES HerMES
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Brewer B
(2011)
Modelling of the complex CASSOWARY/SLUGS gravitational lenses Modelling of SLUGS gravitational lenses
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Collins M
(2009)
A spectroscopic survey of EC4, an extended cluster in Andromeda's halo
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Sale S
(2009)
High spatial resolution Galactic 3D extinction mapping with IPHAS
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Hernán-Caballero A
(2009)
Mid-infrared spectroscopy of infrared-luminous galaxies at z ~ 0.5-3
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Mackey A
(2013)
Young accreted globular clusters in the outer halo of M31
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Casewell S
(2011)
Methane band and Spitzer mid-IR imaging of L and T dwarf candidates in the Pleiades Methane and Spitzer imaging of the Pleiades
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Belokurov V
(2009)
The discovery of Segue 2: a prototype of the population of satellites of satellites
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Rowan-Robinson M
(2010)
Cold dust and young starbursts: spectral energy distributions of Herschel SPIRE sources from the HerMES survey? Cold dust and young starbursts
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Casewell S
(2012)
A photometric and astrometric investigation of the brown dwarfs in Blanco 1 Blanco 1 brown dwarfs
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Oliver S
(2010)
Specific star formation and the relation to stellar mass from 0 < z < 2 as seen in the far-infrared at 70 and 160 µ m
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Banerji M
(2012)
Heavily reddened quasars at z ~ 2 in the UKIDSS Large Area Survey: a transitional phase in AGN evolution Heavily reddened quasars at z ~ 2 in UKIDSS LAS
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Scholz A
(2011)
Rotation periods for very low mass stars in Praesepe Rotation periods in Praesepe
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
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
Battaglia G
(2011)
Study of the Sextans dwarf spheroidal galaxy from the DART Ca ii triplet survey? The DART survey of the Sextans dSph
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
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
Verbeek K
(2012)
A first catalogue of automatically selected ultraviolet-excess sources from the UVEX survey A first catalogue of UVEX UV-excess sources
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Bernard E
(2012)
The star formation history and dust content in the far outer disc of M31? The far outer disc of M31
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Verbeek K
(2012)
Spectroscopic follow-up of ultraviolet-excess objects selected from the UVEX survey Spectroscopic follow-up of UV-excess objects
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Cockcroft R
(2012)
Unearthing foundations of a cosmic cathedral: searching the stars for M33's halo
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
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
Savaglio S
(2012)
Supersolar metal abundances in two galaxies at z ~ 3.57 revealed by the GRB 090323 afterglow spectrum? Supersolar metallicity in two z~ 3.57 galaxies
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Bernard E
(2012)
A deep, wide-field study of Holmberg II with Suprime-Cam: evidence for ram pressure stripping A wide-field study of Holmberg II
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Powell S
(2012)
The periodic spectroscopic variability of FU Orionis Periodic spectroscopic variability of FU Ori
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Battaglia G
(2012)
A wide-area view of the Phoenix dwarf galaxy from Very Large Telescope/FORS imaging? Survey of the Phoenix transition type
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Watkins L
(2009)
Substructure revealed by RR Lyraes in SDSS Stripe 82
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
D'Abrusco R
(2009)
Quasar candidates selection in the Virtual Observatory era
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
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
Bayliss K
(2012)
[O ii ] emitters at z ~ 4.6 in the GOODS field: a homogeneous measure of evolving star formation [O ii ] emitters at z ~ 4.6 in the GOODS field
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Mislis D
(2012)
A massive exoplanet candidate around KOI-13: independent confirmation by ellipsoidal variations A massive exoplanet candidate around KOI-13
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
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 |