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J. Milburn, R. Y. Shuping, M. Morris (Div. of Astronomy and Astrophysics, UCLA), S. Lord (Infrared Processing and Analysis Center)
We present an overview of the preliminary design of a data archive system for the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA). SOFIA is an airborne observatory equipped with a 2.5 meter telescope designed to provide high-resolution and high-sensitivity observations through the optical, far-infrared, and sub-millimeter wavelengths. A suite of ten instruments will be available at first-light in 2004: Four facility class and six principle investigator class. As an essential part of the mission, we are preparing an on-line, user-friendly data archive which will contain flux calibrated and scientifically validated results from the facility instruments. The archive will be extended during the mission to support both instrument classes, offering data from a wide variety of instrument modes in a uniform and scientifically useful manner. One of the unique challenges for SOFIA is efficiently archiving data from {\em various non-uniform sources} (both science and engineering) in an accessible and serviceable fashion. Here we present our preliminary design for such an archive, including: A description of the various first-light data types and archiving challenges associated with each; an overview of software architecture; a summary of technologies we plan to deploy, including JAVA, XML, an Object-Relational database system (Informix), and FITS; and a short description of the internet-based astronomer user interface and tool kit. The archive is part of the larger SOFIA Data Cycle System. The DCS (currently under development at Rochester Inst. of Technology, Univ. of California, Los Angeles, and NASA Ames) will encompass all tasks associated with obtaining and handling science data including proposal preparation, observation planning, flight scheduling and planning, in-flight quicklook reductions, data validation, pipeline-reduction and validation of data from facility instruments, and archiving.
The author(s) of this abstract have provided an email address for comments about the abstract: milburn@astro.ucla.edu