Organization of a Unified Data Archive and Accessories for Processing Solar Images

Abstract

The orbital solar observatory CORONAS-F was launched in late July 2001. A vast database from 12 onboard instrumental complexes was accumulated for 3 years of the satellite operation time. The data processing information was displayed on the project site http://coronas.izmiran.ru. The bulk of data received from CORONAS-F amounted to 100 MB/day. On-line processing of such amounts of data was quite a challenge. The preprocessed CORONAS-F data were, then, subjected to additional processing by the principal investigators at the corresponding institutions, including the calibration, space-time binding, clearing, etc. The resulting data are stored at the participant institutions in the form of profiles, spectrograms, and images. The stored “raw” data are the main source of reliable information for further investigations, but they usually need further processing to be visualized. Besides, a full cycle of processing of the scientific data takes much time and can even drag on for years under financial stringency and shortage of personnel. The final information is stored at different institutions that do not possess unified means of access, analysis, and visualization of data. This hampers significantly the use of the entire database by individual researchers.