VOTC:UK Community Meeting

Institute of Astronomy, University of Cambridge: 25+26 Sept 2008

NEWS

• 20080912: Registration DEADLINE: Friday 19 Sept 2008
• New page holds proposal development material

Meeting Purpose

The AstroGrid project has recently released a complete software infrastructure aimed at facilitating seamless access to a wealth of UK and global data and applications. A significant part of the infrastructure has specific relevance to missions and facilities in the area of data publishing. The AstroGrid product forms the technical core of the European Virtual Observatory software offering, and in that context is being more widely deployed (e.g. in France, Italy, Netherlands, Spain).

With the recent decision to withdraw funding from the AstroGrid project, there is some interest in seeking a (UK) return on the investment made to date in the creation of this software. Furthermore, on the global scene, data publication, access, and analysis through VO protocols will increasingly be the norm, so missions and facilities face shared challenges in how to adapt to this demand and keep influence on global technical developments.

This meeting will give the opportunity for representatives from the various missions and facilities in the UK to be brought up to date with the opportunity available via use of the AstroGrid/Euro-VO infrastructure - how the software can be used to help in publishing data to the wider scientific community, be used to manage research communities, be used to enable the rapid creation of value added processing pipelines and so forth. Examples of the use of the VO will be given. Likewise, the missions and facilities will be able to set out their requirements and challenges in the areas of data analysis, processing, and data handling, as well as user interface issues - noting where they think they may benefit from the use of VO technologies.

The second day of the meeting will give technical representatives a chance to look in more detail at the issues involved in use of the VO. Likewise, leadership representatives will be able to discuss and explore how they may be able to utilise VO software systems in a practical manner, and ensure its long term sustainability.

The meeting will conclude with a discussion of models for supporting and funding this shared work in data management.

Meeting Agenda

Thurs 25 Sep 2008: Scene Setting

• what is the VO all about, and how does it work ?
• what has the VO achieved so far, and what remains to do ?
• what are the requirements of astronomical facilities and projects ?
• what are the technical challenges ?

10:00	coffee
10:30	Session-1: VO achievements in the UK
10:30	Welcome and meeting goals	Lawrence
10:35	Status of AstroGrid and Euro-VO	Andy Lawrence
10:50	General concepts of the VO	Andy Lawrence
11:10	Simple first demo	Andy Lawrence
11:30	The AstroGrid Science Call programme, lessons for VOTC:UK	Nic Walton
12:00	How AstroGrid works	Keith Noddle
12:30	More advanced demos
	VO interface to databases and scripting	Eduardo Gonzalez-Solares
	VO applications environment	Paul Harrison
13:00	LUNCH
14:00	Session-2: Requirements of Facilities
	- a few planned example talks
	- short contributed points
	- selected rapporteurs will try to bring out key points
14:00	SKA (radio)	Paul Alexander
14:20	Solar missions	Lyndsay Fletcher
14:40	Herschel IR surveys	Anthony Smith
15:00	Gravitational Wave Facilities	Martin Hendry
15:20	Time Sensitive Facilities	Julian Osborne
15:40	Short contributions
	UKIRT/ JCMT	Tim Jenness
	JWST	Gillian Wright
	UKATC	Andy Vick
	WFAU	Mark Holliman
16:00	TEA
17:00	Session-3: Initial Analysis and Discussion
	Free-form discussion
	- should each facility solve its own problems separately ?
	- is there a need for a shared data management infrastructure ?
	- is there a need for shared tools development ?
	- how well does the current VO infrastructure fit ?
17:30	End of Day 1

Fri 26 Sep 2008: Technical Details and Organisational Planning

• what problems need solving ?
• how can we work together to solve them ?
• how do we organise the work ?

09:30	Session-4: Reflections
09:30	Common requirements	Rapporteur-A : Iain Steele
09:45	Main Technical Challenges	Rapporteur-B : Guy Rixon
10:05	Organising future work	Andy Lawrence
10:20	Plan for breakout groups	All
10:30	COFFEE
11:00	Session-5: Technical Breakouts
	- focus-1 : how to use current VO technology
	- focus-2 : what technology is missing ?
	Group A : Data publishing and tools development
	Group B : Infrastructure service requirements
13:00	LUNCH
14:00	Session-6 : Next Steps
14:00	Report from Group A	Jonathan Tedds
14:15	Report from group leader B	Guy Rixon
14:30	Timescales for proposal	Andy Lawrence
14:45	Open discussion : how to proceed
	Possible VOTC:UK model	Nic Walton
15:45	Conclusions and Actions	Andy Lawrence
16:00	CLOSE

Attendees

• Don Abrams: ING (ING)
• Paul Alexander: Cambridge (SKA)
• Tony Allen: Imperial (CrossScale)
• Alan Bridger: UKATC (ALMA)
• Neil Clay: Liverpool JM (LT)
• Len Culhane : MSSL (VO, solar various)
• Silvia Dalla: UCLAN (VO)
• Peter Draper: Durham (JAC)
• Jim Emerson: QMUL (VISTA)
• Phil Evans: Leicester (Swift)
• Gary Gilchrist: Leicester (VO)
• Eduardo Gonzalez-Solares: Cambridge (VO/VISTA)
• Paul Harrison: Manchester (VO/ Radio)
• Martin Hendry: Glasgow (GEO600, LISA)
• Mark Holliman: Edinburgh (UKIDSS, VISTA)
• Tim Jenness: JACH (JCMT, UKIRT, SCUBA2)
• Ofer Lahav: UCL (DES)
• Andy Lawrence: Edinburgh (VO)
• Jim Lewis: Cambridge (VISTA)
• Ian McCrea : RAL (UKSSDC)
• Richard McMahon: Cambridge (VO/ VISTA)
• Chris Mountford: Leicester (Swift)
• Keith Noddle: Leicester (VO)
• Sarah Matthews: MSSL (SURF)
• Sam Nolan: Durham (H.E.S.S./ CTA)
• Julian Osborne: Leicester (SWIFT)
• Chris Perry: RAL (STP various)
• Steve Rawlings: Oxford (LOFAR, SKA)
• Marco Riello: Cambridge (Gaia)
• Guy Rixon: Cambridge (VO/ Gaia)
• Anthony Smith: Sussex (Herschel)
• Iain Steele: Liverpool JM (LT)
• Jian Sun: MSSL (Hinode)
• Jonathan Tedds: Leicester (VO / XMM / Swift)
• Jeremy Yates: UCL (HPC)
• Andy Vick: UKATC (various)
• Nicholas Walton: Cambridge (VO/ GAIA)
• Mike Watson: Leicester (VO/ XMM)
• Peredur Williams: Edinburgh (UKIDSS/ VISTA
• Stewart Williams: Manchester (ALMA)
• Noel Winstanley: Manchetser (VO)
• Dugan Witherick: UCL (VO)
• Gillian Wright: UKATC {Thurs only}

Logistical Information

Meeting Equipment

Full details will be provided here. Wireless networking will be available in all of the meeting rooms.

Travel

Information as to how to get to the IoA can be found at http://www.ast.cam.ac.uk/IoA/about_ioa/contact/directions.php

Accommodation

It would be good if you could arrange your own accommodation if needed for this meeting. The Cambridge tourist office has an extensive accommodation page. Cambridge hotels are also listed.

The University of Cambridge have preferential rates at The Arundel, The Cambridge Lodge, De Vere University Arms, and the Royal Cambridge Hotel. When booking please mention that you are visiting the University of Cambridge. The discounts offered seem to vary depending on how busy the hotel in question is at the time.

Acommodation queries

If you have problems with booking accommodation for this meeting or obtaining the preferential rates, please could you let Judith Moss know (jm at ast.cam.ac.uk), she maybe able to help.

Evening meal: Thurs 25 Sep

We have provided a list of restaurants in Cambridge - please find this in reception. There is plenty of choice!

In terms of pubs - there is a list at http://www.cambridge-pubs.co.uk/ - the Castle on Castle Hill is the closest to the !IoA.