Data Preservation in High Energy Physics

TL;DR

High-energy physics experiments generate valuable, unique data that are often lost due to lack of a coherent preservation strategy, risking the loss of significant scientific information as key experiments conclude.

Contribution

This paper presents the physics case for data preservation in HEP and introduces models and strategies developed by the DPHEP study group for long-term data re-use.

Findings

Establishment of the DPHEP study group and its workshops

Development of data preservation models for HEP

Identification of global projects and strategies for data retention

Abstract

Data from high-energy physics (HEP) experiments are collected with significant financial and human effort and are in many cases unique. At the same time, HEP has no coherent strategy for data preservation and re-use, and many important and complex data sets are simply lost. In a period of a few years, several important and unique experimental programs will come to an end, including those at HERA, the b-factories and at the Tevatron. An inter-experimental study group on HEP data preservation and long-term analysis (DPHEP) was formed and a series of workshops were held to investigate this issue in a systematic way. The physics case for data preservation and the preservation models established by the group are presented, as well as a description of the transverse global projects and strategies already in place.