IVOA Recommendation: Simple Line Access Protocol Version 1.0

TL;DR

The paper specifies the Simple Line Access Protocol (SLAP) for retrieving spectral line data from various collections within the Virtual Observatory framework, enabling standardized and simplified access to astronomical spectral line information.

Contribution

It introduces a standardized protocol (SLAP) for accessing spectral line data, utilizing existing data models and registration standards within the IVOA framework.

Findings

Defines a uniform interface for spectral line retrieval

Supports both observed and theoretical spectral lines

Enables registration and discovery of spectral line services

Abstract

The Simple Line Access Protocol (SLAP) is an IVOA Data Access protocol which defines a protocol for retrieving spectral lines coming from various Spectral Line Data Collections through a uniform interface within the VO framework. These lines can be either observed or theoretical and will be typically used to identify emission or absorption features in astronomical spectra. It makes use of the Simple Spectral Line Data Model (SSLDM [1]) to characterize spectral lines through the use of uTypes [14]. Physical quantities of units are described by using the standard Units DM [15]. SLAP services can be registered in an IVOA Registry of Resources using the VOResource [12] Extension standard, having a unique ResourceIdentifier [13] in the Registry. The SLAP interface is meant to be reasonably simple to implement by service providers. A basic query will be done in a wavelength range for the different services. The service returns a list of spectral lines formatted as a VOTable. Thus, an implementation of the service may support additional search parameters (some which may be custom to that particular service) to more finely control the selection of spectral lines. The specification also describes how the search on extra parameters has to be done, making use of the support provided by the Simple Spectral Line Data Model (SSLDM [1])