Data model issues in the Cherenkov Telescope Array project

TL;DR

The paper discusses the challenges and development status of the data model for the Cherenkov Telescope Array, a large gamma-ray observatory with long-term operational and data management requirements.

Contribution

It analyzes specific challenges faced in developing the CTA data model and presents the current organization, design status, and prototyping efforts.

Findings

Identification of key data model challenges

Overview of design and prototyping progress

Examples of data model components under development

Abstract

The planned Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA), a future ground-based Very-High-Energy (VHE) gamma-ray observatory, will be the largest project of its kind. It aims to provide an order of magnitude increase in sensitivity compared to currently operating VHE experiments and open access to guest observers. These features, together with the thirty years lifetime planned for the installation, impose severe constraints on the data model currently being developed for the project. In this contribution we analyze the challenges faced by the CTA data model development and present the requirements imposed to face them. While the full data model is still not completed we show the organization of the work, status of the design, and an overview of the prototyping efforts carried out so far. We also show examples of specific aspects of the data model currently under development.