UltraPINK -- New possibilities to explore Self-Organizing Kohonen Maps

TL;DR

UltraPINK is a versatile toolbox that enhances the exploration and analysis of self-organizing Kohonen maps, especially tailored for diverse astronomical data, facilitating better data understanding in astronomy.

Contribution

It introduces UltraPINK, a flexible and abstract toolbox for training and exploring Kohonen maps, with a focus on compatibility with various astronomical data formats.

Findings

Enhanced interaction capabilities for Kohonen maps

Compatibility with diverse astronomical data formats

Framework for future integration and extension

Abstract

Unsupervised learning algorithms like self-organizing Kohonen maps are a promising approach to gain an overview among massive datasets. With UltraPINK, researchers can train, inspect, and explore self-organizing maps, whereby the toolbox of interaction possibilities grows continually. Key feature of UltraPINK is the consideration of versality in astronomical data. By keeping the operations as abstract as possible and using design patterns meant for abstract usage, we ensure that data is compatible with UltraPINK, regardless of its type, formatting, or origin. Future work on the application will keep extending the catalogue of exploration tools and the interfaces towards other established applications to process astronomical data. Ultimatively, we aim towards a solid infrastructure for data analysis in astronomy.