Atlasmaker: A Grid-based Implementation of the Hyperatlas

TL;DR

Atlasmaker leverages Grid technology and Hyperatlas standards to create a comprehensive, multi-dimensional sky atlas by federating diverse astronomical surveys, enhancing knowledge extraction and educational resources.

Contribution

It introduces a Grid-based system for federating and mosaicking multi-wavelength astronomical surveys using Hyperatlas standards, enabling on-demand and cached data access.

Findings

Successful integration into Palomar-Quest pipeline

Generation of all-sky atlases from multiple surveys

Enhanced capabilities for multi-wavelength data analysis

Abstract

The Atlasmaker project is using Grid technology, in combination with NVO interoperability, to create new knowledge resources in astronomy. The product is a multi-faceted, multi-dimensional, scientifically trusted image atlas of the sky, made by federating many different surveys at different wavelengths, times, resolutions, polarizations, etc. The Atlasmaker software does resampling and mosaicking of image collections, and is well-suited to operate with the Hyperatlas standard. Requests can be satisfied via on-demand computations or by accessing a data cache. Computed data is stored in a distributed virtual file system, such as the Storage Resource Broker (SRB). We expect these atlases to be a new and powerful paradigm for knowledge extraction in astronomy, as well as a magnificent way to build educational resources. The system is being incorporated into the data analysis pipeline of the Palomar-Quest synoptic survey, and is being used to generate all-sky atlases from the 2MASS, SDSS, and DPOSS surveys for joint object detection.