A large and growing software reuse library is the heart of the SolarSoft system. Routines in this library are instrument and mission independent, and available to all users for analysis and application development. This library represents an evolutionary system, dating back to Solar Maximum Mission (SMM) analysis at the Solar Data Analysis Center (SDAC) at Goddard Spaceflight Center (GSFC). It has since evolved through the Yohkoh and SoHO missions, and now includes contributions from TRACE, HESSI, and many other orbital and ground based solar observatory PI groups.
During the pre and post HESSI launch phases, we anticipate increased activity and demands on the SolarSoft system, both from the HESSI Co-I teams and SSW users interested in HESSI analysis. We will coordinate with the SDAC and HESSI group in areas of HESSI quicklook catalog and event summaries which will be made available to remote sites from the SDAC using the automated SolarSoft data base distribution (SSWDB) system.
We will provide automated WWW summaries of HESSI flare images integrated with important SSW contextual data sets, such as full disk EIT, SXT, MDI (and SXI when available) for each flare in the HESSI event catalog. We will provide guidance to the HESSI team on use of general purpose and highly evolved SSW capabilities in areas such as movie making, automated data management, and automated integration of SSW contextual data sets. We will provide a utility for automated cross reference between HESSI and TRACE to identify, extract and process TRACE contextual images for each HESSI event, an admittedly trivial task using existing SSW capabilities.
For the benefit of SoHO and other SSW participants and Living With A Star investigators, we will coordinate with the SDAC about maintaining a recent queue of SXI data online at the SDAC for simplified integration into a local SSW session. In coordination with the SXI PI team, we will install the job which will Mirror from the SXI-M master at the SEC into the corresponding branch of the SSW master at the SDAC and verify integrated functions.
We will continue to provide oversight and management of the SolarSoft master software and data base system at the SDAC. Related activities include:
One often cited problem with the current SSW system is that the software libraries are so extensive that it often difficult for a PI team to know what capabilities exist and which subset of SSW is most appropriate for a given instrument application. It is quite common that many man-weeks of effort are wasted to reinvent an existing SSW capability or in struggling to implement something using the wrong utility. Not only does this waste PI group time which is better spent on detailed instrument calibration and software, but it short circuits the evolution of more powerful SSW capabilities. We can often head off these wasted efforts by a simple phone, email, or documentation exchange, if we know about the desired application. We propose to expand the current level of PI integration and documentation level support to include more detailed guidance in the application of SolarSoft capabilities.
With the help of several groups, including Mullard Space Sciences Laboratory (MS SL), the HESSI PI team, and several SSW contributors at the SDAC, we have made significant advances over the past year to document a subset of fundamental SSW capabilities. In addition to expanding and organizing the SSW documentation to increase its' utility, we propose to compile and post SSW FAQs and implement some method of threaded user exchange. In addition to responses from the SSW administrators, we would invite and encourage all participating PI groups and SSW users to contribute solutions and tips in addition to questions and suggestions.
Mr. Samuel Freeland will oversee all technical aspects of the proposed effort. In addition to leading the original design and implementation of the SSW system, Mr. Freeland is the principle author of the SSW system support utilities which perform automated integration, remote site distribution, and monitor and assure system integrity. In addition to continuation and enhancement of these stated SSW system level support tasks, Mr. Freeland will document the important system elements which might permit future SSW system maintainence and extension by additional authorized SDAC personal.
Principle Investigator (PI) teams from each participating instrument define and control the master libraries and data bases for the individual instruments. These instrument and mission level master sites are widely distributed, and currently include institutes in Japan, England, France, Switzerland, and many locations within the United States.
SolarSoft utilities running on the SSW master site at GSFC mirror from the the various instrument master sites into the SSW master for centralized integration and distribution. Due to the very large number of contributing sites and routines, background utilities (written in SSW) monitor incoming additions and flag potential conflicts within the integrated system. Additional SSW utilities monitor modifications and sizes of software libraries and data bases to generate system files required by the installation and upgrade utilities.
In close coordination with scientists and programmers from the SDAC and various SoHO and Yohkoh Co-I groups, the original design, implementation, and administration of SolarSoft was supported under NASA contracts to LMSAL for Yohkoh/SXT, SoHO/EIT and TRACE (NAS8-40108, NAS5-32966, and NAS5-38099). The use of MO&DA funding during the development and implementation phases of SSW evolution was clearly justified since each of those data analysis systems benefited from identification and use of common software and techniques. Moreover, the ability to have a single, common analysis environment was crucial for simplified and meaningful coordinated analysis. Likewise, integration of additional ancillary solar data and software support provides contextual data for each of those instruments. SolarSoft also provides a single point system for remote installations and automated upgrades of all participating missions and instruments with an associated savings in manpower for all PI teams.
Freeland, S.L., and Handy, B.N., 1998, "Data Analysis with the SolarSoft System ", Solar Physics, 182, 497. Freeland, S.L. and Bentley, R.D., 2000, "SolarSoft", Encyclopedia of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Inst of Physics Publishing. Freeland, S., http://www.lmsal.com/solarsoft/ SolarSoft description and links to SSW installation, analysis concepts, standards, and other related documents (World Wide Web) Svestka, Z., Uchida, Y., ed. 1991, The Yohkoh (Solar-A) Mission, (Dordrecht:Kluwer) Fleck, B., Domingo, V., Poland, A., ed. 1995, The SOHO Mission, (Dordrecht:Kluwer) Zarro, D.M., 2000, "Object-Based Methods for Analyzing Solar Images" http://orpheus.nascom.nasa.gov/~zarro/idl/maps.html (World Wide Web)