Abstract

Invited Talk - Splinter DataManage

Tuesday, 10 September 2024, 14:05   (S22)

Scientific data infrastructure for LOFAR

Hanno Holties, John Swinbank, Roberto Pizzo, Marco Iacobelli, Emanuela Orru
NWO-I ASTRON

The LOFAR Telescope can be considered an archetypal data-intensive radio astronomical instrument, having produced a sixty petabyte archive of scientific data since the start of science operations in 2012. A wealth of astronomical data has been collected from which many high profile scientific publications have resulted. At the moment, as the data archive remains fully operational, instrument operations have paused as LOFAR is undergoing an upgrade that will result in a further increase of versatility, sensitivity, and in resulting further data challenges. In this presentation, we will look back briefly at twelve years of operating the LOFAR data archive, the challenges that were faced, and the lessons that were learned. We will then look at how a science data centre for the future LOFAR instrument is taking shape. Sustainability considerations have recently triggered development and operational activities that aim to keep cost and environmental impact within bounds while maintaining, or even stimulating, science output. These include a shift of focus from providing an instrument data archive to the generation of advanced data products. In collaboration with the community, organised in large LOFAR science programs, data processing and data management paradigms are developed to prepare for a successful Observatory for the LOFAR2.0 instrument.