Article history: Received 29 April 2009 Revised 21 December 2009 Accepted 26 December 2009 Available online 6 January 2010 Communicated by Ginette Saracco

Using techniques from semantic data modeling and object-oriented data modeling, an astronomical data model is identiied as a kind of conceptual analysis. The general characteristics of such a model are presented, as well as its relationship to computer-based data structures and the FITS standard for transporting data. The eeective use of data models in relation to instrument speciic data, in co...

The quantity of astronomical observations collected by today’s instruments far exceeds the capability of manual inspection by domain experts. Rather than relying on human eyes to examine and analyze all collected data, we employ data triage algorithms shortly after data collection. Automated data triage enables increased science return by prioritizing interesting or anomalous observations for f...

Radio astronomical observations have very poor signal to noise ratios, unlike in other disciplines. On the other hand, it is possible to observe the object of interest for long time intervals as well as using a wider bandwidth. Traditionally, by averaging in time and in frequency, it has been possible to improve the signal to noise ratio of astronomical observations to improve the dynamic range...

We present a high-performance, graphics processing unit (GPU)-based framework for the efficient analysis and visualization of (nearly) terabyte (TB)-sized 3-dimensional images. Using a cluster of 96 GPUs, we demonstrate for a 0.5 TB image: (1) volume rendering using an arbitrary transfer function at 7–10 frames per second; (2) computation of basic global image statistics such as the mean intens...

We begin with traditional source detection algorithms in astronomy. We then introduce the sparsity datamodel.The starlet wavelet transform serves as ourmain focus in this chapter. Sparse modeling, and noise modeling, are described. Applications to object detection and characterization, and to image filtering and deconvolution, are discussed. The multiscale vision model is a further development ...

This paper ANDROMEDA, an astronomical data mediation system that enables transparent access to astronomical data servers. Transparent access is achieved by a global view that expresses requirements of community of users (e.g., astronomers) and data integration mechanisms adapted to astronomical data characteristics. Instead of providing an ad hoc mediator, ANDROMEDA can be configured for giving...

Fundamental astronomical questions on the composition of the universe, the abundance of Earth-like planets, and the cause of the brightest explosions in the universe are being attacked by robotic telescopes costing billions of dollars and returning vast pipelines of data. The success of these programs depends on the accuracy of automated real time processing of the astronomical images. In this ...

The volume of data available to astronomers via the Internet is doubling every twelve months or so. This is due both to the increase in the number of data sources (astronomy is an active field, while archives of old observations retain scientific value) and in the size of individual data sources (multi-TB datasets are the norm in the current generation of sky surveys). The new sky surveys are g...