Managing the Data Deluge from the Dark Energy Survey

摘要

The Dark Energy Survey comprises observations over 5000 square degrees of the southern hemisphere. Its key science goal is the measurement of the timedependent and time-independent components of the dark energy equation of state using four probes: weak gravitational lensing, galaxy clusters, large-scale structure, and Type la supernovae. The 570 Megapixel Dark Energy Camera used for this survey produces several GB of raw data with every image (approximately every 1-2 minutes during observations). The entire DES dataset collected over five years of Survey operation will be of order 1 Petabyte in size. Significant resources have been devoted to the management and analysis of DES data, including the development of numerous hardware and software applications for near-real-time processing. We describe the general process of DES Data Management, along with selected examples of some of the scientifically productive "end-user" tools and resources. These include the "PreCam" Standard Star Catalog intended for DES calibration (and soon to be available to the wider astronomical community), the input catalog for spectroscopic follow-up of DES fields with OzDES, and the DESAlert transient notification system.