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Data Model for Astronomical DataSet Characterisation
Version 1.00

IVOA Note 28 February 2006

Interest/Working Group:
not applicable
Author(s):
IVOA Data Model Working Group
Editor(s):
Jonathan MCDowell, François Bonnarel, Igor Chilingariann, Mireille Louys, Alberto Micol, Anita Richards

Abstract

This document defines the high level metadata necessary to describe astronomical data sets on their physical axes, either observed or simulated, for various types of data such as 2D-images, data cubes, X-ray event lists, IFU data, etc.. The goal is to provide an abstraction which contains structured information for all these types of data so that discovery and interpretation is feasible in a general framework, and can be used jointly for science usage. The model aims at facilitating the manipulation of heterogeneous data in VO portals. A VO Characterisation instance can include descriptions of the data axes, the range of coordinates covered by the data, and information on the data sampling and resolution on each axis. These descriptions are in terms of physical variables, with the specific instrumental signature abstracted away.

Status of this document

This is an IVOA Note expressing suggestions from and opinions of the authors.
It is intended to share best practices, possible approaches, or other perspectives on interoperability with the Virtual Observatory. It should not be referenced or otherwise interpreted as a standard specification.



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