These proceedings contain papers presented at the thirteenth annual conference for Astronomical Data Analysis Software and Systems (ADASS XIII). The meeting was held during October 12-15, 2003 at the Palais de la Musique et des Congrès in Strasbourg, and was hosted by the Centre de Données astronomiques de Strasbourg.
The meeting location was near the European Parliament in Strasbourg. A large meeting room and adjoining space for posters and demonstrations provided a convenient layout for this large meeting. Three course meals, including French wine, served in the conference centre promoted informal discussion over lunch, and a short tram ride provided access to Strasbourg's many historic and culinary attractions.
ADASS XIII was attended by 363 registered participants from 22 countries. The program comprised 14 invited speakers and 22 contributed presentations, 185 posters, 12 demo booths and 4 Birds of a Feather (BoF) sessions.
Key topics included "Surveys and Large-Scale Data Management", "High Performance Computing", "Next Generation Instrument Modeling", "Automated Classification and Catalog Generation", Data Visualisation", and "Image Processing". Progress toward realizing Virtual Observatories was reported in sessions entitled "VO Resources" and "Surveys, Archives and VO", and a number of prototypes were shown in action at the demonstration booths and the Sunday tutorial. The "High Performance Computing" session included talks on GRID computing and GRID-enabled services. Indeed the conference appeared to have an emphasis on services and interoperability.
A tutorial workshop on Virtual Observatory Software and Standards was held on the Sunday preceding the meeting. Three sessions focused on: VOTable parsers and applications, Data Access Layer, and Web and Grid Services.
The ADASS XIII Program Organising Committee was Todd Boronson (NOAO), Dick Crutcher (UIUC/NCSA), Daniel Durand (CADC), Daniel Egret (Obs. Paris), Brian Glendenning (NRAO), Tom Handley (IPAC/Caltech/JPL), Richard Hook (ST-ECF), Gareth Hunt (NRAO), Glenn Miller (STScI), Koh-Ichiro Morita (NAOJ), François Ochsenbein (CDS), Jan Noordam (NFRA), Michèle Peron (ESO), Arnold Rots (SAO), Dick Shaw (chair, NOAO), Betty Stobie (Univ. of Arizona), Christian Veillet (CFHT) and Patrick Wallace (RAL).
The Local Organising Committee was chaired by Marc Wenger, and the members were Françoise Genova, Jean-Yves Hangouet, Sandrine Langenbacher, Mireille Louys (LSIIT) and Laurent Michel.
We thank Susan Rose (STScI) for the final compilation of these proceedings.
ADASS XIII is pleased to express our deep appreciations for the support of the following organisations and companies: European Southern Observatory (ESO), National Optical Astronomy Observatories (NOAO), Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope (CFH), Infrared Processing and Analysis Center (IPAC), Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (SAO), National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO), Observatoire Astronomique de Strasbourg, Centre de Données astronomiques de Strasbourg (CDS), Université Louis Pasteur, Strasbourg (ULP), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Centre National d'Études Spatiales (CNES), Région Alsace, Conseil Général du Bas-Rhin, RICOH and TELINDUS CISCO.
ADASS XIV will be held in Pasadena, CA, USA, October 24-27, 2004 and will be hosted by the Infrared Processing and Analysis Center.
François Ochsenbein
Mark G. Allen
CDS, Observatoire Astronomique de Strasbourg
Daniel Egret
Observatoire de Paris
February 2004