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Ott, S., Gastaud, R., Guest, S., Delaney, M., Altieri, B., Ali, B., Abergel, A., Auguéres, J.-L., Aussel, H., Bernard, J-P., Biviano, A., Blommaert, J., Boulade, O., Boulanger, F., Cesarsky, C., Cesarsky, D., Chary, R-R., Charmandaris, V., Claret, A., Delattre, C., Désert, F-X., Deschamps, T., Didelon, P., Elbaz, D., Gallais, P., Ganga, K., Helou, G., Kong, M., Lacombe, F., Landriu, D., Laurent, O., Le Coupanec, P., Li, J., Metcalfe, L., Okumura, K., Perault, M., Pollock, A., Roman, P., Rouan, D., Rupen, M., Sam Lone, J., Sauvage, M., Siebenmorgen, R., Starck, J.-L., Tran, D., Van Buren, D., Vigroux, L., & Vivares, F. 1999, in ASP Conf. Ser., Vol. 172, Astronomical Data Analysis Software and Systems VIII, eds. D. M. Mehringer, R. L. Plante, & D. A. Roberts (San Francisco: ASP), 7

From a ``Launch Readiness'' System to an Astronomical Data Processing System - a Review of Four Years of CIA Development

S. Ott
ISO Data Centre, Astrophysics Division, Space Science Dept. of ESA, Villafranca, P.O. Box 50727, 28080 Madrid, Spain, Email: sott@iso.vilspa.esa.es

R. Gastaud
DAPNIA/SEI-SAP, CEA/Saclay, F-91191 Gif sur Yvette Cedex, France, Email: RGastaud@CEA.fr

S. Guest1, M. Delaney2, B. Altieri3, B. Ali4, A. Abergel5, J.-L. Auguéres6, H. Aussel7, J-P. Bernard8, A. Biviano9, J. Blommaert10, O. Boulade11, F. Boulanger12, C. Cesarsky13, D. Cesarsky14, R-R. Chary15, V. Charmandaris16, A. Claret17, C. Delattre18, F-X. Désert19, T. Deschamps20, P. Didelon21, D. Elbaz22, P. Gallais23, K. Ganga24, G. Helou25, M. Kong26, F. Lacombe27, D. Landriu28, O. Laurent29, P. Le Coupanec30, J. Li31, L. Metcalfe32, K. Okumura33, M. Perault34, A. Pollock35, P. Roman36, D. Rouan37, M. Rupen38, J. Sam Lone39, M. Sauvage40, R. Siebenmorgen41, J-L. Starck42, D. Tran43, D. Van Buren44, L. Vigroux45, F. Vivares46

Abstract:

The ISOCAM Interactive Analysis System (CIA) is used to calibrate and to perform the astronomical data processing of data from ISOCAM, the infrared camera on board the Infrared Space Observatory (ISO).

CIA is generally available to the astronomical community and runs under DEC VMS Alpha, Solaris, DEC Unix, Debian (PC) Linux and HP/UX. More details, including how to obtain CIA, can be found at http://www.iso.vilspa.esa.es/users/expl_lib/CAM_top.html.

We discuss the challenges faced in this multi-site, multi-environment project throughout the complete software development cycle, outline the chosen approach, and review the lessons learned.


1. Introduction

Starting mid 1994, the ISOCAM Interactive Analysis System (CIA)47 was developed to support the calibration and operation of ISOCAM, the infrared camera on board of ESA's Infrared Space Observatory (ISO)48.

As planned, this system now includes the functionality to perform the astronomical data processing of data from ISOCAM, and is used within the ESA ISO Data Centre, by the ISOCAM consortium and by many other institutes.

The system is mainly IDL based, and contains currently 1100 IDL modules with about 220000 lines of code and comments. CPU intensive tasks are coded in C++.


2. Challenges of CIA development

3. Requirements

Some requirements on CIA were

4. Management

The development of CIA had to be spread over multiple development sites.

Furthermore, the schedule for the first version (``launch readiness version'') was extremely tight -- 9 months from the start of development to acceptance testing, and the development team also had to build up IDL49/C++ expertise.

5. Other challenges

As in every other software project, special attention had to be paid to software quality control and documentation. The single most difficult and time-consuming problem was to get the astrometry, e.g., the correlation of image elements (detector pixels) with astronomical (sky) coordinates, right. (ISOCAM contains two detectors, which are read-out electronically in different directions. Also its images might be re-binned to non-square pixels.)


6. Chosen approach


7. Requirements

In order to keep the system on track, requirements were strictly prioritized. The system is reviewed and, if necessary, pruned from time to time. In order to fulfil ``expert'' and ``normal'' user requirements, two different types of data structures were implemented. CIA was coupled with the general automatic data reduction pipeline via its architecture, not via the code. This eased development for both systems.


8. Management

Project management and control was closely entwined with software configuration control: One VMS system was chosen as the master development/configuration control system and mirrored to the other VMS development system. Unix versions are created at monthly or bi-monthly intervals from the current development version and installed at the other development sites.

The collaborative and collegial approach within the software team and among collaborators was essential to overcome all difficulties.


9. Other challenges

A CIA configuration control board reviews and sets the priorities of the implementation of software problem reports and software change requests. This, together with a several-month-long testing period before the release of any major new version, proved essential to achieving a high quality for the software.

For the documentation, emphasis was put on the production of an accurate and helpful User's Manual. CIA's internal help system relies on the information contained in module headers. Therefore all contributors were continuously encouraged to maintain them in case of a code change or to modify them in case of deficiencies spotted.


10. Lessons learned


1.
Management
2.
Architecture
3.
Implementation
4.
Configuration Control & Multiple Development Sites





Footnotes

... S. Guest1
ISO Data Centre, Astrophysics Division of ESA, Villafranca del Castillo, Spain,2
... M. Delaney2
ISO Data Centre, Astrophysics Division of ESA, Villafranca del Castillo, Spain,3
... B. Altieri3
ISO Data Centre, Astrophysics Division of ESA, Villafranca del Castillo, Spain
... B. Ali4
University of Rochester, Rochester, USA
... A. Abergel5
Institut d' Astrophysique Spatiale, Orsay, France
... J.-L.. Auguéres6
CEA, Saclay, Gif-sur-Yvette, France
... H. Aussel7
CEA, Saclay, Gif-sur-Yvette, France
... J-P. Bernard8
Institut d' Astrophysique Spatiale, Orsay, France
... A. Biviano9
ISO Data Centre, Astrophysics Division of ESA, Villafranca del Castillo, Spain,7
... J. Blommaert10
ISO Data Centre, Astrophysics Division of ESA, Villafranca del Castillo, Spain
... O. Boulade11
CEA, Saclay, Gif-sur-Yvette, France
... F. Boulanger12
Institut d' Astrophysique Spatiale, Orsay, France
... C. Cesarsky13
CEA, Saclay, Gif-sur-Yvette, France
... D. Cesarsky14
Institut d' Astrophysique Spatiale, Orsay, France
... R-R. Chary15
University of California, Los Angeles, USA
... V. Charmandaris16
CEA, Saclay, Gif-sur-Yvette, France
... A. Claret17
CEA, Saclay, Gif-sur-Yvette, France
... C. Delattre18
CEA, Saclay, Gif-sur-Yvette, France
... F-X. Désert19
Institut d' Astrophysique Spatiale, Orsay, France
... T. Deschamps20
CEA, Saclay, Gif-sur-Yvette, France
... P. Didelon21
CEA, Saclay, Gif-sur-Yvette, France
... D. Elbaz22
CEA, Saclay, Gif-sur-Yvette, France
... P. Gallais23
CEA, Saclay, Gif-sur-Yvette, France
... K. Ganga24
Infrared Processing and Analysis Center, JPL and Caltech, Pasadena, USA
... G. Helou25
Infrared Processing and Analysis Center, JPL and Caltech, Pasadena, USA
... M. Kong26
Infrared Processing and Analysis Center, JPL and Caltech, Pasadena, USA
... F. Lacombe27
DESPA, Observatoire de Paris, Meudon, France
... D. Landriu28
CEA, Saclay, Gif-sur-Yvette, France
... O. Laurent29
CEA, Saclay, Gif-sur-Yvette, France
... P. Le Coupanec30
DESPA, Observatoire de Paris, Meudon, France
... J. Li31
Infrared Processing and Analysis Center, JPL and Caltech, Pasadena, USA
... L. Metcalfe32
ISO Data Centre, Astrophysics Division of ESA, Villafranca del Castillo, Spain
... K. Okumura33
ISO Data Centre, Astrophysics Division of ESA, Villafranca del Castillo, Spain,4
... M. Perault34
Institut d' Astrophysique Spatiale, Orsay, France
... A. Pollock35
ISO Data Centre, Astrophysics Division of ESA, Villafranca del Castillo, Spain
... P. Roman36
ISO Data Centre, Astrophysics Division of ESA, Villafranca del Castillo, Spain
... D. Rouan37
DESPA, Observatoire de Paris, Meudon, France
... M. Rupen38
National Radio Astronomy Observatory, Socorro, USA
... J. Sam Lone39
CEA, Saclay, Gif-sur-Yvette, France
... M. Sauvage40
CEA, Saclay, Gif-sur-Yvette, France
... R. Siebenmorgen41
ISO Data Centre, Astrophysics Division of ESA, Villafranca del Castillo, Spain
... J-L. Starck42
CEA, Saclay, Gif-sur-Yvette, France
... D. Tran43
CEA, Saclay, Gif-sur-Yvette, France
... D. Van Buren44
Infrared Processing and Analysis Center, JPL and Caltech, Pasadena, USA
... L. Vigroux45
CEA, Saclay, Gif-sur-Yvette, France
... F. Vivares46
Institut d' Astrophysique Spatiale, Orsay, France
... (CIA)47
CIA is a joint development by the ESA Astrophysics Division and the ISOCAM Consortium. The ISOCAM Consortium is led by the ISOCAM PI, C. Cesarsky, Direction des Sciences de la Matiere, C.E.A., France.
... (ISO)48
ISO is an ESA project with instruments funded by ESA member states (especially the PI countries: France, Germany, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom) and with the participation of ISAS and NASA.
... IDL49
IDL is the trademark of Research Systems, Inc.

© Copyright 1999 Astronomical Society of the Pacific, 390 Ashton Avenue, San Francisco, California 94112, USA
Next: ORAC-DR: Pipelining With Other People's Code
Up: Software Development and Management
Previous: The Gemini Data Handling System: A Case History
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