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Paper: The SPIRE Photometer Interactive Analysis Package SPIA
Volume: 442, Astronomical Data Analysis Software and Systems XX (ADASSXX)
Page: 691
Authors: Schulz, B.
Abstract: The Herschel Common Science System (HCSS) is a substantial Java software package, accompanying the development of the Herschel Mission, supporting all of its phases. In particular, the reduction of data from the scientific instruments for instrument checkout, calibration, and astronomical analysis is one of its major applications. The data reduction software is split up into modules, called “tasks”. Agreed-upon sequences of tasks form pipelines that deliver well defined standard products for storage in a web-accessible Herschel Science Archive (HSA). However, as astronomers and instrument scientists continue to characterize instrumental effects, astronomers already need to publish scientific results and may not have the time to acquire a sufficiently deep understanding of the system to apply necessary fixes. There is a need for intermediate level analysis tools that offer more flexibility than rigid pipelines. The task framework within the HCSS and the highly versatile Herschel Interactive Processing Environment (HIPE), together with the rich set of libraries provide the necessary tools to develop GUI-based interactive analysis packages for the Herschel instruments. The SPIRE Photometer Interactive Analysis (SPIA) package, described in this paper, proves the validity of the concept for the SPIRE instrument, breaking up the pipeline reduction into logical components, making all relevant processing parameters available in GUIs, and providing a more controlled and user-friendly access to the complexities of the system.
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