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| Paper: |
Is HDF5 a Good Format to Replace UVFITS? |
| Volume: |
495, Astronomical Data Analysis Software and Systems XXIV (ADASS XXIV) |
| Page: |
531 |
| Authors: |
Price, D. C.; Barsdell, B. R.; Greenhill, L. J. |
| Abstract: |
The FITS (Flexible Image Transport System) data format was developed
in the late 1970s for storage and exchange of astronomy-related image
data. Since then, it has become a standard file format not only for
images, but also for radio interferometer data (e.g. UVFITS, FITS-IDI).
But is FITS the right format for next-generation telescopes to adopt?
The newer Hierarchical Data Format (HDF5) file format offers considerable
advantages over FITS, but has yet to gain widespread adoption within the
radio astronomy. One of the major holdbacks is that HDF5 is not well
supported by data reduction software packages. Here, we present a
comparison of FITS, HDF5, and the MeasurementSet (MS) format for storage
of interferometric data. In addition, we present a tool for converting
between formats. We show that the underlying data model of FITS can
be ported to HDF5, a first step toward achieving wider HDF5 support. |
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