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Contributed Computing Resources

Independent Data Access Centers (IDACs) and Scientific Processing Centers (SPCs)

One of the goals of the In-Kind Program is to augment the available resources for data- and compute-intensive use cases for the Rubin community.  IDACs and SPCs, following the guidelines laid out by Rubin Observatory, will provide significant computing, storage, data, and experience for such use cases.

What kinds of contributed computing resources will be available?

IDACs and SPCs will collectively provide access to CPUs, data storage, databases, and GPUs.

What data and services will be available?

As described in the IDAC guidelines, all IDACs must allow any data rights holder to authenticate to use their services. As a Full IDAC, the UK Data Facility will provide access to the full LSST dataset, including Prompt Data Products, through a deployment of the Rubin Science Platform (RSP). Other IDACs and SPCs will in general host a subset of the LSST data alongside other potential data, and provide access and services tailored to specific needs. Planning for datasets and services is underway.

Who has proposed computing resource contributions?

The table below lists the IDACs and SPCs expected to be active during Rubin Operations.

ProgramTypeContacts
United KingdomData Facility (Full IDAC)Bob Mann, George Beckett
ArgentinaLite IDACMariano Dominguez, Diego Garcia
AustraliaLite IDACJarrod Hurley, Sarah Brough, Stuart Ryder
BrazilLite IDACCarlos Adean, Luiz Da Costa, Julia Gschwend
CanadaFull IDACJJ Kavelaars, Renée Hložek, Wes Fraser
CroatiaSPCTomislav Jurkić, Lovro Palaversa
DenmarkLite IDACChrista Gall, Radek Wojtak, Hans Kjeldsen
JapanLite IDAC (x2)Hisanori Furusawa, Naoki Yasuda, Masahiro Takada, Satoshi Miyazaki, Yutaka Komiyama
MexicoLite IDACOctavio Valenzuela, Luis Arturo Areña-López
PolandLite IDACAdam Zadrożny, Agniezka Pollo, Pawel̷ Pietrukowicz
SloveniaLite IDACAndrej Filipčič, Andreja Gomboc
SpainLite IDACCristóbal Padilla, Ramon Miquel, Nacho Sevilla
South KoreaLite IDACChang Hee Ree, Narae Hwang, Byeong-Gon Park

What are some potential uses of contributed computing resources?

The virtual workshop Supporting Computational Science with Rubin LSST, held in March 2023, featured discussion of a significant number of use cases submitted by members of the science community.  Links to the use cases, presentations, recordings, notes, and background material are available on the workshop web page.

IDACs are considering a range of specific use cases, including time series analyses, solar system occultation predictions, and development of photometric redshift training sets, as well as general use. IDACs are also following the development of the use cases identified in the workshop "From Data to Software to Science with the Rubin Observatory LSST", and may adopt some of these as a basis for specific datasets and services.

When will IDACs and SPCs be available to the community?

As seen in this presentation, IDACs and SPCs are expected to start operations with the release of LSST DR1 sometime in 2026.

Want to know more?

The IDACs Coordination Group maintains a space on Community for discussion and sharing knowledge amongst IDACs and SPCs and their user communities. Join the conversation!

Financial support for Rubin Observatory comes from the National Science Foundation (NSF) through Cooperative Agreement No. 1258333, the Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science under Contract No. DE-AC02-76SF00515, and private funding raised by the LSST Corporation. The NSF-funded Rubin Observatory Project Office for construction was established as an operating center under management of the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA).  The DOE-funded effort to build the Rubin Observatory LSST Camera (LSSTCam) is managed by the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory (SLAC).
The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent federal agency created by Congress in 1950 to promote the progress of science. NSF supports basic research and people to create knowledge that transforms the future.
NSF and DOE will continue to support Rubin Observatory in its Operations phase. They will also provide support for scientific research with LSST data.   




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