Globus Helps Preserve Precious Astronomy Data from the Arecibo Observatory

Excerpts from an article written by Jorge Salazar for the Texas Advanced Computing Center

Within weeks of Arecibo’s collapse, the Texas Advanced Computing Center (TACC) entered into an agreement with Globus at the University of Chicago, the University of Central Florida (UCF), the Engagement and Performance Operations Center (EPOC), the Arecibo Observatory, and the Cyberinfrastructure Center of Excellence Pilot (CICoE Pilot). Together, they’re moving the Arecibo radio telescope data to TACC’s Ranch, a long-term data mass storage system. Plans include expanding access to over 50 years of astronomy data from the Arecibo Observatory, which up until 2016 had been the world’s largest radio telescope.

To preserve and guarantee continuity to the scientific community, Arecibo’s data is being copied to storage devices, which are then delivered to the University of Puerto Rico at Mayaguez and to the Engine-4 facilities for upload. This ensures that the research community continues to access and execute research with the existing data. This data migration is executed in coordination with Arecibo’s IT department, led by Arun Venkataraman.

Given time constraints and limitations in the networking infrastructure connecting the observatory, speed, security, and reliability were key to effectively moving the data.

The Globus service addressed these needs, while also providing a means to monitor the transfers and automatically recover from any transient errors. This was necessary to minimize the chance of losing or corrupting the valuable data collected by the telescope in its 50+ years of service.

The Globus service enabled the UCF and ESNet teams to securely and reliably move 12 terabytes of data per day. “Seeing the impact that our services can have on preserving the legacy of a storied observatory such as Arecibo is truly gratifying“, said Rachana Ananthakrishnan, Globus executive director at the University of Chicago.

Read more coverage of the Arecibo data transfer at Forbes, and a longer feature on the observatory in The New Yorker.

About Globus

Globus is a platform for research data management, used by leading non-profit and commercial research organizations, national laboratories, and government facilities worldwide. Operated by the University of Chicago, the Globus service enables secure, reliable file transfer, sharing, and data management automation throughout the research lifecycle. The service is integrated into data portals, science gateways, and other web applications that manage data distribution from instruments and provide access to reference datasets. Globus is supported by subscribers and funding from the Department of Energy, the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, and the Sloan Foundation. Visit globus.org.