Virtual Observatory Services at WFAU
Mark Holliman, Mike Read, Nigel Hambly, Robert G Mann
Wide Field Astronomy Unit (WFAU), Institute for Astronomy, University of Edinburgh
The VO at WFAU

Data processing services

The Wide Field Astronomy Unit (WFAU) provides anarray of VO services that enable access to both dataand processing applications housed on servers at theInstitute for Astronomy in Edinburgh. These services
provide a powerful set of tools for obtaining andexploring data in ways unattainable throughconventional access methods.

We offer useful data processing services that areconveniently located on hardware directly networked tothe databases, which ensures minimal transfer time
when using them in conjunction with one another.

Data and Image Access Services
WFAU hosts a number of databases developed by ourdata centre as well as mirrors of important databases
developed elsewhere. All of these databases areaccessible through cone search and ADQL services
and are listed below. We also host several SIAP
services for accessing images from the sky surveys
curated by WFAU.
WFAU data enabled via Cone Search and ADQL

VO Enabled Applications• STILTS – A library of powerful functions for manipulationof tabular data. http://www.star.bris.ac.uk/~mbt/stilts/• Fast Kernel Density Analysis Classifier – A data mining
service for classifying objects using kernel densityestimation.
• VOTable to KML – A conversion utility for generating aKML file for use in Google Sky from a VOTable.

VO Infrastructure
We also host VO infrastructure services that provide
users with both basic and enhanced VO functionality.

• UKIDSS (unsecured) – DR1, DR2, DR3

Infrastructure Services• UKIDSS (secured ADQL only) – DR4, DR5• Publishing Registry – an IVOA compliant registry of allservices hosted by WFAU

• SuperCOSMOS Science Archive• 6dF Galaxy Survey – DR2, DR3• VISTA – Services to be enabled when releases go public

Mirrors enabled via Cone Search and ADQL
• SDSS – DR3, DR5, DR6 (SEGUE), DR7• XMM-Newton Serendipitous Source Catalogue• GLIMPSE• IRAS• FIRST• ROSAT• TWOMASS

SIAP Services• UKIDSS DR1, DR2, DR3• SuperCOSMOS Sky Surveys• VISTA – Services will be enabled when releases go publicFuture Developments
WFAU plans on implementing future IVOA standard
services relevant to our users and data holdings. In
the near future this will include the newly IVOA ratified
TAP protocol. We are also planning on implementing asecure cone search and secure SIAP service set forour proprietary datasets.

For More Details
A complete list of VO services hostedby WFAU, their access details, andtheir explanations can be found at:
http://vo.roe.ac.uk/• Full Registry – an IVOA compliant registry of all VOservices.
• WFAU Community – a secure logon service for
identifying users and access rights (utilizes x509
certificates). Used to provide secured access toproprietary UKIDSS and VISTA data releases.
• VOSpace – an online workspace for user data. Usefulfor intermediate staging of query results or processeddata in a workflow or scripted environment.

What these services make possible
These services provide users with a simplified means
to perform complex data retrieval and manipulationthat is not possible through conventional accessmethods alone. In particular, users can leverage ourdata services, along with the STILTS library, to perform
crossmatch queries between any of our collection oflarge survey datasets as well as VO enabled datasetsaround the world.
These VO services allow us to present our data andapplications to users in a consistent manner, ensuring
they do not need to learn and interact with a different
interface for every different dataset they require.