IVOA Roadmap for 2022A

This outlines the roadmap for development activities by the various IVOA working and interest groups between the Apr 2022 and Oct 2022 Interops.

• IVOA Roadmap for 2022A
  • Applications WG
  • Data Access Layer WG
  • Data Model WG
  • Grid and Web Services WG
  • Registry WG
  • Semantics WG
  • Data Curation & Preservation IG
  • Education IG
  • Knowledge Discovery IG
  • Operations IG
  • Radio IG
  • Solar System IG
  • Theory IG
  • Time Domain IG
  • Standard and Processes
  • Science Priorities

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Applications WG

Python

• Support open development in PyVO
  • Continue coordination meetings for maintainers, contributors and anyone interested.
  • Add prototype features to PyVO: TAPPlus, New SSO
• Maintain votable parsing in Astropy core

Standards and Other Business

• Frequency or Energy inside MOC, MOC 2.0?
• In coordination with other groups, explore support for JSON. in IVOA
• Migrate HiPS and SAMP documents to Github
• Clean up applications WG wiki pages.
  • Remove stale links and make sure all information is current
• VOTable 1.5
  • Stimulate discussion of existing issues (VOTable issues)
• Science Platforms using VO-Standards (CTA, LSST, SKA ...)

Data Access Layer WG

• EPN-TAP [DM WG connection]
  • RFC open
  • Resolving remaining issues on MOC/ST-MOC support, extensions and vocabularies
  • Aiming for REC in Q3-2022
• SIAP-2.0 / SODA-1.0
  • Expanding to cover spectra and potentially measurement sets and catalogues
  • One shot cutouts from SIA2
  • Renaming SIA2 to reflect expanded role
  • PRs open now for feedback
  • New WD by Oct/Nov interop
• DataLink -1.1
  • WD released Nov 2021
    • this might set the line for v.1.1
  • RFC by Oct/Nov Interop
• LineTAP
  • Intended to replace SLAP
  • WD end of Q2-2022
• ADQL-2.1
  • Ready for Proposed Rec (Q1 2022)
  • Validation required before RFC
  • RFC by Oct/Nov Interop
• ProvTAP
  • Continuing work towards mature WD status
  • Example implementation at CDS for Hubble HiPS
• DALI-1.2
  • multipolygon still pending
  • otherwise ready for PRec+RFC (Q4-2022)
• ConeSearch -1.1 [in connection with TD IG]
  • work will progress to close issues
  • a new WD before Oct/Nov 2022 Interop ?
• TAPRegExt [in connection with Registry WD]
  • WD release in Q3/Q4-2022
• ObjVisSAP
  • PR-1.0 nearly there
  • implementations ready
• SSAP
  • Spectroscopy data access could potentially lead to new minor revisions in advance of any integration with a more general SIA2
• Following Radio IG, TD IG activities for requirements
  • refer to the roadmaps of these IGs for details
• file-oriented catalog data access: start of discussion on Parquet

Data Model WG

• DM workshop follow-up
  • Meas/Coord-> Rec
  • Mapping syntax common proposal
    • -> RFC
    • Work on libraries in progress
  • MANGO to be updated
  • Resume working on Cube/MetaData
  • PhotDM REC
• Obscore evolution (TD, Radio)TBC

Grid and Web Services WG

• SSO - working towards next WD
• JSON-ification - small team of interested parties to look at what is easy and what is hard
• ExecPlanner - working towards first WD
• Science Platforms - continue collaboration with Theory IG, working towards 'hello world' prototypes.

Registry WG

Semantics WG

Semantics has quite a few documents in the pipeline at this point. First, we will rather quickly move the Note endorsing the Unified Astronomy Thesaurus for IVOA adoption to the TCG.

Then, there are two maintenance releases for recommendations that ought to be ready for Working Draft early in this cycle: VOUnits 1.1 (minor updates, e.g., for missing units) and VocInVO 2.1 for the new github procedures. We expect that both of them can move on to PR by the southern spring interop.

Progress with the UCD list 1.5 is harder to predict, but we expect to produce a PEN before the summer break.

Several minor activities are expected, including pre-review changes to product-type in the context of the datalink review, the production of an erratum to the UCD List for SSAP (alternatively, the change could also go in via UCDList 1.5), or working on an interface between Wikidata and the IVOA for the Faciliites list.

Finally, we will continue to process VEPs in the context of maintaining the vocabulary repository. By this activity's nature, we cannot predict at this point how much effort will be required for that.

Data Curation Preservation IG

• Citation and basic Provenance in the VO - to specify Data Origin in VO output
• Good practices to provide Data in the VO
• Share Data Center experiences and report other sciences frameworks and networks

Education IG

2022

• Improving the newcomer's session with regard of feedback. Eventual adaption of the Session to in person or hybrid meetings.
• Moving forward with the Edu note in Registry to make tutorial findable in the registry
• Updating the IVOA webpage in regard of VO publishing topics
• Finding a solution for putting votut-latex currently hosted on SVN at GAVO to ivoa github (Not as trivial as it sounds)2023/2024

2023/24

• Presenting VO-publishing at AAS meeting (when in person meetings are possible)
• Organizing one week workshop/hackathon on VO publishing with the goal that participants will have a usable VO service running at the end of the workshop (when in person meetings are possible)

Knowledge Discovery IG

• ML-proofing existing and future science platforms:
  
  • Are existing astronomy science platforms compatible with ML methods?
  • Investigate whether science platforms can access tabular and non-tabular data through VO interfaces.
  • Building libraries of well-established pre-trained models and integrating them in science platforms.
• Collecting resources for the "ready to ML in astronomy" kit
  • Library of datasets: collecting data for standard DM application for testing and benchmarking of KD models ("Iris datasets" for astronomy)
  • Looking at different "astronomy data challenges": can they represent the starting point for the library of astronomical datasets?
  • Collecting and describing methods for standardization/normalization of data used in astronomy, with reference data to test different implementations of the methods

Operations IG

• Monitor VO health
  • Coordinate weather reports (service compliance)
  • Monitor metadata compliance (UCDs/VOUnits)
• Address non-compliancy
  • Identify common/persistent errors
  • Support service operators to improve service compliance
  • Work with implementors on software-related issues (SoftID Note should help)
  • Work with WGs on standards-related issues
• Validation
  • Ensure validators are available for all IVOA standards where applicable
  • Maintain list of validators (IvoaValidatorsSummary)
  • Encourage use of validators
    • on deployed services
    • during standard development
• Authentication standards for VO API usage
  • promote discussion among providers and standards groups regarding fairness of access and load management - authenticated access as a means to manage usage and trace/throttle/block API abusers
• Communication
  • Provide forum for discussion of operational issues

Radio IG

• upgrading Radio Astronomy Implementation review note before next interop
• complete discussion on ObsCore extension for visibility data and publish it as a WD. Check consistency for optical interferometru
• Push the writing of a note for mapping pulsar or time dependant data to Obscore in collaboration with TDIG
• Demonstrate VO capabilities to MeerKAt and ThunderKat teams in collaboration with TDIG
• Push the writing of a note for mapping single dish (and beam forming ?) data to ObsCore

Solar System IG

• Top priority is getting EPN-TAP across the finish line.
• Observation facility codes are of high importance to both planetary and astrophysical users. We will pursue the Wikidata solution, which is very promising. PDS SBN has a vested interest in a good solution for this identification problem, and has offered support as needed for hosting, editing, testing, etc.
• There is untapped planetary data buried amongst astrophysical archives around the world. We will undertake an effort to get IVOA access for planetary data on the radar for these archives, starting with North America. To this end, we are planning at least one session at the fall Interop for which we invite representatives from astrophysics archives to present summaries of their planetary holdings and any plans they might have for implementing support for planetary IVOA queries.

Theory IG

Follow up April 2022 interop results, in a telecon before the summer:

• work with volunteering science platforms to get simulation data stored. (GL, BM, DM, SO'T, ET)
• get code close to the data for their analysis
• get a SimDB running and register the simulation data sets on science platforms (PH)

Time Domain IG

Standard and Processes

• Transfer the IVOA assets in FAlRSharing
• Standard docs are missing DOIs in ADS over the past few years - work with ADS to get them assigned. (JE contacted AA - will fix)

Science Priorities

• Keep up with community feedback
• Participate to the running meetings
• After the interop: LineTAP
• Follow up on Data formats - JSON
• Publish in the VO: define the next steps