IVOA Roadmap for 2023B

This outlines the roadmap for development activities by the various IVOA working and interest groups between the Nov 2023 and May 2024 Interops.

Applications WG

Data Access Layer WG

Primary:

ADQL

• 2.2 - PEG, INTERVAL support, MOC support, Array support, string functions, OFFSET

DALI 1.2

• PRec by Sydney

TAP 1.2

• User managed persistent tables
• Experiment with Open API spec for these changes

Conesearch 1.1

• RESPONSEFORMAT, MAXREC
• Allow services to reject unknown parameters
• Modernize required UCDs (UCD 1.0-> UCD 1+)
• WD by Sydney (PR pending validators and implementations)

SIAP-2.0 -> Data Access Protocol v1

• Proceed with renaming, expansion of supported data product types
• Miscellaneous changes
• WD by Sydney

SODA1.1

• return extended metadata
• New transformation types
• WD by Sydney

Secondary

LineTAP

• Client and server implementations progressing
• Raise PRec once implementations ready

ObjObsSAP

• Work restarting
• New WD and perhaps PRec by Sydney

SSA

• Issue errata for minor issues already noted in github

ADQLUser defined functions

• Can functions be reconciled between GAVO and OAJ?

Data Model WG

Primary:

Spectrum 1.2 RFE:

• With exec approval
  • Update abstract with statement of model update scope
  • create/update issues for future enhancements ( vocabularies, VOUnit, invalid UCD sweep)
  • correct typo: PARAMs with no datatype
• Find/update spec lib implementation

Transform 1.0:

• implement python workflow scripts as jupyter notebooks
• proceed to RFC

ObsCore extension for Radio domain

• DM review of WD; organize resolution of any open questions.

Secondary:

Mango 1.0:

• continue refinement of content and implementations
• detail stop of V1.0 of document
• goal: concrete WD for next interop

Dataset Metadata 1.0:

• revise model per discussion in Bologna interop
• define and execute appropriate implementations (in context of TimeSeries, Cube, Mango)
• goal: concrete WD for next interop

Modeling High Energy Datasets:

• Refine Note in support of HEIG creation
• continue informal discussions of the 'club'
• goal: formation of HE Interest group

Provenance, one step:

• finalize Note, see if this can become a WD
  • as 'view of Provenance' similar to ObsCore

Other:

VODML Toolkit

• integrate toolkit usage into model repositories
• utilize to generate code package of vo-dml compliant models.

NDCube 1.0:

• work on Dataset, and High Energy should define additional workflow threads which exercise this model in other contexts.
• goal: implement any defined workflow cases

Characterisation 2.0:

• VO-DML compliant version of Characterisation model
• goal: WD by Spring 2024

Field of View:

• formalizing model basis for Aladin FoV format used by STScI and others
• goal: no stated goals this semester

CAOM:

• continue discussions with CADC about how this model fits into the IVOA ecosystem

Grid and Web Services WG

Registry WG

Semantics WG

Data Curation Preservation IG

Education IG

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.
  • Designing a questionnaire to collect user requirements for science platforms to support ML methods and see how it fits into the plan of science platform from the developers' and relevant service providers' side.
• Artificial Intelligence and Large Language Models in the VO
  • Coordinating an IVOA, inter-group "tiger team" that will scope the current and future potential impact of AI on VO.
  • Collecting use cases and requirements for the integration of commercial and/or ad hoc LLMs models in IVOA-relevant topics.
  • Investigating best practices to integrate LLMs with VO tools for a fusion of domain knowledge and data.

Operations IG

Radio IG

• Complete and implement (2 implementation) the radio Obscore Extension
• Improve Pulsar Radio data Note in collaboration with TDIG
• Start version 2 of Implementation review note

Solar System IG

Theory IG

Time Domain IG

Priority in 2023B is to continue the discussions and review of the VOEvent standard, and align it with current practices for transient alert reporting, Expertise from ZTF, and broker alerts for Vera Rubin will be reviewed and hopefully incorporated into a new version of the standard.

• VOEvent 2.1 working draft: new version coordinated by DAL, but the TD IG should follow and read the draft to provide feedback. The current, stable version of VOEvent is at https://www.ivoa.net/documents/VOEvent/20110711/

• Pick up discussion on Time Series Cube Data Model (2019), to get status, establish if it leads to a recommendation, etc. Does the datacube only have a time dimension, or also a spectral dimension? Of relevance for upcoming spectral time domain surveys. We need to ensue that it also fits high energy data (i.e. event files) => https://www.ivoa.net/documents/Notes/CubeDM/20190318/index.html

• Time search postponed in the Cone Search standard to the next major release
• Evaluate synergies with HAPI protocol for heliophysics time domain data (https://vires.services/hapi/)
• Form Galluzzi's talk at interop: radio time/frequency datasets. Similar to GW transients. Are there standards for this?

• Status of (S)TMOC => Space and Time coverage => Does this require updates? Is it currently being used? https://www.ivoa.net/documents/MOC/20220727/index.html

• Cone search service that allows for time constraints

• Other, dormant documents: VOEventRegExt => Extension of the VO registry to describe a service providing VOEvents (dormant still 2014 ); STC-S => Space Time coordinate linear definitions (dormant still 2013)

Standard and Processes