ALMA Organizes International Astroinformatics Conference in Chile

20 October, 2017 / Read time: 5 minutes

Experts from 33 countries attended the global Astronomical Data Analysis Software & Systems (ADASS) conference, which brings together astronomy and computer science. Organized by the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), the European Southern Observatory (ESO) and the Universidad Técnica Federico Santa María (UTFSM), from October 22 to 26 for the first time in Chile, ADASS will seek to develop astronomy and other industries, providing an opportunity to promote local talent to the rest of the world.

ADASS Invited speakers (from left to right and from top to bottom): Christophe Dabin (CNES), NAthan Goldbaum (NCSA/UIUC), Juan Carlos Guzmán (CSIRO), Giulia Iafrate (INAF-OATs), Jeff Kern (NRAO), Giuseppe Longo (U. Napoli), Michèle Péron (ESO), Nick Rees (SKA), Mark Taylor (U. of Bristol), Erik Tollerud (STScI), and Gijs Verdoes Kleijn (U. Groningen). Credit: ADASS 2017 website (www.adass.cl)

Chile is a privileged setting for astronomic observation and data collection, generating an enormous amount of public data. The ALMA observatory alone generates a terabyte of data per day; the LSST will reach 30 terabytes per night by 2022 and the SKA 360 terabytes per hour by 2030. This evolution implies a never seen before data storage and analysis challenge, and Chile is in a position to lead this progress with the support of data, communication and technology platforms and expert human capital with the support of this potent cloud computing era. Herein lies the importance of Chile's debut as Latin American headquarters for the International Astronomical Data Analysis Software & Systems-ADASS Conference, which after 27 years in practice, has chosen the country as its meeting location.

Local Organizing Committee (From left to right and top to bottom): Pascal Ballester (Co-Chair, ESO), Jorge Ibsen (Co-Chair, ALMA), Mauricio Solar (Co-Chair, UTFSM), Demian Arancibia (CORFO), Paola Arellano (REUNA), Amelia Bayo (U. de Valparaiso), Guillermo Cabrera Vives (U. de Concepción), Paula González Frías (Head of Innovation at the Chilean Ministry of Economy, Development, and Tourism), Karim Pichara (PUC-IACS), Pablo E. Román (USACH), Mónica Rubio (U. de Chile), Chris Smith (AURA), Luis Véliz (INRIA Chile), and Eduardo Vera (U. de Chile). Credit: adass.cl

“A modern observatory today is a true data factory, and the creation of systems and infrastructure capable of storing this data and analyzing and sharing it will contribute to the democratization of access to current, critical and unique information, necessary for the hundreds of groups of researchers of the Universe around the world,” says Jorge Ibsen, Head of the ALMA Computing Department and Co-Chair of ADASS.

The Chilean Virtual Observatory (ChiVO) and The International Virtual Observatory Alliance (IVOA), have worked together for years to define standards for sharing data between observatories around the world and to create public access protocols. Mauricio Solar, Director of ChiVO and Co-Chair of the ADASS conference, assures that Chile can contribute to astronomy, not just through astronomers, but also through the development of applications in astroinformatics that, for example, can help find evidence of extraterrestrial life.

Astroinformatics combines advanced computing, statistics applied to mass complex data, and astronomy. Topics to be addressed at ADASS include: high-performance computing (HPC) for astronomical data, human-computer interaction and interfaces for large data collections, challenges in the operation of large-scale highly complex instrumentation, network infrastructure and data centers in the era of mass data transfer, machine learning applied to astronomical data, and software for the operation of Earth and space observatories, diversity and inclusion, and citizen education and science, among other subjects.

"Chile has extraordinary opportunities. In a few years, it will be the epicenter of astronomy and astroinformatics, thanks to the big telescopes being installed in its territory. This will be of great help not only for the local scientific platform but for all the world. There are plenty of topics in whinch machine learning could be explored: diagnosis, transactions, marketing, mining, wheather forecast; Big Data will be critical for the future of Chilean economy" stated Giuseppe Longo, one of the invited speakers to the conference.

The ADASS Conference gathered 400 experts from 33 countries at the Sheraton Hotel in Santiago, and will be followed by an Interoperability Meeting of the International Virtual Observatories Alliance (IVOA), organized by ChiVO, from October 27 to 29. More information at www.adass.cl.

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3 - Morning Sessions

Day 3 - Afternoon Sessions

Day 4

Credit: Alejandro Hernández M.

Additional Information

ALMA is a partnership of ESO (representing its member states), NSF (USA) and NINS (Japan), together with NRC (Canada), NSC and ASIAA (Taiwan), and KASI (Republic of South Korea), in cooperation with the Republic of Chile. The Joint ALMA Observatory is operated by ESO, AUI/NRAO and NAOJ.

The Astronomical Data Analysis Software & Systems (ADASS) International Conference, celebrated between October 22 and 26 and held at Sheraton Hotel, Santiago, Chile, is co-organizaded by European Southern Observatory (ESO), Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) and UTFSM; and will gather attendants from more than 30 countries and around 50 speakers. More information: www.adass.cl.