A measured physical property in signal units. It has units and possibly a timestamp. The signal units are not the physical ones, like Gauss or Kelvin, but are something inherent in the detector, like volts or ADU's. The physical units are either calculated or inferred from the signal units.
Generic class representing a set of constraints to be applied while performing metadata queries on a data archive.
A multiple-beam interferometer, usually consisting of two flat plates, with high reflective ability. The plates are set parallel to one another by spacers so that light waves may bounce back and forth between them several times. The requirements for constructive interference of reflected light waves of a given wavelength can be fulfilled only at particular angles, relative to the normal to the plates. Therefore, Fabry-Perot interferometers can be used as spectrometers with high resolution. Used as a laser resonator, the Fabry-Perot reinforces only light of specific frequencies traveling perpendicular to the mirror surfaces, and its successive reflections and amplifications form the oscillating mode.
Generic class representing the functionality for retrieving data products (of many possible kinds) from a data archive.
A collection of observations of the physical quantity of interest. They usually have a location, observatory, instrument, and parameter (or set of parameters) associated with them. They also have a format along with an epoch over which they were taken.
A plot of the selected variable (Y axis) versus time (X axis)
Generic class that defines the functionality for querying metadata information from a data archive. The results of the query may be constrained by an associated DataConstraint object. Instances of MetadataService and DataConstraint are created on demand to support a transient query session.
A contour plot of the selected variable versus latitude (Y axis) and longitude (X axis)
A device that measures a physical phenomenon or parameter. At a minimum, it possesses a detector which produces a signal from which the desired quantity is calculated or inferred. The detector signal possesses the information needed to either obtain the value of the phenomenon (e.g, temperature: a voltage is converted into a temperature unit) or infer its value using further processing and computation (magnetic fields: detector intensities at a different wavelengths and polarization states are processed to infer a magnetic field strength). An instrument does not necessarily require a way to store its measured quantity (e.g, a hard disk).
A facility which houses and operates one or more instruments either synoptically or periodically. It has a physical location and operating hours. It can be either manned or remote.
An instrument that uses the principle of interference of electromagnetic waves for purposes of measurement. Note: Interferometers may be used to measure a variety of physical variables, such as displacement (distance), temperature, pressure, and strain.
Utility class representing a generic (name,value) pair
A configuration which allows the instrument to produce the required signal.
Generic class representing the outcome of a data request to a service. It acts as a wrapper for a collection of DataProduct objects.