AstroTaverna: Building workflows with Virtual Observatory services

AstroTaverna: Building workflows with Virtual Observatory services

Technological Developments

AstroTaverna: Building workflows with Virtual Observatory services

We are pleased to announce the release of AstroTaverna, a plugin fully integrated in the Taverna Workbench 2.5 Astronomy Edition workflow management system.  It integrates existing VO web services as first-class building blocks in Taverna workflows, allowing the digital capture of otherwise lost procedural steps manually performed in e.g. GUI tools, providing reproducibility and re-use. It improves the readability of digital VO recipes with a comprehensive view of the entire automated execution process, complementing the scarce narratives produced in the classic documentation practices. The plugin also adds astronomical data manipulation and transformation tools based on the STIL Tool Set and the integration of Aladin VO software, as well as interactive connectivity with SAMP-compliant astronomy tools.

 

Now, with AstroTaverna plugin you can:

  • Search in the VO Registry for ConeSearch (tabular), SIA (images), and SSA (spectra) data services
  • Add found VO services to the workflow with one click, with optional parameter freeze
  • Render VOTables as tabular data in the Results perspective, together with their field's metadata
  • Resolve astronomical object names into equatorial (Right Ascension, Declination) coordinates using the Sesame service.
  • Convert coordinates between equatorial, ecliptic, galactic, and other systems
  • Execute Aladin macros and scripts in GUI mode using data extracted from VOTables
  • Manipulate VOTables
  • Table crossmatching
  • Join columns between tables with common keys
  • Concatenate two tables or more with the same columns
  • Select columns from a table
  • Select rows from a table from a conditional expression on field values
  • Addition of new columns based on calculations
  • Addition of extra coordinate columns, computed from existing coordinates
  • Addition of a row as a new columns with common repeated values through the table
  • Addition of a common field to a VOTable
  • Convert between different input and output table formats (supported by STILTS): VOTable, FITS, CSV (comma-separated values), TST (tab-separated text), ASCII, HTML...
  • Send VOTable results to SAMP-enabled VO software

More info:

 AstroTaverna – Building workflows with Virtual Observatory services
J.E. Ruiz, J. Garrido, J.D. Santander-Vela, S. Sánchez-Expósito, L. Verdes-Montenegro
2014 Astronomy and Computing 7-8 Special Issue on The Virtual Observatory: I, 3-11, doi:10.1016/j.ascom.2014.09.002

AstroTaverna developments are undertaken in the frame of the Wf4Ever and CANUBE projects