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Advances in radio telescope technology have greatly improved our ability to explore the radio sky, including its polarization which we use to explore cosmic magnetism in diffuse environments. Large survey projects with new radio telescopes are going to produce more data than has existed in all prior radio observations combined, but dealing with these data requires significant effort in technical development -- new pipelines, algorithms, and ideas. In this seminar I’ll offer a behind-the-scenes look at the technical development for large radio polarization surveys, with an eye to discussing similarities and differences to large optical data projects. I’ll also talk about some of the challenges that can happen when doing software development in an astronomy context -- hopefully with some nuggets of wisdom for students who are embarking on software adventures. And if time permits, I’ll talk about the unforeseen problems that can come with executing a big survey project. |
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