The OVSA software is part of the SolarSoft software (SSW), and can be installed just like any other instrument within the SSW environment, e.g. from within an SSW IDL session, type 

ssw_upgrade, /ovsa, /spawn

Data Formats and Access

There are two distinct data products currently available from OVSA. The quicklook data take the form of total power light curves and dynamic spectra which are available here. This facility allows the user to select a particular date and view light curves and dynamic spectra in GIF format. If the user is interested in further data reduction and analysis then the complete data set can be requested. A data request form will soon be incorporated into these web pages. 

In addition to the quicklook data, we are currently in the process of developing intermediate data products in (FITS) format which will allow users familiar with the High Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager (HESSI) analysis software to analyse OVSA data with relative ease. This package, written in IDL, is provided as a standard library within the SolarSoftWare (SSW) tree while it is envisaged that both unprocessed and intermediate data products will be available at the HESSI European Data Center (HEDC) terabyte on-line data archive system - the OVSA data volume is expected to be less than 20 MB per day. 

Software Issues

The aim of the software is to make working with the OVSA data as similar as possible to the HESSI environment. This includes using similar data formats, common IDL based user interfaces, compatible coordinate systems, common terminology and a host of other enhancements. This is based on the fact that the HESSI and OVSA data share many characteristics. Both consist of light--curves at a large number of frequencies/energies, require a similar approach to calibration, depend on Fourier inversion from construction images and require similar cleaning processes such as the removal of sidelobes to improve the dynamic range of images. In particular, the new data analysis software will play two distinct roles: (1) real time monitoring of the system, calibration and analysis at OVSA and (2) offline calibration and detailed analysis. It is also envisaged that the OVSA analysis software will be incorporated into the SSW tree. This will ensure that the software will be accessible to a large community of researchers who are already familiar with both SSW and the HESSI analysis software.