The VO in Sunlight
by
Andre Csillaghy
University of Applied Sciences Northwestern Switzerland, Steinackerstrasse 5, CH-5210 Windisch

The European Grid of Solar Observations (EGSO) is a grid testbed funded by the European Commission's Fifth Framework Program under its Information Society Technologies (IST) thematic priority. This 3-year project was designed to provide enhanced access to solar and related data around the world. The services provided by EGSO can be accessed through different interfaces. The main access is a Web-based Graphical User Interface (GUI) that allows the user to access the services offered by the grid in a common and integrated way. Also, an Application Programming Interface (API) is available in the SolarSoft tree, that allows access to the services from IDL applications Furthermore, various dedicated web interfaces allow to access individual catalogs built in the framework of this project, such as the Solar Event Catalog (SEC), the Solar feature Catalog (SFC), and the Unified Observing Catalog (UOC). In this paper we present the final version of the Grid, featuring the latest GUI, the new IDL API, as well as the access to the different catalogs and registries that help resolving complex queries and route them through the appropriatenodes of the Grid. The featured version of the GUI also provides users with a new function that helps them to search for instruments based only on some observational characteristics. In this final version, all major and recent solar data sets are now accessible from EGSO. EGSO is also closely coupled to the Collaborative Sun-Earth Connector (CoSEC), another virtual observatory-related project, from which it uses processing services. More information about EGSO can be found under http://www.egso.org/

Date received: March 4, 2005