Spatial statistical analysis of large astronomical datasets

Istvan Szapudi

doi:10.1117/12.461128

19 December 2002 Spatial Statistical Analysis of Large Astronomical Datasets

Istvan Szapudi

Proceedings Volume 4847, Astronomical Data Analysis II; (2002) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.461128
Event: Astronomical Telescopes and Instrumentation, 2002, Waikoloa, Hawai'i, United States

Abstract

The future of astronomy will be dominated with large and complex data bases. Megapixel CMB maps, joint analyses of surveys across several wavelengths, as envisioned in the planned National Virtual Observatory (NVO), TByte/day data rate of future surveys (Pan-STARRS) put stringent constraints on future data analysis methods: they have to achieve at least N log N scaling to be viable in the long term. This warrants special attention to computational requirements, which were ignored during the initial development of current analysis tools in favor of statistical optimality. Even an optimal measurement, however, has residual errors due to statistical sample variance. Hence a suboptimal technique with significantly smaller measurement errors than the unavoidable sample variance produces results which are nearly identical to that of a statistically optimal technique. For instance, for analyzing CMB maps, I present a suboptimal alternative, indistinguishable from the standard optimal method with N³ scaling, that can be rendered N log N with a hierarchical representation of the data; a speed up of a trillion times compared to other methods. In this spirit I will present a set of novel algorithms and methods for spatial statistical analyses of future large astronomical data bases, such as galaxy catalogs, megapixel CMB maps, or any point source catalog.

Citation Download Citation

Istvan Szapudi "Spatial Statistical Analysis of Large Astronomical Datasets", Proc. SPIE 4847, Astronomical Data Analysis II, (19 December 2002); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.461128

ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE

INSTITUTIONAL
Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.

SELECT YOUR INSTITUTION

PERSONAL
Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.

PERSONAL SIGN IN

No SPIE Account? Create one

PURCHASE THIS CONTENT

SUBSCRIBE TO DIGITAL LIBRARY

50 downloads per 1-year subscription

Members: $195

Non-members: $335 ADD TO CART

25 downloads per 1 - year subscription

Members: $145

Non-members: $250 ADD TO CART

PURCHASE SINGLE ARTICLE

Includes PDF, HTML & Video, when available