LAGOVirtual: A Collaborative Environment for the Large Aperture GRB Observatory

We present the LAGOVirtual Project: an ongoing project to develop platform to collaborate in the Large Aperture GRB Observatory (LAGO). This continental-wide observatory is devised to detect high energy (around 100 GeV) component of Gamma Ray Bursts, by using the single particle technique in arrays of Water Cherenkov Detectors (WCD) at high mountain sites (Chacaltaya, Bolivia, 5300 m a.s.l., Pico Espejo, Venezuela, 4750 m a.s.l., Sierra Negra, Mexico, 4650 m a.s.l). This platform will allow LAGO collaboration to share data, and computer resources through its different sites. This environment has the possibility to generate synthetic data by simulating the showers through AIRES application and to store/preserve distributed data files collected by the WCD at the LAGO sites. The present article concerns the implementation of a prototype of LAGO-DR adapting DSpace, with a hierarchical structure (i.e. country, institution, followed by collections that contain the metadata and data files), for the captured/simulated data. This structure was generated by using the community, sub-community, collection, item model; available at the DSpace software. Each member institution-country of the project has the appropriate permissions on the system to publish information (descriptive metadata and associated data files). The platform can also associate multiple files to each item of data (data from the instruments, graphics, postprocessed-data, etc.).

💡 Research Summary

The paper presents the LAGOVirtual project, an initiative to develop a collaborative Virtual Research Environment (VRE) for the Large Aperture GRB Observatory (LAGO). LAGO is a continental-scale experiment designed to detect the high-energy (around 100 GeV) component of Gamma-Ray Bursts (GRBs) using the single-particle technique in arrays of Water Cherenkov Detectors (WCDs) situated at high-altitude sites across Latin America. The geographically dispersed nature of this collaboration creates a pressing need for a shared platform to facilitate data exchange, resource sharing, and coordinated research activities.

The core focus of this article is the design and implementation of a prototype for the data repository module within the broader LAGOVirtual VRE. This repository is intended to host and manage both measured data from the WCD instruments and simulated data generated using the AIRES air shower simulation application. The prototype is built by adapting the open-source digital repository software DSpace, widely used for institutional repositories, to the specific needs of a scientific collaboration managing complex research data.

A key technical design decision is the implementation of a hierarchical data structure that mirrors the collaboration’s organization. Utilizing DSpace’s built-in model of Communities, Sub-communities, Collections, and Items, the repository structure is organized starting with the country (Community), then the institution within that country (Sub-community), and finally specific Collections for different data types (e.g., calibration data, measured datasets, simulation data). This structure naturally facilitates access control, allowing member institutions from each country to have appropriate permissions to publish their own data.

Recognizing that generic metadata standards are insufficient for describing rich scientific data, the project developed an extended metadata schema tailored for LAGO. While based on the qualified Dublin Core standard used by DSpace, the schema incorporates additional fields crucial for experimental data context, inspired by models like the CCLRC scientific metadata set. These fields include details such as the responsible person for data acquisition, start and end times of data capture, associated calibration files, environmental conditions (e.g., PMT temperature and voltage), and resources used. This rich metadata is essential for ensuring the long-term preservation, discoverability, and reusability of the data.

The implemented web interface offers user-friendly navigation and search capabilities, allowing users to browse data by country, institution, or other criteria like file name or type. Authorized collaboration members can submit new data items, associating multiple files (raw data, graphics, post-processed data) with a single item. The system also includes features for community engagement and monitoring, such as email notifications for new submissions in specific collections and a statistics module tracking repository visits and file downloads.

Crucially, the repository is designed with openness and interoperability in mind. While data submission is restricted to collaboration members, the stored data and its metadata are openly accessible for browsing and downloading. Furthermore, the system exposes metadata through standard protocols like the Open Archives Initiative Protocol for Metadata Harvesting (OAI-PMH) and provides RSS feeds. This enables external systems and meta-search engines to harvest and aggregate LAGO data, significantly increasing its visibility and potential for reuse by the wider scientific community beyond the immediate collaboration.

In conclusion, the LAGOVirtual data repository prototype successfully establishes a foundational infrastructure for the LAGO collaboration to manage, share, and preserve its valuable research data. By adapting existing repository technology, implementing a domain-specific metadata schema, and adhering to open standards, it addresses critical needs for data curation in a distributed large-scale experiment. This work positions the data repository not as a standalone archive but as an integral component of a larger Virtual Research Environment aimed at streamlining the entire research workflow from data acquisition and simulation to analysis and sharing.