Aditya-L1 Support  Cell (AL1SC)

Aditya-L1 mission is the India’s first dedicated solar space mission. It needs a community service centre for the guest observers in preparing science observing proposals and analyzing science data. In this regard, Aditya-L1 Support Cell (AL1SC), a joint effort of ISRO and ARIES, is set up at the transit campus of ARIES at Haldwani, Uttarakhand. This center will jointly work with ISRO to maximize utilization of science data from Aditya-L1. AL1SC will act as conduit between the users (student and faculty members from research Institutes/ Universities/ Colleges etc) and payload teams of Aditya-L1 and solar astronomy research community at large. It will develop specific tools to assist guest observers/researchers to prepare observing proposals for Aditya-L1 observations. It will assist ISRO with the design and development of the required analysis software for handling scientific data.

AL1SC will bring sample public data from different instruments onboard Aditya-L1 to a single web-based interface. This will enable researchers/users to quickly look the data and identify the interesting science cases. AL1SC will also provide the co-aligned images  from other observatories around the world that can complement the data obtained from Aditya-L1. This will allow users to accomplish the science goals beyond the capabilities of the Aditya-L1. Combining data from other observatories, will be helpful in building a solar features event knowledgebase which will be the compendium of different solar features seen on the surface of the Sun and in the heliosphere. This knowledgebase will be immensely useful for the scientific community in connecting the features in heliosphere to the surface of the Sun.

In addition to this, AL1SC will also establish periodic training of the national user community on data analysis and proposal preparation. Short workshops of 2-3 days durations at different locations in India will be held focusing on universities, who do not have access in downloading and analyzing the Aditya-L1 data. Further, AL1SC has also planned to schedule frequent E-workshops, Tutorials using online platforms.

This centre will expand the visibility of Aditya-L1 beyond India at the international level. Also, it will expand its reach within India. It will allow every interested individual to be able to perform scientific analysis of the data.

Signing of the Agreement between ISRO and ARIES.