The SOI Data Access and Publication Policy

I. SOI Data policy

The purpose of the SOI data policy is to enable research in an orderly and efficient fashion while enabling the widest accessibility to the data at the earliest reasonable date. This data policy is straightforward and is consistent with the overall SOHO data policy.

The general statement of the SOHO data policy is:

"The intent of the SOHO data access policy is to provide data to as wide a community as possible and as soon as possible. From the beginning of the operational mission, the scientific community is welcomed and encouraged to participate in the analysis of the SOHO data in collaboration with the PI teams. The goal is to make fully callibrated data available for public use through ESA and NASA archives one year after reception by the PIs."

The SOI data policy is an implementation plan for application of the SOHO policy to data derived from MDI observations.

II. SOI Science Investigations

Within the SOI program, science investigations will be pursued by Science Working Groups. The principal science objectives of SOI will be addressed by a set of established Team Science Working Groups. Additional Science Working Groups may be formed throughout the SOHO mission.

Investigations performed by SOI Co-Investigators (Co-Is), Associate Investigators (A-Is), and Guest Investigators (G-Is) using MDI data and SOI data products are part of the SOI program. The SOI team will provide early access to data by others for non-overlapping purposes limited only by resources.

• The SOI Co-I team consists of the original Investigators who are Philip H. Scherrer, P-I (Stanford University), Timothy M. Brown (High Altitude Observatory), Jørgen Christensen-Dalsgaard (Aarhus University), Douglas Gough (University of Cambridge), Jeffrey Kuhn (Michigan State University), John Leibacher (National Solar Observatory), Kenneth Libbrecht (California Institute of Technology), Robert Noyes (Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory), Edward Rhodes, Jr (University of Southern California), Theodore Tarbell (Lockheed Palo Alto Research Laboratory), Alan Title (Lockheed Palo Alto Research Laboratory), Juri Toomre (University of Colorado), Roger Ulrich (University of California, Los Angeles), Arthur B. C. Walker Jr. (Stanford University), and Ellen Zweibel (University of Colorado). The SOI Co-Investigator team has the responsibility to ensure that the best possible science investigations are accomplished with the resources available to the SOI project.
• The SOI Associated Investigators include members of the Co-I groups and others who have a demonstrated interest in the SOI program. Some of the Associated Investigators have made substantial contributions to the SOI program and have the same rights and responsibilities as Co-Is.
• NASA and ESA have announced plans for a funded Guest Investigator program to begin about a year after the begining of normal SOHO operations. G-Is selected by NASA and ESA will be treated as Co-Is during their terms.
• Others may have early access to the SOI data for research, educational, or public information purposes by joining existing Science Working Groups or submitting proposals for and being selected for new Science Working Groups.

All SOI Science Working Groups have specific science objectives to be addressed in a specified interval of time using specified techniques. Each working group consists of at least a Team Leader. Science Working Groups are open to active participation by new entrants subject to review by the PI. The Investigation Plan and membership for each Science Working Group will be published in easily accessible documents on the Internet World Wide Web (WWW).

The principal SOI science objectives will be addressed by concerted SOI team efforts. In order to encourage early coordinated efforts we have formed several Team Science Working Groups to develop observation specifications and analysis procedures and later to pursue the research and generate the initial publications. These Team Science groups are subject to the same conditions as other SOI Science Working Groups. The Team Science groups also have, in addition to a Team Leader who is usually an SOI Co-I, at least a Local Coordinator (a Stanford or Lockheed investigator) and a Lead Programmer (a Stanford or Lockheed software specialist). The Team Science investigations have priority in the allocation of SOI resources.

With the exception of some overview papers, the results of research undertaken as part of the SOI program will be published by the Science Working Groups that do the research in a manner and time deemed appropriate by those teams. Thus the Team Science groups and other Science Working Groups teams will write the papers resulting from their respective efforts. In the case of the Team Science efforts it is assumed that the Team Leaders and Local Coordinators will be co-authors along with the active members of the teams. The Science Working Groups will provide progress reports at SOI Team Meetings and on the WWW.

Science Working Groups and Team Science Working Groups are formed in response to proposals submitted to the SOI Project Office at Stanford University. Proposals will be reviewed and accepted according to procedures described in the SOI Science AO. SOI Co-Is and active A-Is have priority in the formation of Science Working Groups consistent with their responsibilities to the program.

III. Access to MDI data

MDI data and SOI data products belong to the SOI program and will be made available to SOI Science Working Groups and others at a time and manner dependent on the intended use. The SOI data products and planned availability are described in the SOI Data Availability document.

All SOI Co-Is will have immediate access to MDI data for purposes of planning future observations and investigations. SOI A-Is will have similar access via collaborations with Co-Is.

In order to maximize the gain from the limited resources, to allow orderly development of investigations, and to reduce redundancy in investigations, SOI team members agree to limit use of the data for research leading to publications to those efforts described in the agreed-to and publicly-available Science Working Group Investigation plans. This restriction of use for research leading to publication will be extended for a limited time, usually less than a year from the availability of the data.

Publication of results from collaborative investigations which use data from other experiments in conjunction with MDI data may be subject to additional constraints in accord with specific collaborative agreements.

In accord with NASA and ESA policies, MDI data will be available without restriction within a year of availability to the SOI project. The costs for such general distribution may need to be borne by the requestor, depending upon future agreements with NASA.