The Southwest Data Display and Analysis System (SDDAS) is a flexible multi-mission/multi-instrument software system intended to support space physics data analysis. The utility of the system relies on the availability of low-cost workstation technology, an operating system that runs on different hardware platforms (UNIX), and the proliferation of the Internet. The development of the SDDAS is driven from the bottom up by the user community rather than by government organizations. An interesting characteristic of the SDDAS is that it allows data in distributed archives, from many different satellites and other sources to be displayed and analyzed using a diverse set of graphical applications. Data can be ordered and delivered over the Internet independent of the archive location and the nature of the archive storage.

Rather than emphasizing the indexing of data by ancillary characteristics, the SDDAS stresses the ability to visualize and analyze data quickly. The SDDAS has provided the developers with many useful lessons learned in the arena of space physics data systems. The developers feel that a strong case can be made that large, centralized facilities offering a fixed set of abilities will not adequately support space science in the 1990s and beyond. The SDDAS approach is adaptable to advances in computer technology, thus giving the scientist a toolbox that can bridge the gap between data and scientific insight.

For more information about the SDDAS program go to SDDAS Home Page