Status and progress of China SKA Regional Centre prototype

Abstract

The Square Kilometre Array (SKA) project consists of delivering two largest radio telescope arrays being built by the SKA Observatory (SKAO), which is an intergovernmental organization bringing together nations from around the world with China being one of the major member countries. The computing resources needed to process, distribute, curate and use the vast amount of data that will be generated by the SKA telescopes are too large for the SKAO to manage on its own. To address this challenge, the SKAO is working with the international community to create a shared, distributed data, computing and networking capability called the SKA Regional Centre Alliance. In this model, the SKAO will be supported by a global network of SKA Regional Centres (SRCs) distributed around the world in its member countries to build an end-to-end science data system that will provide astronomers with high-quality science products. SRCs undertake deep processing, scientific analysis, and long-term storage of the SKA data, as well as user support. China has been actively participating in and promoting the construction of SRCs. This paper introduces the international cooperation and ongoing prototyping of the global SRC network, the construction plan of the China SRC and describes in detail the China SRC prototype. The paper also presents examples of scientific applications of SKA precursor and pathfinder telescopes completed using resources from the China SRC prototype. Finally, the future prospects of the China SRC are presented.