Data Processing and Analysis Consortium (DPAC)

Data Processing and Analysis Consortium (DPAC) is the European Consortium responsible for preparing the data analysis of the ESA’s space mission Gaia. It is a collaboration of more than 450 scientists and software engineers, spread throughout more than 20 countries, and six large Data Processing Centres, created to be able to handle and process Gaia data. It is formed around a set of Coordination Units (CU) each responsible for a key aspect of the data processing (astrometry, photometry, astrophysical parameters, variability, science alerts, …). Before the launch the production of simulated data was needed to support the design of the data processing system. Once Gaia data is available, DPAC is also responsible to deliver the resulting database and allow their access to the scientific community.

DPAC squeme

Our contribution to DPAC is explained here.