Users Committee Report (December 13, 2024)

Science
#1

This report reflects discussions at both Rubin Community Workshop 2024 and the User Committee (UC) meeting held on October 28, 2024.

The meetings started with a listening session. Members from the community were invited to share their views, questions, and possible problems that they encountered. This was followed by a public UC discussion and then a private UC discussion.

Findings:

  • In DP0, large tables are indexed by coordinates. However, queries that rely on other columns are slow. If a document exists that describes the database in detail and which indexes exist, it would be useful if it is made easy to find.

  • We recommend implementing secondary indexes to enable faster queries (e.g., for magnitude and redshift). We recommend that a system is put in place so that members of the community can request new indexes seamlessly, in a way that makes it straightforward for the Rubin Team to assess feasibility and proceed to implementation.

  • The UC found that more can be done to disseminate the API capabilities of the Rubin Science Platform (RSP), as well as RSP updates. We recommend adding the UC to the recipients of information about relevant updates that should be communicated broadly, so that the UC can be of help in this.

  • The broker page (https://www.lsst.org/scientists/alert-brokers) needs updating. We also recommend the new survey strategy page (https://survey-strategy.lsst.io/) to be made easier to find by providing evident links to it in multiple places. For example, it would be good to have a direct and more visible link to it from https://www.lsst.org/scientists. We recommend this page in particular to be kept up to date and include all the information needed for a person joining the Rubin community to get started.

  • We recommend that a person from the Rubin Team is appointed in charge of overseeing the documentation, for example making sure that the survey strategy page is up to date. The UC is willing to work together with the Rubin Team to identify which pages should be prioritized.

  • Some users make use of Community Forum extensively. We recommend encouraging people who raise issues that the Rubin Team is addressing to start a topic in Community, so that they can receive direct feedback there on the work done.

  • In the future, the UC should let the community know a few weeks in advance when requesting for feedback

  • The UC has discussed the growing concern regarding data storage and scalability of the RSP. Groups are starting to think of resources needed, but the availability of computational resources (e.g., IDACS) is unclear. The UC was referred to the latest Science Advisory Committee (SAC) report (https://project.lsst.org/groups/sac/sites/lsst.org.groups.sac/files/Rubin%20SAC%20report%20Aug2024.pdf) and made aware that a dedicated Resource Allocation Committee will be established. We stress the importance of transparency on available resources and detailed numbers as soon as they become available.

  • The UC acknowledges the community interest in engaging with the LSST Education and Public Outreach (EPO) team. Specifically, there is a need for a places that work as forums for the public to post thoughts and ideas. The UC has identified some existing resources, such as:

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