A Study of Scientific Workflow Technology and Its Application in Astronomical Research

In recent years, with the rapid development of the Virtual Observatory (VO) technology, many projects about VO establishment have been launched in various countries, and a series of standards of VO have been proposed and applied. These have been effectively pushing forward applications of information technology in astronomical research. As the key technology for both high-performance computing and VO, Scientific Workflow (SWF) is regarded as a highlight in relevant research areas. However, due to the interference of the Business Workflow (BWF) technology, the specific functions of SWF have not been well understood or appreciated by most astronomers for a long time, which limits popularization and application of SWF. In this paper, we carry out a high-level analysis of the technology of SWF, describing its basic functions and business models, and comparing SWF to BWF in details. We discuss the methods of applying SWF in astronomical researches, and finally expect certain development trends of the SWF technology.