Design and Implementation of a Software Tool Package for Managing Massive Astronomical Data

As more large ground-and space-based observation equipments enter into service and more large-area sky survey projects progress, astronomical data are increasingly measured in terabytes, petabytes, or even exabytes.With astronomy entering the 'massive-data' era ('facing a data ocean'), how to effectively store and manage the huge-quantity data becomes a central issue for astronomers.Astronomical data centers certainly need to store and manage massive data.Individual astronomers need to effectively manage their large amounts of data as well.The most basic task of management of data in huge amounts is to efficiently and automatically deposit data into a database.Moreover, efficient indexing of data is the key issue in application of data management.We have thus designed and developed a software tool package called AutoDB to manage massive astronomical data.In the AutoDB there is a virtual terminal for a user to monitor automatic storage of data.With the Q3C the AutoDB automatically creates new indexing based on sky partitioning and applies the technique of indexing in a two-dimensional space to effectively manage astronomical data.Improvement of data-management tools such as in our study can provide a sound basis for follow-up data fusion, data mining, and data analysis carried out by astronomers.Especially for astronomers using massive data, improved data-management tools allow them to focus on exploring scientific issues in their research.