[en] ANKA realized a new unified archiving system for the typical synchrotron control systems by integrating their logging databases into the “Advanced Data Extraction Infrastructure” (ADEI). ANKA’s control system environment is heterogeneous: some devices are integrated into the Tango archiving system, other sensors are logged by the Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system WinCC OA. For both systems modules exist to configure the pool of sensors to be archived in the individual control system databases. ADEI has been developed to provide a unified data access layer for large time-series data sets. It supports internal data processing, caching, data aggregation and fast visualization in the web. Intelligent caching strategies ensure fast access even to huge data sets stored in the attached data sources like SQL databases. With its data abstraction layer the new ANKA archiving system is the foundation for automated monitoring while keeping the freedom to integrate nearly any control system flavor. The ANKA archiving system has been introduced successfully at three beamlines. It is operating stable since about one year and it is intended to extend it to the whole facility. (author)

[en] Acceleration and multiplication of the cosmic ray electrons by strong electric fields in the thundercloud are well-established phenomena comprising the core of the atmospheric high-energy physics. However, the origin and location of charged centers in the thundercloud (one of the most important aspects of the atmospheric physics) and conditions for unleashing the particle cascades in the atmosphere are not clear until now. The majority of experimental data on particle acceleration in the thunderclouds comes from Space-born experiments detecting Terrestrial Gamma flashes (TGFs) and from networks of particle detectors located on the earth’s surface observing Thunderstorm Ground Enhancements (TGES). Models for explaining both TGF and TGE are based on the concept of a “runaway” electrons introduced by A. Gurevich. Prove of these models includes registration of the avalanches from the cosmic ray “seed” electrons entering the region of the strong electric field in the thundercloud. We present direct measurements of such an avalanches lasting less than a microsecond; hundreds of such avalanches comprise a TGE lasting few minutes. Our measurements prove that for explaining the TGE it is not necessary to invoke the relativistic feedback discharge model (RFDM) used for the TGF modeling. (author)

[en] The natural electron accelerator in the clouds above Aragats high-altitude research station in Armenia operates continuously in 2017 providing more than 100 Thunderstorm Ground enhancements (TGEs). Most important discovery based on analysis of 2017 data is observation and detailed description of the long-lasting TGEs (LL TGE). We present TGE catalog for 2 broad classes according to presence or absence of the high-energy particles. In the catalog was summarized several key parameters of the TGEs and related meteorological and atmospheric discharge observations. For both classes (composed as 2 separate tables), the selection criteria were a peak significance as minimum 4 standard deviations from the mean value of time series measured just before a TGE (>4 ı). The statistical analysis of the data collected in tables reveals the months when TGEs are more frequent, the daytime when TGEs mostly occurred, the mean distance to lightning flash that terminates TGE and many other interesting relations. Separately was discussed the sharp count rate decline and following removal of high-energy particles from the TGE flux after a lightning flash. The used methodology of data analysis provides tools to integrate a multitude of particle and geophysical observations into a system that fully utilized the scientific potential of investigated physical phenomena. ADEI multivariate visualization and statistical analysis platform make analytical work on sophisticated problems rather easy; one can try and test many hypotheses very fast and come to a definite conclusion allowing crosscheck and validation

[en] The Aragats Space Environmental Center facilities continuously measure fluxes of neutral and charged secondary cosmic ray incidents on the Earth's surface. Since 2003 in the 1-minute time series we have detected more than 100 enhancements in the electron, gamma ray, and neutron fluxes correlated with thunderstorm activities. During the periods of the count rate enhancements, lasting tens of minutes, millions of additional particles were detected. Based on the largest particle event of September 19, 2009, we show that our measurements support the existence of long-lasting particle multiplication and acceleration mechanisms in the thunderstorm atmosphere. For the first time we present the energy spectra of electrons and gamma rays from the particle avalanches produced in the thunderstorm atmosphere, reaching the Earth's surface.

[en] During operation of high energy physics experiments a big amount of slow control data is recorded. It is necessary to examine all collected data checking the integrity and validity of measurements. With growing maturity of AJAX technologies it becomes possible to construct sophisticated interfaces using web technologies only. Our solution for handling time series, generally slow control data, has a modular architecture: backend system for data analysis and preparation, a web service interface for data access and a fast AJAX web display. In order to provide fast interactive access the time series are aggregated over time slices of few predefined lengths. The aggregated values are stored in the temporary caching database and, then, are used to create generalizing data plots. These plots may include indication of data quality and are generated within few hundreds of milliseconds even if very high data rates are involved. The extensible export subsystem provides data in multiple formats including CSV, Excel, ROOT, and TDMS. The search engine can be used to find periods of time where indications of selected sensors are falling into the specified ranges. Utilization of the caching database allows performing most of such lookups within a second. Based on this functionality a web interface facilitating fast (Google-maps style) navigation through the data has been implemented. The solution is at the moment used by several slow control systems at Test Facility for Fusion Magnets (TOSKA) and Karlsruhe Tritium Neutrino (KATRIN).

[en] To make transformational scientific progress in Space science and geophysics, the Sun, heliosphere, magnetosphere and different layers of the atmosphere must be studied as a coupled system. Presented paper describes how information on complicated physical processes on Sun, in the heliosphere, magnetosphere and atmosphere can be made immediately assessable for researchers via advanced multivariate visualization system with simple statistical analysis package. Research of the high-energy phenomena in the atmosphere and the atmospheric discharges is of special importance. The relationship between thundercloud electrification, lightning activity, wideband radio emission and particle fluxes have not been yet unambiguously established. One of most intriguing opportunities opening by observation of the high-energy processes in the atmosphere is their relation to lightning initiation. Investigations of the accelerated structures in the geospace plasmas can as well shed light on particle acceleration up to much higher energies in the similar structures of space plasmas in the distant objects of the Universe. (author)

[en] Modern physics experiments produce multi-GB/s data rates. Fast data links and high performance computing stages are required for continuous data acquisition and processing. Because of their intrinsic parallelism and computational power, GPUs emerged as an ideal solution to process this data in high performance computing applications. In this paper we present a high-throughput platform based on direct FPGA-GPU communication. The architecture consists of a Direct Memory Access (DMA) engine compatible with the Xilinx PCI-Express core, a Linux driver for register access, and high- level software to manage direct memory transfers using AMD's DirectGMA technology. Measurements with a Gen3 x8 link show a throughput of 6.4 GB/s for transfers to GPU memory and 6.6 GB/s to system memory. We also assess the possibility of using the architecture in low latency systems: preliminary measurements show a round-trip latency as low as 1 μs for data transfers to system memory, while the additional latency introduced by OpenCL scheduling is the current limitation for GPU based systems. Our implementation is suitable for real-time DAQ system applications ranging from photon science and medical imaging to High Energy Physics (HEP) systems

[en] In this work, we investigate the use of GPUs as a way of realizing a low-latency, high-throughput track trigger, using CMS as a showcase example. The CMS detector at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) will undergo a major upgrade after the long shutdown from 2024 to 2026 when it will enter the high luminosity era. During this upgrade, the silicon tracker will have to be completely replaced. In the High Luminosity operation mode, luminosities of 5–7 × 10³⁴ cm⁻²s⁻¹ and pileups averaging at 140 events, with a maximum of up to 200 events, will be reached. These changes will require a major update of the triggering system. The demonstrated systems rely on dedicated hardware such as associative memory ASICs and FPGAs. We investigate the use of GPUs as an alternative way of realizing the requirements of the L1 track trigger. To this end we implemeted a Hough transformation track finding step on GPUs and established a low-latency RDMA connection using the PCIe bus. To showcase the benefits of floating point operations, made possible by the use of GPUs, we present a modified algorithm. It uses hexagonal bins for the parameter space and leads to a more truthful representation of the possible track parameters of the individual hits in Hough space. This leads to fewer duplicate candidates and reduces fake track candidates compared to the regular approach. With data-transfer latencies of 2 μs and processing times for the Hough transformation as low as 3.6 μs, we can show that latencies are not as critical as expected. However, computing throughput proves to be challenging due to hardware limitations.

[en] For a reliable and timely forecast of Space Weather world-wide networks of particle detectors are located at different latitudes, longitudes and altitudes. To provide better integration of these networks the data acquisition system is facing a challenge to establish reliable data exchange between multiple network nodes which are often located in hardly accessible locations and operated by small research groups. In this article we want to present a data acquisition system for new establishing SEVAN (Space Environmental Viewing and Analysis Network) elaborated on top of free open-source technologies. Our solution is organized as a distributed network of uniform components connected by standard interfaces. The main component is URCS (Unified Readout and Control Server) which controls frontend electronics, collects data and makes preliminary analysis. The URCS operates fully autonomous. Essential characteristics of software components and electronics are remotely controllable via a dynamic web interface, the data is stored locally for certain amount of time and distributed on request to other nodes over web services. To simplify data exchange with collaborating groups we are using an extensible XML based format for data dissemination. The data acquisition system at Aragats Space Environmental Center in Armenia was started November, 2006. Seven particle monitors are located at 2000 and 3200 meters above sea level at a distance of 40 and 60 km from data analysis servers in Yerevan, Armenia. The reliability of the service was proofed by continuous monitoring of incident cosmic ray flux

[en] This report presents the functionalities of the new tomographic hardware and software setup. The setup was designed and created in the Shubnikov Institute of Crystallography FSRC 'Crystallography and photonics' RAS to solve the problem of quantitative description of the spatial organization of different types of samples. In addition, we report the first results experimental results, which have been obtained. Remotely controlled set-up includes a laboratory X-ray source, shutter, crystal monochromator, vacuum path, sample stage with automatic positioning system for the sample in study (sample size can vary from fractions of a millimeter to several centimeters) and X-rays detectors. The software part solves three main tasks: remote control of the set-up, remote operations with the data (storage, access, processing, etc.), access to set-up and data via a web interface. (authors)