Towards a National Virtual Observatory

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ABSTRACT9876645In the near future several new surveys will provide tens of terabytes of cataloged data for the astronomy community. The archives for these projects are currently being designed. The separate archives from the surveys need to be integrated into a seamlessly interoperating entity. This Small Grant for Exploratory Research will investigate a concept for accomplishing this: a national "virtual observatory." The community would interact with the virtual observatory in much the same way that it now interacts with space-based observatories, or in queue and remote observing at ground-based observatories. This grant will provide a forum for the community to discuss the concept of a virtual observatory, which integrates the archives of several large surveys and provides access to the survey results for the community.