Information System of China Spallation Neutron Source and High Energy Photon Source and Its Applications

The China Spallation Neutron Source (CSNS), the fourth pulse spallation neutron source in the world built during China’s 11th Five-Year Plan (2006–2010), has begun its operation after passing the national acceptance test in August 2018. There are three spectrometers built and put into operation and another eight to be built in the Phase I of CSNS (CSNS I), and there are more spectrometers will be built before 2027 in the Phase II of CSNS (CSNS II). The High Energy Photon Source (HEPS), a large-scale scientific facility which is given priority to build during China’s 13th Five-Year Plan (2016–2020), will be used for high-throughput synchrotron radiation experiments with ultra-high spatial resolution, ultra-high time resolution and ultra-high energy resolution as a research platform for frontier fundamental research and national strategic research. CSNS and HEPS, as powerful advanced interdisciplinary research platforms for materials science, physics, chemistry, chemical industry, life science, environment and resources, and new energy, will serve experimental users from different institutions domestically and abroad to carry out their interdisciplinary experiments. The experimental data of the CSNS and HEPS produced every day will be rather huge and difficult to process promptly. To save and share raw data, analyze and process experimental data, normalize and manage scientific data, it is crucial to set up an information system to operate the facilities, process scientific data efficiently, and support experimental users with good experiences. The information system will provide not only basic services like network, computing, and storage but also data services (transmission, storage, analysis, sharing, etc.), research collaboration, software support (general software and scientific software), information management and information security for researchers, engineers, and users in CSNS and HEPS. The explorations in the development and application of the information system in CSNS and HEPS will help to establish an open and independent scientific software ecology evolving with hardware for fundamental researches, and a solid informatization foundation for the successful operation of large-scale scientific facilities in China.