RHESSI Data Analysis Software: Rationale and Methods

Issue Title: Topical Issue: The Reuven Ramaty High-Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager (RHESSI) - Mission Description and Early Results The Reuven Ramaty High-Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager (RHESSI) performs imaging spectroscopy of the Sun with high spatial and spectral resolution from 3 keV to 17 MeV using indirect Fourier-transform techniques. We review the rationale behind the RHESSI data analysis software, and explain the underlying structure of the software tools. Our goal was to make the large data set available within weeks after the RHESSI launch, and to make it possible for any member of the scientific community to analyze it easily. This paper describes the requirements for the software and explores our decisions to use the SolarSoftWare and Interactive Data Language programming packages, to support both Windows and Unix platforms, and to use object-oriented programming. We also describe how the data are rapidly disseminated and how ancillary data sets are used to enhance the RHESSI science. Finally, we give a schematic overview of some of the data flow through the high-level analysis tools. More information on the data and analysis procedures can be found at the RHESSI Data Center website, http://hesperia.gsfc.nasa.gov/rhessidatacenter.[PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]