Just give me the data!

GWOSC data is available on the LIGO data grid (LDG). It can be easily accessed using the GWOSC example API.

gsissh ldas-pcdev1.ligo.caltech.edu

$ export PYTHONPATH=$PYTHONPATH:/home/losc/py
$ ipython
> import readligo as rl
> strain, meta, dq = rl.getstrain(860000000, 860005000,'H1')
> print strain

That's it! You got some data!

The variable strain is now a numpy array of strain values, between gps meta['start'] and meta['stop']. The time between samples (in seconds) can be seen in the variable meta['dt']. Currently, GWOSC data is sampled at 4096 Hz. For more examples and documentation, try typing help(rl) or follow the links below.

What's next?

• Since there are, in general, gaps in the data, we must work with segments of contiguous data:
  • See the full LDG tutorial and the help in the Timeline App
• To get started making plots and finding signals, see the tutorials page.
• For more documentation on reading LIGO data and segments with Python, see the GWOSC Example API page.