User Access and Proprietary Periods

• Proprietary Periods
• User Types
• Logging In
• Obtaining a PI Acccount

Proprietary Periods

An observation's proprietary period is the length of time between the original observation and the date when it becomes available to the public. The default proprietary period for data obtained through the 2022B semester is 18 months. Starting in 2023A, the default proprietary period for only NASA Keck data is 12 months; the proprietary periods for data from the other Keck partners remains 18 months. However, the KOA Data Release Policy gives principal investigators the option to request different proprietary periods on a per-program per-night basis.

User Types

KOA Users access data in two different ways:

• Principal Investigators (PIs):
  Only PIs can access data during its proprietary period - you must have a user account that has specifically been granted proprietary access to that data set either by being the PI or granted access by the PI in order to access it before it has become public.
• General Users:
  Anyone may search for and download data which has passed its proprietary period. No account is necessary to access public data.

Your user type affects search results:

• If an observation is proprietary, only the PI or users that have been granted access by the PI will be able to view information about the observation.
• Once an observation has passed its proprietary period, all users (both PIs and general users) will be able to retrieve descriptive information about the observation.
• Calibration files taken for a given night and observing program will be publicly available as soon as the science files for that night become non-proprietary. There are some calibration files that have zero proprietary period and those are available immediately to anyone.

Logging In

To access proprietary data, users must go to the Login Page and enter a userid and password.

Links to log in/out of the archive, or to change your password, are available from the main KOA Search Form.

Notes:

• You must have cookies enabled in your browser to log into the Keck Observatory Archive.
• After logging in the first time, you will not be asked to enter your password again as long as your browser stores the KOA cookie. If you access KOA from another browser or machine, you will need to log in again.
• The account you log in with does not affect the email address which receives notification when your files are ready. Each account is affiliated with an email address (the one to which WMKO sends the original account information); however, you must enter a notification address every time you select data for download packaging.

Obtaining a PI Account

At the start of a new observing program, a user account is automatically created for the program's principal investigator (PI). This account is allowed to access proprietary data taken as part of the PI's program (as well as any non-proprietary data available in the archive). If the PI has already observed with a KOA instrument in a previous semester or under a different program ID, their account will be updated to allow proprietary access to their new data.

Each new PI will receive an e-mail from WMKO with their account username and password. To change your password, click on the "Change Password" link on the bottom of the Login Page.

A PI can grant access to their program by another user by submitting a request to the KOA Helpdesk.