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THE HERSCHEL/HIFI INSTRUMENT WAS A HETERODYNE SPECTROMETER WITH TECHNOLOGY-DEMONSTRATING AND FLIGHT COMPONENTS BUILT BY NASA/ JPL AND ACQUIRED OVER 9000 ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVATIONS AT VELOCITY RESOLUTIONS OF BETTER THAN 1 KM/S BETWEEN 480 - 1910 GHZ (157 - 612 MICRONS). ITS PERFORMANCES DESIGNED AROUND THE SCIENTIFIC GOALS OF EXPLORING THE CYCLICAL INTERRELATION OF STARS AND THE ISM IN DIVERSE ENVIRONMENTS UNIFIED BY COPIOUS AMOUNTS MOLECULAR AND ATOMIC GAS AND DUST HAVE RESULTED IN OVER 350 REFEREED SCIENTIFIC PUBLICATIONS PROVIDING A SUCCESSFUL FOUNDATION AND INSPIRATION FOR CURRENT AND FUTURE SCIENCE WITH TERAHERTZ INSTRUMENTATION ABOVE THE EARTH'S ATMOSPHERE. NONETHELESS ALMOST 60% OF THE VALID OBSERVATIONS IN THE HERSCHEL SCIENCE ARCHIVE (HSA) ARE UNPUBLISHED. THIS IS IN LARGEST PART DUE TO THE LIMITATIONS OF THE AUTOMATED PIPELINE AND THE COMPLEXITIES OF INTERACTIVE TREATMENT THE DATA TO BRING THEM TO SCIENCE-READY QUALITY. NEW USERS OF THE ARCHIVE LACKING KNOWLEDGE OF THE NUANCES OF HETERODYNE INSTRUMENTATION AND/OR EXPERIENCE WITH THE DATA PROCESSING SYSTEM ARE PARTICULARLY CHALLENGED TO OPTIMIZE THE DATA AROUND THEIR SCIENCE INTERESTS OR GOALS WITH ULTRA-HIGH RESOLUTION SPECTRA. SIMILARLY THE EFFORT TO REMOVE QUALITY-DEGRADING INSTRUMENT ARTIFACTS AND APPLY NOISE PERFORMANCE ENHANCEMENTS IS A CHALLENGE AT THIS STAGE EVEN FOR MORE EXPERIENCED USERS AND ORIGINAL PROGRAM OBSERVERS WHO HAVE NOT YET EXPLOITED THEIR OBSERVATIONS EITHER IN PART OR IN FULL AS MANY PUBLISHED OBSERVATIONS MAY ALSO BE FURTHER HARVESTED FOR NEW SCIENCE RESULTS. RECOGNIZING THAT THIS SITUATION WILL LIKELY NOT IMPROVE OVER TIME THE HIFI INSTRUMENT TEAM PUT SUBSTANTIAL EFFORT DURING THE FUNDED POST-CRYO PHASE INTO INTERACTIVELY CREATING HIGHLY PROCESSED DATA PRODUCTS (HPDPS) FROM A SET OF OBSERVATIONS IN NEED OF CORRECTIONS AND ENHANCEMENTS IN ORDER TO PROMOTE USER ACCESSIBILITY AND HIFI'S SCIENTIFIC LEGACY. A SET HPDPS CREATED FROM ~350 SPECTRAL MAPPING OBSERVATIONS WERE CREATED IN AN EFFORT LEAD AT THE NASA HERSCHEL SCIENCE CENTER AND DELIVERED IN NOVEMBER 2016 TO THE NASA INFRARED SCIENCE ARCHIVE (IRSA) AND THE HSA WHERE THEY ARE AVAILABLE TO THE COMMUNITY. DUE TO LIMITED RESOURCES THIS EFFORT COULD NOT COVER THE FULL LIST OF OBSERVATIONS IN NEED OF INTERACTIVE TREATMENTS. WE ARE PROPOSING TO COVER THAT FINAL SET OBSERVATIONS (SPECTRAL MAPS AND A SELECTION OF SPECTRAL SCANS AND POINT OBSERVATIONS) IN A PROJECT SPREAD OVER 2 YEARS WITH 0.5 FTE FUNDING FOR A GUARANTEED SET OF PHASED DELIVERABLES PRODUCED WITH OPTIMIZED QUALITY AT HIGH EFFICIENCY USING EXPERT PROCESSING AND DELIVERY PROCEDURES ALREADY IN PLACE. THIS EFFORT WILL TACKLE THE QUALITY-DEGRADING ARTIFACTS WHICH COULD NOT BE CORRECTED IN THE AUTOMATIC PIPELINE --- AND BECOMING MORE AND MORE REMOTE FOR POTENTIAL USERS TO CORRECT ON THEIR OWN EVEN WITH SCRIPTED GUIDANCE. THE EXPECTATION IS THAT THE HUGE INVESTMENTS BY THE FUNDING AGENCIES AND THE SUCCESSFUL OPERATIONS OF THE OBSERVATORY MEETING AND OFTEN EXCEEDING PERFORMANCE REQUIREMENTS CAN BE RETURNED TO THE MAXIMUM SCIENTIFIC EXTENT POSSIBLE. WE CAN GUARANTEE SOME OF THAT SCIENTIFIC RETURN IN A STUDY OF FUNDAMENTAL CARBON CHEMISTRY IN ENERGETIC STAR FORMING REGIONS USING THE PROPOSED HPDPS FROM UNPUBLISHED AND PARTIALLY UNEXPLOITED HIFI DATA TO PROBE UV- AND SHOCK-DRIVEN CHEMISTRIES TO EXPLAIN AN UNEXPECTED DEFICIENCY OF C+ IN THE ORION KL ERUPTIVE OUTFLOW. WE WILL TEST A HYPOTHESIS THAT C+ IS DEPLETED BY PRODUCTION OF CO RATHER THAN CH+ THROUGH A CHAIN OF REACTIONS INVOLVING INTERMEDIATE PRODUCTS SUITED TO THE MOLECULAR ENVIRONMENT.

$314,022FY2020National Aeronautics and Space AdministrationNASA

California Institute Of Technology, Pasadena CA

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