MONSOON Image Acquisition System

The MONSOON Image Acquisition System is a scalable, multichannel, high-speed data acquisition system designed for the next-generation optical/infrared detectors and mosaic projects currently under development at NOAO. MONSOON is more than a controller; rather it is new image acquisition architecture, providing a total solution to “detector-limited” image acquisition for all astronomical detectors, scientific and technical, OUV to IR. MONSOON addresses detector-interface as well as the significant data flow and processing issues large-scale imaging systems require. The Monsoon effort is a full-disclosure “open-source” development effort by NOAO in collaboration with the CARA ASTEROID project for the benefit of the astronomical community.