Management Of Experiments And Data At The National Ignition Facility

The National Ignition Facility (NIF) consists of 192 pulsed laser beams fired simultaneously at a stationary target in a 10-m diameter vacuum chamber. During a typical 4-8 hour NIF shot cycle, culminating in a nanosecond scale laser firing, thousands of adjustments are performed on the target (type, composition, shape), laser (beams used, their power profiles, pointing), and diagnostics (configuration, calibration, settings). It is imperative that we accurately define all equipment prior to the shot. Following the shot, and the data acquisition by the automatic control system, it is equally imperative that we archive, analyze and visualize the results within the required 30 minutes post-shot. Results must be securely stored, approved, web-visible and downloadable in order to facilitate subsequent publication. To-date NIF has successfully fired over 2,500 system shots, and thousands of test firings and dry-runs. We present an overview of the highly-flexible and scalable campaign setup and management systems that specify all aspects of the experimental NIF shot-cycle, from configuration of drive lasers all the way through archival and presentation of analyzed results.