Applying iRODS to the Brain Image Library

ABSTRACTRecent advancements in optical microscopy and specimen preparation have greatly improved the specificity and sensitivity of observation. Imaging instruments have become readily available and produce data at GB/s rates. These capabilities now allow capture of large numbers of whole-brain volumetric datasets, enabling morphological study including connectivity within the brain. Brain image datasets pose a problem for data storage, access, and analysis due to their large and complex structure. The Brain Image Library (BIL) is a national public resource of brain image datasets contributed by the brain research community. BIL is located at the Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center (PSC). To manage metadata associated with brain image collections, BIL uses iRODS, an open source data management system. This paper describes the use of iRODS for data management within the Brain Image Library an NIH BRAIN Initiative-funded petascale archive of spatial brain datasets.