As already indicated there is an operational and a practical requirement for three distinct data processing pipelines for both VISTA and WFCAM: a summit pipeline; a basic pipeline back in the UK (of which the ESO version for running at Garching will be a subset); and an advanced pipeline also in the UK. All WFCAM data, including non-UKIDSS data, is to be processed through the summit and basic pipelines and the calibrated science data made securely available through the on-line WFCAM archive. The same is taken to be the case for the VISTA pipeline.
An on-line database describing the observations, and the summit-derived Data Quality Control (DQC) information will be maintained by the JAC, Hawaii, and mirrored in Cambridge, as is done currently with all UKIRT observations. These may require updating when final DQC information is available from the UK-run basic pipeline. This database will form the knowledge interface that helps define and plan the overall observing strategy. Again, equivalent requirements arise for VISTA, and ESO, Garching, will maintain a similar on-line observation database. In particular the survey planning and progress tools currently being devised for the WFCAM surveys through the ORAC Survey Definition (SD), Observation Management Package (OMP) and definition of Minimum Schedulable Blocks (MSBs), have direct equivalents/needs for the ESO/VISTA operation.