A Confocal Fluorescence Microscopy Brain Data Archive

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Advancements in the field of microscopy and imaging have pushed the
boundaries of what was once thought possible in many fields of
research. New techniques coupled with the application of new
technologies allow researchers to probe further and with greater
accuracy to answer increasingly complex questions. While these new
techniques allow for far greater specificity of observation and
increased sensitivity in regard to both resolution and frequency, the
amount of data generated is increasing to a point where conventional
systems are unable to manage it. At the current time, there is no
practical way to analyze, mine, share or interact with large (100+TB)
brain image datasets. The development of a national, scalable
archival solution and gateway for such datasets is a pressing problem
extremely important and central to the NIH mission as in the future
there will be a continuous and sustained growth in data scale. To
address this issue, we are establishing the BRAIN Imaging Archive.
The Archive will encompass the deposition of datasets, the
integration of datasets into a searchable web- accessible system, the
redistribution of datasets, and a computational enclave to allow
researchers to process datasets in-place and share restricted and
pre-release datasets. The Archive will, for the first time, provide
researchers with a practical way to analyze, mine, share or interact
with large (100+TB) image datasets by creating a unique public
resource for the BRAIN research community.