COSIS: Coimbra Observatory Solar Information System

Since 1926 full-disk spectroheliograms have been routinely taken in Coimbra Observatory in the Ca II K-line (K1 and K3) and in 1990 regular observations in the H-alpha line have also started. These observations are preformed by a spectroheliograph, a twin of the spectroheliograph operated at the Observatoire de Meudon. In 2002 we started to digitalize our collection of more than 30000 solar images. In 2005 we started the project COSIS (Coimbra Observatory : Solar Information System). The purpose of the project (financed by FCT, MCES, Lisbon, Portugal: POCTI-CTE-AST/58333/2004) is to develop a software tool for automatic image processing and feature recognition of sunspots (K1), chromospheric plages (K3), and filaments (H-alpha) for usage by astronomers and other interested parties. The project team is composed by astronomers and computer science researchers from two institutions: the Coimbra Observatory, Santa Clara, Portugal and UNINOVA-CA3, Campus FCT-UNL, Caparica, Portugal. At this stage of the project only automatic image processing of sunspot is being performed and the first results are presented in this contribution. However, we intend in the future to extend the automatic feature recognition process to chromospheric spectroheliograms (K3 and H-alpha) as well. The COSIS interface (still under development till December 2006) is available at the site http://cosis.uninova.pt and more details can be found in http://www2.uninova.pt/ca3/en/project_COSIS.htm.