GWOSC Search and Download Skill

Search and download gravitational wave data from the Gravitational Wave Open Science Center (GWOSC).

Requires: requests (pip install requests)

What is GWOSC?

GWOSC provides open access to gravitational wave data from LIGO, Virgo, and KAGRA:

• Detected event catalogs (GWTC)
• Event parameters (masses, spins, distances)
• Strain time series data
• Calibrated detector data

Basic Usage

# List available catalogs
python scripts/gwosc.py --catalogs

# List events from GWTC
python scripts/gwosc.py --list

# List events from a specific catalog
python scripts/gwosc.py --list O3_Discovery_Papers

# Get event details
python scripts/gwosc.py GW150914

# Get specific version
python scripts/gwosc.py GW150914 --version 3

Searching Events

# Search by primary mass range
python scripts/gwosc.py --min-mass1 20 --max-mass1 50

# Search for nearby events
python scripts/gwosc.py --max-distance 500

# Search by SNR threshold
python scripts/gwosc.py --min-snr 20

# Combined search
python scripts/gwosc.py --min-mass1 30 --max-distance 1000 --min-snr 15

# Limit results
python scripts/gwosc.py --min-mass1 10 -n 5

Search Parameters

Strain Data

# List available strain files for an event
python scripts/gwosc.py GW150914 --strain

# Download 32s strain from Hanford
python scripts/gwosc.py GW150914 --download H1

# Download 4096s strain from Livingston in GWF format
python scripts/gwosc.py GW150914 --download L1 --duration 4096 --format gwf

# Download to specific directory
python scripts/gwosc.py GW150914 --download H1 -o ./data/

Detectors

Strain Formats

Strain Durations

• 32 - 32 seconds around the event (default)
• 4096 - 4096 seconds for longer analysis

Event Parameters

When viewing an event, key parameters include:

• GPS Time: Event time in GPS seconds
• Mass 1/2: Component masses in solar masses
• Chirp Mass: Key mass parameter for waveform
• Effective Spin: Mass-weighted spin projection
• Luminosity Distance: Distance in Mpc
• Redshift: Cosmological redshift
• Network SNR: Combined signal-to-noise ratio
• False Alarm Rate: Statistical significance

Typical Workflow

1. Browse catalogs: python scripts/gwosc.py --catalogs
2. List events: python scripts/gwosc.py --list
3. Find events by criteria: python scripts/gwosc.py --min-mass1 30
4. Get event details: python scripts/gwosc.py GW190521
5. Check strain files: python scripts/gwosc.py GW190521 --strain
6. Download data: python scripts/gwosc.py GW190521 --download H1

Common Use Cases

Find Binary Black Hole Mergers

# High-mass BBH (stellar mass)
python scripts/gwosc.py --min-mass1 20 --min-mass2 10

# Intermediate mass
python scripts/gwosc.py --min-mass1 50

Find Nearby Events

# Events within 500 Mpc
python scripts/gwosc.py --max-distance 500

Get Data for Analysis

# Download strain for parameter estimation
python scripts/gwosc.py GW150914 --download H1 --duration 4096 -o ./strain/
python scripts/gwosc.py GW150914 --download L1 --duration 4096 -o ./strain/

API Notes

• No authentication required
• Data is openly available under CC-BY license
• Strain files can be large (especially 4096s)

See Also

• Python package: pip install gwosc for programmatic access
• PyCBC, Bilby, LALSuite for GW data analysis