Linking the high-contrast performance with AO internal data and environmental parameters. Lessons learnt from the High Contrast Data Center and perspectives for the ELT

Adaptive Optics internal data include some information about environmental turbulence conditions and the actual wavefront incoming into the science detector. The High Contrast Data Center (HC-DC, previously named SPHERE Data Center) collects all SPHERE data (science detector images and time-stamped AO RTC data statistics) and provides science-ready data products to the community. This is an opportunity to address the question of the relationship between AO internal data and the final high contrast performance. A first application is the interest of a refined prediction of the final high contrast performance as a function of turbulence conditions and AO quality, in order to better prepare the scientific programs, to improve a high-contrast ETC and to optimize observation scheduling. A second application is the use of AO data statistics in order to support and to guide the a posteriori data processing, in particular in the context of large data libraries, as used for reference star differential imaging. A third question is the potential use of extensive AO data telemetry in order to enhance a detailed characterization of the speckle field. This latter goal would also impact the AO archival approach and would raise some additional questions about the optimal data compression. After the current work on the SPHERE data, the center intends to include in the future additional high-contrast data, and in particular from ELT high-contrast (spectro-)imaging modes.