An archive of all output from the VLBA correlator is maintained at the DSOC. The user(s) who proposed the observations will retain a proprietary right to the data for a fixed interval of 12 months (changed from 18 months in early 2004) following the end of correlation of the last observations requested in the original proposal or a direct extension of that proposal. Thereafter, archived data will be available to any user on request. A new on-line data archive has been developed, and data beginning from 1998 currently are on line. The most recent data are available either as multiple correlator output files or as large FITS files, sometimes with default calibrations attached. See http://archive.nrao.edu for further information.
Data are distributed to users on a variety of media, with DDS3 and Exabyte currently given primary support. Distribution also is possible via ftp. For the initial distribution to the user proposing the observations, this will occur automatically, soon after correlation is complete, provided a medium has been specified. Distributed data will conform to the new FITS binary table standard for interferometry data interchange (Flatters 1998), which is read by AIPS task FITLD.