API Documentation

The FRBSTATS API enables scientists and developers to access FRB parameters in a rapid, lightweight and easy manner. All data available in the catalogue can be directly obtained with the help of the API documentation listed on this page.

Endpoint, Method & Parameter

The endpoint URL to search for a fast radio burst is https://www.herta-experiment.org/frbstats/api/search, and the HTTP request method is GET. The parameter that is currently provided for quering the FRBSTATS database for event details is frb, which shall be set to the FRB name of interest.

Finally, the response format is JSON, consisting of the following reported FRB parameters:
  • FRB
  • UTC
  • MJD
  • Telescope
  • RA [hh:mm:ss]
  • Dec. [dd:mm:ss]
  • Gal. Long. [deg]
  • Gal. Lat. [deg]
  • Center Frequency [MHz]
  • DM [pc cm⁻³]
  • Redshift
  • Peak Flux Density [Jy]
  • Burst Width (FWHM) [ms]
  • Fluence [Jy ms]
  • S:N
  • Reference

Example

The following code snippet demonstrates an example search query to the FRBSTATS database using Python: 
import requests

# Set FRB name
frb = "FRB20190804"

# Make GET request to FRBSTATS
response = requests.get("https://www.herta-experiment.org/frbstats/api/search?frb=" + frb)

# Check status code and print JSON-parsed response
if response.status_code == 200:
    print(response.json())
For rapid data retrieval, the Unix shell allows you to quickly acquire FRB parameters with the help of cURL: 
curl -H "Accept: application/json" -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-X GET "https://www.herta-experiment.org/frbstats/api/search?frb=FRB20190804"

Tip: The FRBSTATS API server interprets (case-insensitive) FRB name formats FRBYYYYMMDD, FRB_YYYYMMDD and YYYYMMDD all as FRB YYYYMMDD, so little attention has to be paid to input designations.

Response

Running the above code results in the submission of a search query to the FRBSTATS server for FRB 20190804.

The server's response code is 200 (OK) and the results are JSON-parsed (header: Content-type: application/json): 
[
   {
      "dm": "587.4",
      "b": "-33.9",
      "frb": "FRB 20190804A",
      "snr": "11.7",
      "width": "1",
      "l": "310.91",
      "utc": "2019-08-04 19:54:30",
      "mjd": "58699.82951",
      "dec": "-80:21:28",
      "ref": "https://arxiv.org/abs/2009.01214",
      "fluence": "1.4",
      "frequency": "1355",
      "ra": "21:57:40",
      "flux": "1.4",
      "telescope": "Parkes",
      "redshift": "0.5562"
   }
]

In cases of query requests with no FRB matches, an empty array is returned: []

Substring-Match Queries

Lastly, the FRBSTATS API can be used to fetch FRBs matching specified substrings. For example, /api/search?frb=FRB202006 returns all events discovered in June 2020: 
[
   {
      "fluence": "51",
      "snr": "41",
      "ra": "13:41:31",
      "b": "55.54",
      "frb": "FRB 20200607A",
      "mjd": "59007.44262",
      "ref": "https://www.wis-tns.org/object/20200607a",
      "l": "325.36",
      "width": "1.3",
      "dm": "466.9",
      "frequency": "835",
      "utc": "2020-06-07 10:37:22",
      "telescope": "UTMOST",
      "flux": "-",
      "dec": "-5:08:24",
      "redshift": "0.4613"
   },
   {
      "fluence": "0.76",
      "snr": "41.04",
      "ra": "19:42:08",
      "b": "-3.45",
      "frb": "FRB 20200616A",
      "mjd": "59016.27168",
      "ref": "https://www.wis-tns.org/object/20200616a",
      "l": "53.12",
      "width": "3.9",
      "dm": "976.85",
      "frequency": "1375",
      "utc": "2020-06-16 6:31:13",
      "telescope": "Arecibo",
      "flux": "0.166",
      "dec": "+16:12:32.53",
      "redshift": "0.625"
   },
   {
      "fluence": "28",
      "snr": "11",
      "ra": "21:47:00",
      "b": "-50.01",
      "frb": "FRB 20200627A",
      "mjd": "59027.80812",
      "ref": "https://www.wis-tns.org/object/20200627a",
      "l": "2.87",
      "width": "-",
      "dm": "294",
      "frequency": "920.5",
      "utc": "2020-06-27 19:23:42",
      "telescope": "ASKAP",
      "flux": "-",
      "dec": "-39:29:00",
      "redshift": "0.2954"
   }
]

© HeRTA 2021