The 35th annual conference on Astronomical Data Analysis Software & Systems 2025 in Görlitz, Germany

The NSF National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) is expanding its scientific data archive to include legacy radio astronomy survey products, beginning with the ingestion of neutral hydrogen (HI) spectral-line data cubes from the Arecibo Legacy Fast ALFA (ALFALFA) survey. Conducted with the 305-m Arecibo radio telescope from 2005-2012 with its seven-beam ALFA receiver, ALFALFA represents one of the most extensive extragalactic HI surveys ever undertaken, covering more than 7,000 square degrees of sky and cataloging over 30,000 galaxies. By curating the ALFALFA data cubes within the NRAO archive, the project ensures long-term preservation through standardized metadata and scalable storage solutions. Integration into the NRAO archive ecosystem enables uniform data discovery and interoperability with widely used astronomical analysis platforms. Scientifically, this effort enhances opportunities for new research into galaxy evolution, the HI mass function, and local Universe cosmology, while enabling cross-facility investigations that combine ALFALFA products with observations from NRAO facilities. This initiative both safeguards the scientific legacy of important large surveys and amplifies the long-term impact of HI surveys for the global astronomical community.