Efficient TPC data compression by track and cluster modeling

Current and future heavy ion experiments pose an increasing challenge with respect to the handling of the generated data rates. By introducing effective data compression techniques into the detector readout chain, the amount of events written to mass storage can be greatly enhanced thus improving the experimental conditions in terms of statistics. Based on a data modeling scheme highly adapted to Time Projection Chamber (TPC) data, we show that compression factors close to 10 are achievable.