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[SPACER]

Critical Dates

    Notice of Intent due date: 4/3/2009 [SPACER] [SPACER] [SPACER] [SPACER] [SPACER] [SPACER] Proposal due date: 5/1/2009

Data Sources

The Cassini Data Analysis Program (CDAP) is described in Appendix C.10 of the NRA. The full document can be accessed under Solicitations at the NSPIRES web site.

The specific data availability restriction given for the 2009 CDAP is:

    In order to be considered, proposing PIs must use data that are in the public domain 90 days before the CDAP proposals due date, and they must make clear to the peer reviewers that the data are publicly available. This applies to the first year of proposed work only. It is understood that the second or third year of work will address data that have come into the archive during the first year of the investigation.

Finding Cassini Data within the PDS

    Our Multi-Mission Search Tool allows a user to search for and obtain subsets of data based on a wide range of constraints. At this time the the tool's support for Cassini data is limited to our CIRS, ISS and VIMS holdings. We plan to continue extending the scope of the tool to address all of the data held at the Rings Node.

    Our Cassini information pages provide overviews of the CIRS, ISS, UVIS, and VIMS instruments along with links to detailed descriptions of the instruments and to the data and to Rings Node generated browse images (ISS) and footprint diagrams (CIRS).

    Mark Showalter presented a tutorial to the 2005 meeting of the Geological Society of America on how to obtain Cassini data. Download the presentation as a PDF file here (4.9 Mbytes).

    Data from the various instruments are curated and maintained by PDS Discipline Nodes for which the data is relevant. Those nodes generally provide data set and discipline specific information.

    The following are links to PDS Discipline Node Cassini information pages.

The PDS NAIF Node and observation geometery.

    SPICE data files contain spacecraft and solar system geometry data necessary to interpret scientific observations from space-based instruments. The SPICE system also includes a large suite of software, mostly in the form of subroutines, that users incorporate in their own application programs to read SPICE files and to compute derived observation geometry, such as altitude, lattitude/longitude, and lighting angles. SPICE data and software may be obtained from the NAIF web site.

Data (by Instrument) and Associated Discipline Node web pages

    In the following table, click on the node link to go directly to the data access page for that instrument.

    • While the interfaces are different, for instruments supported by two nodes, the data holdings are the same at both nodes except for CIRS and RSS data.

      • CIRS data is now available in two formats. The originally submitted variable length files (Vanilla compatible) are available from both the Atmospheres Node and the Rings Node. Additionally, parallel volumes reformatted into fixed length files are available from the Rings Node.

      • The complete RSS archive resides at the Atmospheres Node. Once RSS ring occultation data becomes available, it will be maintained at both nodes.

    • Two Imaging node links are provided, allowing their data archives to be accessed by data volume or by using the Atlas Search engine.

Inst ID Instrument Name Supporting PDS Node(s)
Remote Sensing Instruments
CIRS Composite Infrared Spectrometer Atmospheres, Rings
ISS Imaging Science Subsystem Imaging (Search), Imaging (Volumes), Rings
RADAR Radar Imaging (Search), Imaging (Volumes)
RSS Radio Science Subsystem Atmospheres
UVIS Ultraviolet Imaging Sprectrometer Atmospheres, Rings
VIMS Visual and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer Imaging (Search), Imaging (Volumes), Rings
In Situ Instruments
CAPS Cassini Plasma Spectrometer PPI
CDA Cosmic Dust Analyzer SBN
INMS Ion and Neutral Mass Spectrometer PPI
MAG Magnetometer PPI
MIMI Magnetospheric Imaging Instrument PPI
RPWS Radio and Plasma Wave Science PPI
Additional Supporting Files
SPICE NAIF SPICE files NAIF

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