The Annex of the PDS Cartography & Imaging Sciences Node

Since January 2017, NASA has considered the Annex to be PDS-equivalent as a long-term data repository.  New products will be archived in the PDS in PDS4-compliant formats by working with IMG node members at USGS to develop public Annex product pages.  Product pages for closely related products may be gathered on a single site. 

Annex products are required to 1) have been derived from data in the PDS archive​, 2) be delivered with extensive metadata that meet PDS archive documentation standards and 3) be reviewed by PDS for PDS4 compliance and by science peers for validity and usability (Hartke et al., 2020).  Annex product pages may include links to associated files such as related data archival products in the PDS and the original GIS databases, shapefiles, point clouds, etc. used to create the archival products.   

The PDS archive status of geospatial data products in the Annex varies, depending on the source and date of delivery to the Annex.  PDS archive status classifications are described in a downloadable chart.  Most products are either PDS3- or PDS4-compliant, with the majority served as 8- or 16-bit “raw” GeoTIFFs (meaning uncompressed and untiled) with detached PDS3 and ISIS3 headers (Hare, 2018).  In this format, these files are fully PDS4-compliant 2D or 3D “arrays”.  Section 4.2.1 of the PDS4 Data Providers Handbook summarizes PDS4-compliant data formats.  Appendix D of the PDS3 Standards Reference details PDS3-compliant data formats.  

Browse images in the Annex are typically served as JPEG (.jpg) or a PDS4 "encoded byte stream". While the collection of fully PDS4-compliant products in the Annex is growing, IMG is working to develop PDS4 archive bundle and collection structures, XML labels and documentation (in PDF/A format) for all Annex data. 

Regarding data products derived from Geographic Information Systems (GIS) software, note that data formats and structures that are proprietary are not PDS4-compliant (e.g., ArcMap geodatabases, shapefiles).  However, geodatabase components can typically be archived in PDS in PDS4-compliant formats as tables, 2- or 3-D binary image arrays, etc.  

For archiving GIS vector data (e.g., shapefiles), IMG developed the use of a particular GeoCSV format for archiving GIS shapefiles in a PDS4-compliant format (Hare & Gaddis, 2020). This format was approved by the PDS Management Council in August 2018.  

For further information, please read: 

• Gaddis, L. R., & Hare, T. M. (2019). Archiving GIS-type products in the PDS. Paper presented at the 4th Planetary Data Workshop, Flagstaff, AZ. https://www.hou.usra.edu/meetings/planetdata2019/pdf/7045.pdf 

• Gaddis, L. R., Hare, T. M., Bailen, M., & LaVoie, S. K. (2014). The Astropedia Annex for the PDS Imaging Node---A Repository for Planetary Research Products. In L.R. Gaddis, T.M. Hare, R. Beyer (Eds.), Summary and Abstracts of the Planetary Data Workshop, June 2012: USGS Open File Report 2014-1056 (pp. 65). Reston, VA:  U.S. Geological Survey. https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2014/1056/pdf/ofr2014-1056.pdf 

• Gaddis, L. R., LaVoie, S., Akins, S., Alanis, R., Bailen, M., Boggs, K., Culver, A., et al. (2014). Overview of Data Services Provided by the Imaging Node of the NASA Planetary Data System (PDS).  In L.R. Gaddis, T.M. Hare, R. Beyer (Eds.), Summary and Abstracts of the Planetary Data Workshop, June 2012: USGS Open File Report 2014-1056 (pp. 197). Reston, VA:  U.S. Geological Survey. https://dx.doi.org/10.3133/ofr20141056 

• Hare, T. (2018). Archiving GIS-based Vectors Formats in PDS4 using GeoCSV. [White Paper]

• Hare, T. (2020). Guide to Archiving TIFF/GeoTIFF Files in PDS4 as Observational Products [White Paper]

• Hare, T. M., Gaddis, L. R., Bailen, M. S., & LaVoie, S. K. (2013). Astropedia Annex: A PDS Imaging Node Repository for Geospatial Planetary Research Products. Paper presented at the 44th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference, Lunar and Planetary Institute, Houston, TX. https://www.lpi.usra.edu/meetings/lpsc2013/pdf/2044.pdf  

• Hare, T. M., Gaddis, L. R., Bailen, M. S., LaVoie, S. K., & Padams, J. (2015). PDS Annex: A PDS Imaging Node Repository for Geospatial Planetary Research Products. Paper presented at the 2nd Planetary Data Workshop, Flagstaff, AZ. https://www.hou.usra.edu/meetings/planetdata2015/pdf/7060.pdf 

• Hare, T. M., Gaddis, L. R., Hartke, M., Sunda, A., Mayer, D. P., & Bailen, M. (2019). The Annex of the PDS Cartography and Imaging Sciences Node: A 2019 Update. Paper presented at the 4th Planetary Data Workshop, Flagstaff, AZ. https://www.hou.usra.edu/meetings/planetdata2019/pdf/7054.pdf 

• Hare, T. M., & Gaddis, L. R. (2020). GeoTIFF Support within a PDS4 Archive. Paper presented at the 51st Lunar and Planetary Science Conference, Lunar and Planetary Institute, Houston, TX. https://www.hou.usra.edu/meetings/lpsc2020/pdf/1138.pdf 

• Hare, T.M., Huber, L, Mafi, J., Neakrase, L., Hartke, M., Padams, J. H. (2023) PDS Annex and the Planetary Data Ecosystem.  Paper presented at the 54th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference, Lunar and Planetary Institute, Houston, TX.  https://www.hou.usra.edu/meetings/lpsc2023/pdf/2382.pdf

• Hartke, M. A., Gaddis, L. R., Hare, T. M., Sunda, A., Mayer, D. P., Bailen, M., & Kindrick, B. (2020). The Annex of the PDS Cartography and Imaging Sciences Node in 2020. Paper presented at the 51st Lunar and Planetary Science Conference, Lunar and Planetary Institute, Houson, TX. https://www.hou.usra.edu/meetings/lpsc2020/pdf/2519.pdf