# Presentation: 454417

## Report of the Mars Environmental GIS Workshop, Oct. 5-6, 2005Workshop held October 5-6, 2005, SETI Offices, Mountain View, CAReport dated:  Oct. 27, 2005

- _For follow-up queries relating to this document:_
- Mars Program:  David Beaty (_[David.](mailto:David.Beaty@jpl.nasa.gov)__[Beaty](mailto:David.Beaty@jpl.nasa.gov)__[@](mailto:David.Beaty@jpl.nasa.gov)__[jpl](mailto:David.Beaty@jpl.nasa.gov)__[.](mailto:David.Beaty@jpl.nasa.gov)__[nasa](mailto:David.Beaty@jpl.nasa.gov)__[.](mailto:David.Beaty@jpl.nasa.gov)__[gov](mailto:David.Beaty@jpl.nasa.gov)_), Karen Buxbaum (Karen.L.Buxbaum@jpl.nasa.gov)
- Planetary Protection:  Karen Buxbaum (Karen.L.Buxbaum@jpl.nasa.gov), Margaret Race (MRaceMom@aol.com)
- Mars Science, Astrobiology:  Chris McKay (_[cmckay](mailto:cmckay@mail.arc.nasa.gov)__[@mail.arc.](mailto:cmckay@mail.arc.nasa.gov)__[nasa](mailto:cmckay@mail.arc.nasa.gov)__[.](mailto:cmckay@mail.arc.nasa.gov)__[gov](mailto:cmckay@mail.arc.nasa.gov)_), Horton Newsom (_[newsom@unm.edu](mailto:newsom@unm.edu)_), Andy Schuerger (ACSchuerger@ifas.ufl.edu)
- Mars GIS:  Trent Hare (hare@jpl.nasa.gov)

_**Proposed bibliographic**__ __**citation:**_
- MEGIS Participants (2005).  Report of the Mars Environmental GIS Workshop, Oct. 5-6, 2005.  Unpublished presentation file, 44 p, posted November, 2005 by the Mars Exploration Program Analysis Group (MEPAG) at http://mepag.jpl.nasa.gov/workshop/index.html.

- This document has been cleared by Document Review Services for public release (reference CL#05-3656)

## Workshop Desired Outcomes

- An assessment of the potential for a Mars environmental interpretive and query capability using GIS to provide an environmental classification of different sites on Mars with respect to both planetary protection concerns and science opportunities.
- A description of the characteristics a Mars environmental GIS would need in order to achieve that potential and to optimize its utility.
- A development plan describing the work needed to achieve the envisioned future state, including priorities and budget.

## Participants

- Workshop Organizers:  Beaty, Buxbaum and Syvertson (Mars Program Office), and Lobitz and McKay (ARC).

## Summary Conclusions (1 of 3)

- It is possible to establish a system that would classify martian environments by their biological potential and that could display these interpretive classifications in map form.  This interpretive approach would be useful for both planetary protection and science applications.  Some specific considerations:
- It is possible to identify a number of mappable parameters that relate to the potential for different martian environments to constitute habitable niches for exogenous Earth-sourced microbes.
- Interpreting habitability potential is subject to the following:
- Interpretation of the biological impact of spacecraft operations on Mars will need to incorporate not just martian data sets, but also Earth-based laboratory data, terrestrial analog studies, survivability analyses, biotoxicity studies, and other types of information
- Interpretations of progressively higher quality will be possible as more and more data are brought to bear.  We currently have no way of setting a threshold for ‘enough’ data.
- To interpret habitability potential for possible indigenous martian life forms, we have no practical alternative but to start from our understanding of life as we know it.  Thus, indigenous habitability parameters, to first order, are the same as those in #1a above.
- It is possible to map areas with definite geological and environmental meanings, and these could later on be interpreted as “special” or “not special”.  However, it is not presently possible to map a boundary between “special regions” and “non-special regions” because the term 'special' is not well enough defined.

## Summary Conclusions (2 of 3)

- The environmental classifications could be best integrated via a Geographic Information System, or GIS—in fact, the workshop concluded that this is probably the ONLY way to achieve a credible result.
- Drawing spatially resolved habitability interpretations is but one application of a broad-based martian GIS.
- Several prototype GISs have been developed for Mars, three of which were demonstrated at the workshop.  They illustrate both the potential value and some of the challenge areas of setting up a system of global scope.
- There are key lessons to be learned from GIS experience on mapping spatial data on Earth.  These also illustrate some of the potential and some of the challenge areas.
- Planetary protection decision making is one potential use of a full martian GIS, and support for developing this aspect of GIS capabilities will contribute to establishing broad program-level capability.

## Summary Conclusions (3 of 3)

- Key improvements for existing martian GISs would enhance usability and effectiveness, such as:
- Enhanced data standards
- Better organization and leadership
- Additional secondary data products in PDS
- More precise geodetic control  [At present, Mars spatial data sets are difficult to co-register given data resolutions that in many cases exceed the capability of established geodetic controls and given uncertainties in spacecraft instrument location and pointing geometries.]
- Better understanding of funding sources.

## Recommendations (1 of 2)

- We recommend that the ‘environment’ for GIS growth be created with the following initial steps:
- We recommend that a panel be chartered to develop data standards and the processes necessary to allow data to flow into GIS-usable databases.  This recommendation applies to the entire Mars program (and at an international level), not just to the MEGIS application.
- Composition.  approximately 8-10 people.  At least one representative from HQ.  1-2 folks from PDS.  1-2 foreign participants.
- Leadership.  Co-leaders: somebody who is an expert in databases and application software, and a Mars scientist.  Strategy—give them some organization and lots of rope, and see what develops.
- Timing.  Produce recommendations by May, 2006? This would allow the option to influence NASA's FY07 budget.
- Reporting.  Initial reporting to the Mars Program Office, who will also be responsible for providing funding for panel expenses (esp. travel).
- Review.  Recommendations need to go through a peer review process.
- International cooperation will be needed, including data contributions from multiple missions (e.g., MOC, MOLA, GRS, THEMIS, OMEGA, HRSC, MECA, etc.), and agreement on data standards and formats.

## Recommendations (2 of 2)

- We recommend creation of a Mars environmental interpretive capability, enabled by Mars GIS growth, that could credibly be used for planetary protection decision-making.
- Activities in progress that need to continue to generate inputs to such a system:
- The collection and interpretation of data of relevance to habitability, including the distribution of water (present/past/future, ices, salinity etc), oxidants/reductants, methane, T/P, UV frequency and intensity, dusts etc.  Many of these data sets are actively being generated by instruments on spacecraft currently in service at Mars.  **ACTION:  Mars flight missions.**
- Simulation studies to determine the conditions of survivability of terrestrial microorganisms found on spacecraft , using both Mars simulation laboratories, and studies of terrestrial analogs.  **ACTION: Increased support by NASA R&A programs, possible directed support by Mars Program.**
- Integration of all the above into habitability models that combine the disparate information types into an overall interpretation of habitability potential. **ACTION:  form a PP/astrobiology panel—needs more discussion on specifics.**
- Continued improvement of Mars environmental GIS prototypes.  **ACTION: Provide financial support by the Mars Program or the NASA PPO.**
- New activities needed:
- Produce a comprehensive inventory of organisms typically sent to Mars on out-bound spacecraft.  **ACTION: Provide financial support by the Mars Program.**
- Develop a system for validating the inputs and algorithms used in reaching these interpretations would need to be established. **ACTION:  Requirements to be considered by PP/astrobiology panel.**

## Why GIS for Mars Planetary Protection? 

- Identification and mapping of regions of habitability (special regions) will require correlation between many data sets of different types which is enabled by GIS.
- Large data volumes being accumulated from Mars are transforming our understanding of the Mars environment and _**will require**_ a management tool like GIS, particularly if correlation needs to be done on a global scale
- Viking
- Mars Global Surveyor
- Mars Odyssey
- Mars Express
- Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter
- And future missions..
- Capability to zoom between very wide geographical regions (eg. 1000km) and very localised (eg. sub-cm) ones will aid use of both lander and orbiter data
- Once the characteristics of special regions are better refined and understood the analytical capabilities enabled by GIS will be required operationally for future robotic and human missions.
- This GIS would enable the informed public (lay-person) to have greater access to the information regarding planetary protection decisions. This can have a powerful effect in demystifying the process.

## Summary of Breakout Group Findings/ReportsGroup #1:  HabitabilityGroup #2:  GIS/IT considerations

## Report from Break-out Group #1:  Habitability ParametersHabitability-Survivability – Forward contamination problem

- Primary Assumption: Address life as we know it – carbon & water-based Life
- Planetary Protection should focus on microbial bioloads expected on Mars-destination spacecraft
- Survivability of these organisms can be addressed by consideration of the martian data, earth-based experiments and other data derived from ecological studies in simulated environments
- Mars Datasets that are important to understanding habitability-survivability issues :
- Geology
- Imagery (MOC, Viking, HRSC, THEMIS, HIRISE)
- Mineralogy – THEMIS, TES, OMEGA, CRISM, etc.
- Elemental, isotopes, etc.
- Topography
- MOLA
- Stereo photogrammetry
- HRSC, HIRISE, etc.
- Subsurface
- MARSIS, SHARAD, GRS,
- Gravity, magnetics
- Lander Data
- Meteorites
- Atmosphere
- PFS, MCS, TES
- Temperature, pressure
- Composition, isotopes
- Radiation, weather
- Methane
- Ground based data (telescopic, radar)

## Water inventories
Presence of liquid
Past/future liquid (ice) inventories
Conducive ranges of salinity, pH, and Eh of stable liquid water on Mars
Chemical requirements
Nutrients
C,H,N,O,P,S, essential metals, essential micronutrients
Fixed Nitrogen is the biggest unknown
Availability/Mineralogy
Toxins
Abundances
Heavy metals (e.g., Zn, Ni, Cu, Cr, Ar, Cd, etc.) [some essential metals are toxic at high levels]
Oxidants (What species of oxidants exist and how stable are they at the surface?)
Lethality [What are the inhibitory versus biocidal levels of toxins, heavy metals, oxidants, etc. on spacecraft microbial communities on Mars?]
Energy for Metabolism
Solar [surface and near-surface only] 
Geochemical (redox couples) [subsurface]
Oxidants
Reductants
Redox gradients

- Water inventories
- Presence of liquid
- Past/future liquid (ice) inventories
- Conducive ranges of salinity, pH, and Eh of stable liquid water on Mars
- Chemical requirements
- Nutrients
- C,H,N,O,P,S, essential metals, essential micronutrients
- Fixed Nitrogen is the biggest unknown
- Availability/Mineralogy
- Toxins
- Abundances
- Heavy metals (e.g., Zn, Ni, Cu, Cr, Ar, Cd, etc.) [some essential metals are toxic at high levels]
- Oxidants (What species of oxidants exist and how stable are they at the surface?)
- Lethality [What are the inhibitory versus biocidal levels of toxins, heavy metals, oxidants, etc. on spacecraft microbial communities on Mars?]
- Energy for Metabolism
- Solar [surface and near-surface only]
- Geochemical (redox couples) [subsurface]
- Oxidants
- Reductants
- Redox gradients

- _Note_: These constraints are required in diverse combinations of synergistic factors in order to permit active metabolism, replication, and adaptation of terrestrial life to Martian conditions.

## Conducive ranges of Physical Processes and Conditions on Mars
Temperature [What are the temperature minima for spacecraft contaminants?]
Pressure [There may be a low-pressure threshold for terrestrial microbes.]
Geothermal [Can spacecraft microbes access geothermal sources?]
Radiation (UV, ionizing) [Radiation sources will impact survival and growth.]
Climate (geography, seasons, diurnal, obliquity variations) [Pertains to long-term adaptation to Martian conditions.]
Substrate (soil processes, rock microenvironments, dust composition, shielding) [The effects of Martian edaphic factors on microbial survival, growth, and adaptation are not understood.]
Stability of these parameters over time.
Transport (aeolian, ground water flow, surface water, glacial)
Periglacial, lacustrine, aeolian processes also must be studied relative to the habitability of Martian locations to terrestrial life.

- Temperature [What are the temperature minima for spacecraft contaminants?]
- Pressure [There may be a low-pressure threshold for terrestrial microbes.]
- Geothermal [Can spacecraft microbes access geothermal sources?]
- Radiation (UV, ionizing) [Radiation sources will impact survival and growth.]
- Climate (geography, seasons, diurnal, obliquity variations) [Pertains to long-term adaptation to Martian conditions.]
- Substrate (soil processes, rock microenvironments, dust composition, shielding) [The effects of Martian edaphic factors on microbial survival, growth, and adaptation are not understood.]
- Stability of these parameters over time.
- Transport (aeolian, ground water flow, surface water, glacial)
- Periglacial, lacustrine, aeolian processes also must be studied relative to the habitability of Martian locations to terrestrial life.

_*Report from Break-out Group #1:  Habitability Parameters*_**Constraints for Habitability-Survivability (2 of 2)**

## Report from Break-out Group #1:  Habitability ParametersLinks between Habitability/Survivability constraints and Martian datasets (1 of 3)

- Water (present, past, future liquid (ice), salinity, pH, Eh)
- Odyssey Gamma-Ray Spectrometer (GRS) data (hydrogen and salts)
- Phoenix wet chemistry and other lander data
- Ground penetrating radar (SHARAD, MARSIS)
- Atmospheric water and methane from orbital, telescopic, and ground-based
- Mineralogical and compositional data (MGS, Odyssey, MRO, Mars Express)
- Geomorphology (Viking, MGS, GRS, MRO, Mars Express)
- Fixed Nitrogen
- Extrapolating from meteorites combined with Orbital Data
- Phoenix data?
- Toxic metals
- GRS, MER (APXS), martian meteorites
- Oxidants
- Phoenix (MECA), Viking biology experiments
- Martian simulations (? – How to extrapolate to global)
- Global mineral maps
- Mars Express (SPICAM – atmospheric oxidants)
- MSL

## Reductants/ Redox gradients
Global mineral maps
Methane (PFS, telescopic measurements)
Indicators of Crustal convective processes (e.g., hydrothermal) – THEMIS?
Heat flow – THEMIS
Temperature, pressure (largely done for surface environment)
MRO, Viking
Lab experiments for microbial survival
Time variations, diurnal, seasonal, climate
UV
Theoretical models seem well established
No in-situ measurements on the surface (SPICAM?) [Definitely required.]

- Global mineral maps
- Methane (PFS, telescopic measurements)
- Indicators of Crustal convective processes (e.g., hydrothermal) – THEMIS?
- Heat flow – THEMIS
- Temperature, pressure (largely done for surface environment)
- MRO, Viking
- Lab experiments for microbial survival
- Time variations, diurnal, seasonal, climate
- UV
- Theoretical models seem well established
- No in-situ measurements on the surface (SPICAM?) [Definitely required.]

_*Report from Break-out Group #1:  Habitability Parameters*_**Links between Habitability/Survivability constraints and Martian datasets (2 of 3)**

## Lander Data are required to extrapolate localized geochemical regolith data to global mapping GIS efforts.
Microbial survivability studies under Martian conditions (i.e., via Mars simulations) are essential for constraining the limits of growth of terrestrial microorganisms found on spacecraft on Mars.
Mars analog soil studies are required to better predict compositions, chemistries, and mineralogies of Martian regolith.  In addition, high-fidelity Mars analog soils are required for robust microbial survivability studies.
Martian meteorites offer a wide range of data that can be applied to characterizing the survivability of terrestrial microorganisms to Martian conditions. 

- Microbial survivability studies under Martian conditions (i.e., via Mars simulations) are essential for constraining the limits of growth of terrestrial microorganisms found on spacecraft on Mars.
- Mars analog soil studies are required to better predict compositions, chemistries, and mineralogies of Martian regolith.  In addition, high-fidelity Mars analog soils are required for robust microbial survivability studies.
- Martian meteorites offer a wide range of data that can be applied to characterizing the survivability of terrestrial microorganisms to Martian conditions.

_*Report from Break-out Group #1:  Habitability Parameters*_**Links between Habitability/Survivability constraints and Martian datasets (3 of 3)**

## Report from Break-out Group #2:  IT Considerations Technical Coordination

- Designate group or committee as contact for coordination and outreach related to data standards
- Group would work with planetary programs, mission planners, and data archivers, such as:
- NASA HQ and Centers
- the Planetary Data System (PDS)
- Universities
- Other research facilities (e.g. SETI, USGS, Smithsonian, etc.)
- Foreign Partners (e.g. European, Canadian, Japan, Indian)
- Group would seek funding partners with similar goals with PP

## Report from Break-out Group #2:  IT Considerations Geodetic (Areodetic?) Control

- Require community-accepted standard for geodetic control (e.g., Mars datums) for consistent datasets co-locating
- Need tools that will implement the transformations for different user communities
- Need to expand Earth-based data format standards to accept parameters for planetary projections
- Need to coordinate with GIS analysis software vendors (e.g., Leica Geosystems, ESRI, RSI) to get these standards implemented

## Report from Break-out Group #2:  IT Considerations Promote Dataset Synergy  (aka PDS)

- “GIS-ready” data that are easily used by researchers for display and analysis via Planetary Data Systems (PDS) or other
- Better defined processing steps for commonly used/requested data sets
- Easier tools/capabilities for processing raw data from each instrument into standard format(s)
- Provide validated/calibrated data in both raw and map projected formats
- Need improved data catalog / discovery capability whether the datasets reside at a centralized entity or individual research facility

## Report from Break-out Group #2:  IT Considerations Software

- Need better GIS capabilities for temporal data sets, parameters, or both
- Define processing and/or functionality gaps for PP
- Cross-platform GIS software (e.g., Windows, Mac, Linux) that can be freely distributed

## Report from Break-out Group #2:  IT Considerations System Architecture

- PDS

- Other sources

- Standard
-  Interface

- Generic
- Processing
- Software
- (e.g., GIS)

- Standard
- Formats

- Need to identify / define / develop these components

## Report from Break-out Group #2:  IT Considerations GIS Recommendations

- Form a “tiger team” to evaluate GIS issues and options
- Clarify PP data gaps, analysis, and modeling requirements
- Produce data (types, format, and interface) and analysis specifications (including time-series data) for a prototype PP MEGIS and build it
- Facilitate putting datasets judged to be important into GIS
- Provide researcher and public access through web services, e.g., web map server (WMS) and web coverage server (WCS)

## Report from Break-out Group #2:  IT Considerations GIS Recommendations (cont)

- Provide “on-line services” to help process datasets that are not easily derived as a single final product (e.g., MOC narrow angle, THEMIS visible images).
- Work with future mission planners to “task” instruments and define processing steps to meet geodetic standards
- Develop outreach activities to educate the planetary community about the benefits of:
- GIS software for spatial analyses
- Community-supported data formats

## Highlights from workshop presentations

## History of Recommended Pg Values (probability of growth)

- SOURCE: H.P. Klein, 1992.
- History of Pg, in H.P. Klein, ed., Planetary Protection Issues for the MESUR Mission: Probability of Growth (Pg), NASA CP 3167, pp. 41-52.

**PP Policies Revised Over Time **
- (Changes reflect understanding about Environment and Microbes at the time)
-     If Pg= 0, then no PP controls (regulations)
-     If Pg = 1  then very strict
-     If Uncertain?
- ’60-’80s:   Probability of Growth Pg  Assigned
- 1982:   Adopted Categorical Approach
- 1992: NRC   Pg presumed to be near zero for Earth microbes
- 2005 PREVCOM:  Likely increases in Pg
-  Greater potential for liquid water on Mars
-  Knowledge about extremophiles/microbes

*Content source:  Margaret Race, SETI*

## Range of Conditions that Sustains Life

- When and where did (does) this set of conditions exist on Mars?

*Content source:  David Des Marais, ARC*

**Range of Conditions that Sustains Life**

## Water

**2. Rock type**
**3. Mineralogy**
**4. Geochemistry**
**5. Sedimentary structures**
**6. Stratigraphy**
**7. Geographic context**

**1. Partitioning of elements**
**2. pp of atmospheric gases**
**3. Temperature**
**4. Available light**
**5. Other energy sources**
**6. Electrical/magnetic environment**
**7. Other ionizing radiation**

**Water**

**Organic Molecules**

*Content source:  Pan Conrad, JPL*

**Assessment of Biological Potential for Martian Life**

## Terrestrial Example:  

**Prospecting for Oil and Gas**

**Reservoir & Trap**

**Migration Route**

**Seal**

**Source**

**Thermal Maturity**

**Area of Hydrocarbon Accumulation  **=**  Fairway**

**type, richness, preservation**

**geothermal gradient, structure, timing**

**structure, faults, pressure**

**basin model-lithologies; structure; timing**

**basin model-lithologies**

**Intersection of Critical Parameters**

*Content source:  Dorothy Oehler, JSC*

## GIS Integrates the Parts

**GIS Integrates the Parts**

**Mineral**

**Geology**

**Structure**

**Nomenclature**

**Topography**
**Satellite Imagery**

*GIS is a visual language*

**Notes:**
How presentation will benefit audience: Adult learners are more interested in a subject if they know how or why it is important to them.
Presenter’s level of expertise in the subject: Briefly state your credentials in this area, or explain why participants should listen to you.

## Special Regions and GIS

**Special Regions and GIS**

-  We don’t know where the special regions are on Mars (if any), but we have a long list of potential suspects
-  NASA needs to devote greater effort to making measurements relevant to determining the extent(s) and properties of potentially special regions
-  The datasets and models we currently have provide information on very large (km) scales (Odyssey GRS, thermal, GCM’s), but the most special regions may be highly localized (slopes, inside or under rocks, hot spots associated with recent volcanism). The notion of a contiguous special region may be an oversimplification
-  GIS has the potential to span great resolution scales, but the input data and models must provide the necessary relevant information at the relevant spatial scales for the analysis to be worthwhile
-  GIS systems are often designed for non-experts, but identifying special regions on Mars is definitely a job for experts....

*Content source:  David Paige, UCLA*

## Current Liquid Water Stability

- Contours show the number of Mars sols per Mars year where GCM calculations predict conditions permitting the  current transient stability of liquid water on the Martian surface (Haberle et. al., 2001)

*Content source:  David Paige, UCLA*

## Effects of UV dosage on the Survival of Bacillus subtilis HA101 under Mars-Normal UV and Earth-Normal Environmental Conditions.

**Rapid inactivation kinetics under equatorial Mars UV simulations.**

*Content source:  Andy Schuerger, Univ. Florida*

- 2/14/2002

## PIGWAD (GIS Server) - Bodies On-line

-  Mars
- General image bases
- Geologic maps
- Crater catalogs

- Venus

-  The  Moon

-  Galilean Satellites
- Callisto
-  Europa
-  Io
-  Ganymede
-  Titan (mission support)

*Content source:  Trent Hare, USGS*

## JMARS (Mars Odyssey THEMIS Mission Planner)

*Content source:  Trent Hare, USGS*

## OSU MarsMapper/GIS

*Content source:  Ron Li, Ohio State Univ.*

## Example GIS:  MEX

**Evaporitic deposits in Juventae Chasma**

**Omega data over HRSC images**

**Gypsum**

**Kiserite**

*Content source:  Gian Ori, European Space Agency*

**Example GIS:  MEX**

## Rim crest 380 km diameter

**Rim**** ****crest 380 km diameter**

**Opportunity Landing Site**

**Outer ring fault?     600-800 km diameter**

**Multi-ringed basin may be responsible for localizing channels and sedimentation in Meridiani**

**Annular**** ****trough**

**Hematite**

**Example:  MER landing site selection activity (Newsom et al., 2003) Marsoweb and GIS used to examine topography**

*Content source:  Horton Newsom, Univ. of New Mexico*

## Content source: Ginny Gulick, NASA Ames/SETI Institute

*Content source: Ginny Gulick, NASA Ames/SETI Institute*

## Marsoweb’s Interactive Visualization & Analysis Environment for Mars Studies

- Marsoweb (_[http://marsoweb.nas.nasa.gov](http://marsoweb.nas.nasa.gov/)_) was developed for the Mars science community and the MEP personnel to support and facilitate the MER landing site studies and selection effort.  It uses JAVA technology incorporating various applets that operate within the user’s browser environment.
- All landing site meeting presentations, abstracts, and memoranda on the MER landing sites are archived on Marsoweb.
- All scientific & engineering data used by the community for landing site selection studies were incorporated into interactive data maps overlain on a base map of Mars. Actual data values are queried by moving the cursor over the data map. All candidate sites proposed are archived with a variety of maps and interactive 3D perspective views of the  landing sites.
- Interactive data maps currently available on Marsoweb: MOLA, geology, TES Thermal Inertia & mineralogy, bulk thermal inertia, fine component inertia, rock abundance, vertical roughness, MOC image footprints and THEMIS (vis & IR) image footprints with hyperlinks to actual images.
- Marsoweb tools currently provide online image processing tools (e.g. lighten, darken, sharpen, smooth, zoom in/out, equalize, adjust histogram brightness and contrast levels), interactive MOLA orbit track locator and profile generator, 3D MOLA interactive terrain viewer,  an interactive cross-section profile generator of MOLA topographic data and other global data.

*Content source: Ginny Gulick, NASA Ames/SETI Institute*

## Example Environmental GIS:  Time Series Suitability Result

*Content source:  Lobitz and McKay, ARC*

- Grayscale result representing the percent of the martian orbit where the specified conditions were determined to be true. The conditions were: surface temperature (measured by TES) > 273K and pressure (calculated from MOLA altitude and seasonal variation) > 6.1mb. In blue are a set of gully locations identified by Jennifer Heldmann (personal communication).

## MEGIS output The importance of validating a "special region"

- Regulatory approach (eg. EPA)
- Regulatory body sets quantitative requirements for what 'special' means
- Automatic designation of region if meets requirements
- What precision can we justify on x,y,z?
- User-proposed approach (eg. EU: Sites of Special Scientific Interest; Landing site workshops)
- Community / science team argue their case
- As is being done now but teams will have tool at their disposal

*Content source:  Vicky Hipkin, Canadian Space Agency*

## Building a GIS

- 1. Define the goals
- 2. Assemble equipment and facilities
- 3. Train the personnel
- 4. Locate existing digital data / hardcopy data
- 5. Design methods and database
- 6. Data - do the work
- 	6.1. Data creation
- 	6.2. Data conversion
- 	6.3. Data updates
- 7. Analyze

*Content source:  Trent Hare, USGS*

## Global Spatial Information Infrastructure - Review

- RAND/USGS Mars Control Network 2003: improvement of the global Mars control network established earlier by RAND and USGS
- 1,054 Mariner 9 and 5,317 Viking Orbiter images.
- Constraining all 37,652 control points to radii from Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter (MOLA) data and adding 1,232 "ground control points" whose horizontal coordinates are also constrained by MOLA.
- The RMS error of the geodetic/photogrammetric solution is 15.8 m (~1.3 Viking pixels, ~280 m on the ground).
- The IAU/IAG 2000 coordinate system is used for the network and the mosaic.
- It is primarily used in production of MDIM 2.1.
- New orbital and ground data for verification and improvement needed!

*Content source:  Ron Li, Ohio State Univ.*

_**Mars geodetic control network**_

## Process for the Planetary Community

**Increasingly broad implementation of these specifications - and thus ability to share - is facilitated by:**
- Obvious utility once implementations are in place (they are)
- Minimal cost and effort to produce the simplest implementations
- Substantial and growing availability of commercial and open-source implementations
**Implementation of the Mars-Spatial web will probably reflect the same process that is occurring for terrestrial data**
- Existing implementations of the broadest datasets will be widely accessed and referenced
- Technology will be spread as people discover interoperability features offered by the systems they are already using, or can easily acquire
**How to abet this natural diffusion?**
- Publicize and promote existing successes
- Leverage wide availability of commercial and open-source client software - web-based tutorials, pointers to resources, examples
- GDAL support for PDS

*Content source:  Philip Dibner, Ecosystem Assoc.*