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Database Organization:

The SP database (http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2012/1259) includes the following:

General Information for All Users

SP_Pamphlet: Contains the following documentation: 

SP_Dunes_Pamphlet – includes an abstract and describes the purpose of the database, 

the processes involved in creating the database, the completeness of the database, 

and references used in the documentation of the database. The pamphlet is 

provided in .pdf and .txt formats.

SP_Map

SP_Mars_Map – a 1:20,000,000 scale printable map of the dune fields and craters in 

the database, provided in .jpg and .pdf formats with a caption.

SP_Mars_Map_noCaption – a 1:20,000,000 scale printable map of the dune fields 

and craters in the database, provided in .jpg and .pdf formats without a caption.

Data for GIS Users (SP_GIS_Download_Package) 

SP_ArcMapProjects: Contains ArcMap projects and "Layers" folder. The “Layers” 

folder contains layer files of all layers in the database as well as the vector “background” 

shapefiles. Layer files preserve the symbology used in our ArcMap projects. If a user 

prefers to set up new projects, the layer files provide a convenient way to continue to use 

our symbology. Note that two layer files, SP_CcDcAzimuth_Point.lyr and 

SP_Average_Slipface.lyr, are point files that display an arrow whose rotation is 

based on an azimuth calculated in South Polar Stereographic projection. Those 

arrows will only display properly in South Polar Stereographic projection. Do not 

use them in any other projection. In the list below, * denotes files that we created as 

part of the SP database. We did not create the other files, but include them for 

background and context. The ArcMap 10 projects can be opened in ArcMap 10. All 

database and background layers and images will be fully functional. 

Layers folder:

SP Average Slipface.lyr *

SP CcDcAZimuth (Line).lyr *

SP CcDcAzimuth (Point).lyr *

SP Crater Centroid.lyr *

SP Crater.lyr *

SP CTX (December, 2009).lyr
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SP Dune Field (Classified).lyr *

SP Dune Field Centroid.lyr *

SP GCM.lyr *

SP Geol Units (Tanaka and Scott).lyr

SP HiRISE (May, 2009).lyr

SP HRSC (March, 2008).lyr

SP Lat Lon (5 x 30 degrees).lyr

SP Lat Lon (5 x 5 degrees).lyr

SP MOC NA (2006).lyr

SP Raw Slipface.lyr *

SP THEMIS Daytime IR (May, 2010).lyr

SP THEMIS VIS (May, 2010).lyr

Projects: 

SP_Dunes_MC30_ArcMapv10.mxd – groups together all THEMIS and MOC NA 

images associated with Mars Chart 30 and includes all other layers. We have 

restricted some layers to draw only when zoomed to a certain scale. Those 

layers will have a gray box in the table of contents and not draw until the 

preset scale is reached. 

SP_Dunes_MC30_layout_ArcMapv10.mxd – contains all the vector and 

background layers, but no images. The project is set up with a layout template 

to enable easy printing of maps. The default map is also included in PDF and 

JPEG formats in the SP_Map folder.

SP_ArcReaderProjects: Contains the MC-30 project described above in .pmf format. 

The free software, ArcReader will open these files. The user should note that some layers 

can take very long to render in this format. We have restricted some layers to draw only 

when zoomed to a certain scale. Those layers will have a gray box in the table of contents 

and not draw until the preset scale is reached. See SP_Dunes_ReadMe_GIS for more 

details.

Projects:

SP_Dunes_MC30_ArcMapv10.pmf – groups together all THEMIS and MOC NA 

images associated with Mars Chart 30 and includes all other layers. 

SP_Dunes_MC30_layout_ArcMapv10.pmf – contains all the vector and 

background layers, but no images. The project is set up with a layout template 

to enable easy printing of maps. The default map is also included in PDF and 

JPEG formats in the SP_Map folder.

SP_Geodatabase: Contains 2 folders, each containing one file geodatabase (mdb)

Geocentric folder: Contains a geocentric version of the file geodatabase, 

SP_Dune_Crater_ Geocentric_Geodatabase.mdb.

PolarStereographic folder: Contains a Polar Stereographic projected version of the 

geodatabase, SP_Dune_Crater_SPstereo_Geodatabase.mdb.
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SP_Images: Contains all the images projected and available in the above described 

ArcMap and ArcReader projects.

SP_mola_128_new folder: Contains the MOLA gridded elevation raster, 

megt_n_128_65 (460 m/px, clipped to lat 65 S.) and the MOLA hillshade, 

hillshade_s_128.

SPSterVISMOC folder: Contains all the THEMIS VIS and MOC NA images that are 

used by the ArcMap and ArcReader projects. MOC NA images were processed 

using ISIS. THEMIS VIS images were processed using ArcMap10 tools. The 

images are in South Polar Stereographic projection in JPEG, JP2 or PNG format. 

The images are grouped into folders (for example, MOC and VIS) and are further 

subdivided into 6 regions for organizational convenience. 

THEMIS_IR_mosaic folder: Contains two version of the THEMIS IR mosaic, clipped 

to lat 65° S. and unclipped, extending to about 50° S. Resolution is ~115 m/pixel. 

These mosaics are registered to MOLA and so will align correctly with nearly all 

dune field polygons. 

THEMIS_VIS_mosaics folder: Contains two THEMIS VIS mosaics (summer and 

spring). Resolution is ~72 m/pixel. Note that these mosaics are not perfectly 

registered to MOLA and so will not always align with dune field polygons. 

spld_readme.txt – contains information about the THEMIS VIS mosaics

SP_Metadata: Contains metadata files for each of the nine SP database layers in .pdf, 

and .txt formats. The metadata files describe the layers and their associated fields.

Also contains metadata for MOLA background.

Arc_mola_polar_megt_128pd.txt – includes a description of source and 

processing of MOLA data.

SP_ReadMe: Contains the following documentation.

SP_Dunes_ReadMe_GIS – lists and describes the layers in the database and their 

attributes in .pdf and .txt formats. Also describes the layers that are not part of the 

database.

SP_Shapefiles: Contains shapefile versions of the dune database and the background 

shapefiles that we did not create, but that are included for the convenience of the user. 

Each shapefile layer requires 7 files (*.dbf, *.prj, *.sbn, *.sbx, *.shp, *.xml, and 

*.shx). For more details about the contents of each layer, refer to 

SP_Dunes_ReadMe_GIS.doc.

Backgrounds: Contains shapefile versions of vector background layers.

SP_CTX_footprints_dec09

SP_Geol_Units

SP_HiRISE_footprints_may_09

SP_HRSC_footprints_march2008

SP_LatLon_5x5 

SP_LatLon_5x30 

SP_MOC_NA_footprints_06
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SP_THEMIS_DaytimeIR_footprints_may2010

SP_THEMIS_VIS_footprints_may2010

Geocentric: Contains shapefile versions of the Geocentric database layers.

SP_Average_Slipface_Geog

SP_CcDcAZimuth_Line_Geog

SP_CdDcAzimuth_Point_Geog

SP_Crater_Centroid_Geog

SP_Crater_Geog

SP_Dune_Field_Centroid_Geog

SP_Dune_Field_Geog

SP_GCM_Geog

SP_Raw_Slipface_Geog

PolarStereographic: Contains shapefile versions of the South Polar Stereographic 

database layers.

SP_Average_Slipface_Ster

SP_CcDcAZimuth_Line_Ster

SP_CdDcAzimuth_Point_Ster

SP_Crater_Centroid _Ster

SP_Crater_Ster

SP_Dune_Field_Centroid_Ster

SP_Dune_Field_Ster

SP_GCM_Ster

SP_Raw_Slipface_Ster

Data for Non-GIS Users

SP_DataForNon-GIS-Users: Contains Excel and tab delimited text formats of the dune 

database attribute table.

SP_DuneTable.xls – Excel spreadsheet with 2 worksheets containing (1) “Dune 

Fields” – attribute table from the SP_Dune_Field shapefile, (2) “Average 

Slipface” – attribute table from the SP_Average_Slipface shapefile.

SP_Dune_Field.txt and SP_Average_Slipface.txt – Text files produced from the 2 

Excel worksheets described above.

SP_DuneTable_ReadMe – describes the Excel spreadsheet organization, the 

ASCII text files, and all fields included in the tabulated version of the 

database, provided in .txt and .pdf formats. 

Metadata

Attribute Accuracy: All attributes were verified by displaying the lines and are believed 

to be logically consistent.
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Logical Consistency Report: All attributes were verified by displaying the lines and are 

believed to be logically consistent. Line geometry is topologically clean.

Positional Accuracy:

Horizontal Positional Accuracy:

The horizontal accuracy is derived from the accuracy of the Mars Orbiter 

Laser Altimeter (MOLA) dataset (Smith and others, 2001). The globally 

adjusted MOLA dataset has an absolute horizontal accuracy on the order of 

100 m, but individual features in images can probably only be tied to MOLAderived shaded-relief digital image models with a precision on the order of 

200 m. Other bases used included Thermal Emission Imaging System 

(THEMIS) digital images (Archinal and others, 2003; Christensen and others,

2004). The digital features were drawn at 20K to 100K scale with a node 

spacing of approximately 0.3 km to 2 km.

Data Created: 11/2003 to 1/2012

Status of the data

Complete

Time period for which the data is relevant

Date and time: June 2012

Description: publication date

Publication Information

Who created the data: Rosalyn K. Hayward, Tony Colaprete (NASA/Ames GCM)

Date and time: 2012

Publisher and place: United States Geological Survey, Reston, VA

Constraints on accessing and using the data

Access constraints: none

Use constraints: none

Details about this document

Contents last updated: 06/30/2012

Who completed this document:

Rosalyn K. Hayward

United States Geological Survey

Geologist

Mailing address:

2255 North Gemini Drive

Flagstaff, AZ 86001

USA

928-556-7022 (voice)

rhayward@usgs.gov
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Online_Linkage: http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2012/1259