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MOC images vs press releases

2006, March 27 - 15:27 — europas_ice

How do I get science-quality MOC images from a press release image I like? For example, I want to use this press release image:

http://www.msss.com/mars_images/moc/2004/04/30/

The numbering systems seem totally different though, so I don't know how to find that image in the data at:

http://ida.wr.usgs.gov/orb_page.html

‹ analyzing MOC images
2006, March 27 - 17:31 — Ross A. Beyer

MOC PRODUCT_IDs

Like all image data that gets submitted to the PDS, this image must have an identifier. For MOC, these identifiers are known as PRODUCT_IDs (that's what the PDS calls them), and are how MOC images are generally referred to in scientific papers (so that other folks can find them in the PDS).

The "MGS MOC Release Number" that you are seeing on that page does not refer to the image but probably to the whole press release (image plus caption). They probably should include the MOC PRODUCT_ID for the image in the press release, but do not appear to. However, if you know what you are looking for, there is a way to find the PRODUCT_ID. If you click on the small version of the image on that press release page, you are linked to a full-resolution version of the press release image. In the case of your press release, the URL is:

http://www.msss.com/mars_images/moc/2004/04/30/2004.04.30.R1502146.gif

And the PRODUCT_ID is in that URL. It is R15/02146. It is this number that you can use to find the data in the PDS (of which the above USGS site is a part).

However, there are other, less handy ways to find the image. The caption lists the location of the image, and one could use JMARS to plot the MOC images near that area, alternately constraining them to have been taken before the date of the press release.

Off-topic-PRODUCT_ID-rant: MOC product IDs generally follow the pattern of Pss/nnnnn where P is the letter of the mission phase, ss is a sequence number in the phase (used to refer to a month of time, but doesn't anymore), and nnnnn is also a sequence number (there are some variations for Aerobraking, Science Phasing, and Calibration phases, but that isn't relevant to this). The forward slash in the PRODUCT_ID is in the PDS as part of the official name of those images. However, in abstracts, talks, and even peer-reviewed papers the slash is often left out, or a dash is used instead. In my opinion it is bad form. The information is still there and the data can still be found, but it is akin to bad grammar, and it always bothers me when I see it.