MPF Data Access Information

Some of you have been able to attend the training session arranged by Kathleen Spellman and are familiar (at least with the names) of the tools MIPL provides to support data distribution and access to the MIPL database. This rather long message is to provide all the information (I hope) you need to understand what products MIPL is producing, how you will acquire MPF data from MIPL, how to locate data using our database Navigator and what the rules (project policies) are for data access.

This information should be equally useful to those who attended the training as to those who were not able to make it.

MIPS provides the following products and tools to the project:

In addition to these tools, MIPL will have Posters located in on the second floor of 230 detailing the products produced by MIPL and how to get those products using our tools.

On-line Tutorials

On-line tutorial providing brief overviews of MIPL services as well as installation and use instructions are available from both on and off lab via the Web.
Access http://www-mipl.jpl.nasa.gov/~dnj/MPF/mpfdemo.html for information on all MIPL services

or go to http://www-mipl.jpl.nasa.gov/mdms/UI/dataAccessMPF.html for data access instructions only

FEI

 The File Exchange Interface (FEI) is a kerberized client/server application used to move files between remote sites and a data center, in this case MIPL.

MIPL administers FEI Servers which control and monitor access to files in MIPL. Remote sites run the FEI Client program (fei), distributed with VICAR, to transfer files to and from their home institutions and MIPL.

FEI works with Kerberos and maintains it's own user access controls, thus users do not require accounts on a MIPL machine to acquire their data, as is the case with FTP. And unlike FTP, the FEI user never needs to know the the location of data within MIPL. FEI stores and controls access to data by FileType, the user need only know the fileType they want and the FEI server knows where to find it.

FEI also provides a way to automatically get files to your home institution as soon as they are generated in MIPS via FEI subscription mode. A subscription for a fileType is easily submitted once by the user and runs continually, retrieving new files as they are generated and pulls them to your local disk.

To run FEI, users are required to:

Please access the Web tutorial for information on Kerberos and how to use FEI.

Web Navigator

The MPF Web Navigator is a member of the PDS Image Node navigator family known as the Planetary Image Atlas. The Planetary Image Atlas provides the core capabilities of the MPF Web Navigator and a standardized look and feel, while allowing the implementation of project specific routines, database information and security restrictions that may vary from project to project.

The Web Navigator is used to query the MPF database and easily locate data you are looking for. Via this tool users can quickly formulate database queries using their mouse to scribe out a location on the plant or select more complex search parameters via a simple forms interface.

After submitting their search the user can generate FEI command lists used to quickly transfer data to your site, browse image thumbnails or full images, download individual images in various formats, generate detailed database reports to fully describe the data, or order larger sets of data in batch mode.

There are 2 entry points to the Web Navigator. The first via the map based interface which provides the capability to simply scribe the location. The second via the forms based interface which provides the capability to select more detailed search parameters. The map interfaces will calculate the azimuth/elevation for the area of interest and sends the user to the forms page to further qualify their search if they wish. If they do not wish to further qualify the search they can go to the bottom of the form, select the processing option from the list box next to the SUBMIT button, click on SUBMIT and get their results.

The forms interface allows users to click on buttons and/or input values using common browser forms to build their database query. Along the top of the page is an Index Card Tab icon. Click on the tabs to move from page to page to incorporate the criteria on each page in your search. Parameters left unspecified will not be included in the search (will not be a factor in reducing your result set).

Instrument specific forms Navigators are available for IMP, ROVER and MET as well as a MIPL Operations Products Navigator. The user can bookmark the following URLs to go directly to the instrument specific navigator or just bookmark the first 2 (Map and Forms for IMP) and click on the link at the top of each Navigator page to go to the desired instrument specific navigator.

Data Access Policy

 During the first 10 days of the mission MPF data for all instruments will only be available to project members via authorized computers on lab. The IP address for each workstation requiring access to MPF data from within JPL must be provided to Allan Runkle (ajr@mipl7.jpl.nasa.gov) no later than July 3, 1997. There are few exceptions to this policy for people located outside JPL and approved by the project. These exceptions must also get the IP address for machines approved by the project to access MPF data during the first 10 days of the mission to Allan Runkle (ajr@mipl7.jpl.nasa.gov) no later than July 3, 1997.

At the end of the first 10 days, data is available to project members at their home institutions via FEI and the MPF Web Navigator.

The first four months of the mission is a data validation period. Data received and processed during the first four months of the mission are not available to anyone outside the project except for those products release to the PIO and/or approved by the Instrument PIs.

Database Access Policy

Access to the MPF Web Navigator will also be restricted to on lab access only during the first 10 days of the mission with the same Data Access exceptions. For these exceptions, access to the Navigator will require the user to input a username and password after opening the non-JPL URL specified in the MPF WEB NAVIGATOR section above. The user must input their kerberos username and password at this prompt.

After the first 10 days of the mission all MPF approved users may access the non-JPL URL, using their kerberos username and password.

Real Time EDRs

Raw images produced by MIPL Real Time are available via FEI within seconds after they are created. Following are brief descriptions of the FEI fileTypes used to categorize raw EDRs:

apxs_edr
Raw APXS spectra
met_edr
Raw MET files
imp_dark_current
all IMP dark current files
imp_dark_strip
all IMP dark strip files
imp_deployed_0 ... imp_deployed_11
these are IMP images taken after the camera has been deployed, separated by filter (0 through 11)
imp_stowed_0 ... imp_stowed_11
these are IMP images taken while the camera is in stowed position, separated by filter (0 through 11)
imp_flat_field
all IMP flat field files
imp_histogram
all IMP histograms
imp_null_strip
all IMP null strips
imp_summation
product produced when pixels for a row are added and saved as the row record, and pixels for a column are added and saved as the column record
rvr_left
images taken by ROVER left camera
rvr_right
images taken by ROVER right camera
rvr_rear
images taken by ROVER rear camera

Operations Support Data Products

 MIPL also produces in near Real Time a variety of products available in FEI from the following fileTypes:

imp_cahv
IMP Camera and/or Rover Camera stereo image pairs converted from distorted (CAHVOR) to linear (CAHV) coordinates. The CAHV coordinates have been transformed to epipolar alignment and rotated to reflect the commanded pointing. Image labels contain the output Quaternion and the resulting CAHV vectors in Mars Fixed Coordinates.
mipl_pointing
IMP Camera filename lists (.lis extension) and IMP Camera pointing correction text files (.nav extension)
ops_halfprod
IMP Camera Mosaics at less than full scale (most with 9 pix/deg). All half scale are "annotated" with frame filename index numbers
ops_fullprod
IMP Camera mosaics at full scale (18 pix/deg) or greater
rvr_prod
Rover Camera (front & rear) mosaics
sci_prod
Special Science products made on case-by-case basis
pio_prod
Products released for PIO distribution

VICAR Image Processing Software

 You must be on a NASA contract to get MIPL software. Contact Danika Jensen at (818)354-6269 or danika.jensen@jpl.nasa.gov

Last Updated July 23, 1997
Pamela Woncik pjw@jpl.nasa.gov