PDS_VERSION_ID = PDS3 RECORD_TYPE = STREAM OBJECT = TEXT PUBLICATION_DATE = 2009-04-30 INTERCHANGE_FORMAT = ASCII NOTE = "AAREADME.TXT for the APXS oxide abundance archive from the Mars Exploration Rover." END_OBJECT = TEXT END MARS EXPLORATION ROVER APXS OXIDE ABUNDANCE DATA 1. Introduction This archive contains oxide abundance data derived from the APXS Reduced Data Record (RDR) products on the Mars Exploration Rovers. The data consist of one file for each rover. When new APXS RDR data appear in a MER release, the oxide abundance data are revised in the following release approximately three months later. Hence the oxide data lag behind the EDR and RDR data by one release. Further information about these data can be found in the published reference Gellert, R., et al. (2006), Alpha Particle X-Ray Spectrometer (APXS): Results from Gusev crater and calibration report, J. Geophys. Res., 111, E02S05, doi:10.1029/2005JE002555, and in Ming, D.W. et al. (2008), Results of the Alpha Particle X-Ray Spectrometer from Cumberland Ridge to Home Plate, J. Geophys. Res., 113, E12S39, doi:10.1029/2008JE003195. 2. File Formats The APXS oxide abundance data consist of two text files, one per rover, each with a detached PDS label that describes the content and format of the data file. The data files are comma-delimited tables with variable-length records, suitable for loading into a spreadsheet application program. Other files in this archive are PDS catalog files that provide documentation for the data set, instrument, spacecraft, and mission; a standard PDS index table; documentation from the data provider, and the original Microsoft Excel spreadsheet from which the data files were generated. All detached label and document files (with the exception of PDF formatted files) are stream format files, with a carriage return (ASCII 13) and a line feed character (ASCII 10) at the end of each record. This allows the files to be read by the MacOS, DOS, Unix, and VMS operating systems. The PDF documentation files are in the binary Adobe Portable Document Format. These files can be read with the Adobe Acrobat Reader, available from http://www.adobe.com/. (If this URL has expired, contact the PDS Operator for more information. Contact information for the PDS is shown in section 7.) 3. Archive Contents Files in this archive are organized into a series of subdirectories below the top-level directory. The archive organization and the contents of each directory are described below. Top-level Directory ------------------- AAREADME.TXT The file you are currently reading. ERRATA.TXT This file lists known errors and notes for this data set. The file is updated if additional notes about the archive are needed. VOLDESC.CAT This text file contains a description of the volume contents as a PDS catalog object. It is a required file on PDS archive volumes. CATALOG Directory ----------------- Files in the CATALOG directory are text files containing documentation formatted in PDS object description language. The files contain information about the MER mission and spacecraft, the APXS instrument, the oxide abundance data set, personnel associated with the data and archive, and references. See the file CATINFO.TXT for details. DATA Directory -------------- The DATA directory contains these two data files with detached PDS labels. APXS_OXIDES_MER1.CSV - Oxide data from Opportunity Rover in ASCII text and comma delimited, extracted from the Excel files APXS_PDS_*_OXIDES_MERAB.XLS. APXS_OXIDES_MER2.CSV - Oxide data from Spirit Rover in ASCII text and comma delimited, extracted from the Excel files APXS_PDS_*_OXIDES_MERAB.XLS. DOCUMENT Directory ------------------ The DOCUMENT directory contains the file APXS_PDS_NOTES.TXT, which consists of notes from the APXS Payload Element Lead about the oxide data. THESE NOTES CONTAIN IMPORTANT CAVEATS REGARDING THE USE OF THIS DATA SET. READ THESE NOTES CAREFULLY TO AVOID MISINTERPRETATION OF THE DATA. EXTRAS Directory ---------------- The EXTRAS directory contains the files APXS_PDS_*_OXIDES_MERAB.XLS, the original Microsoft Excel files from which the data files were generated. These files are provided for the user's convenience. INDEX Directory --------------- The INDEX directory contains a PDS index file for this archive. An index file is an ASCII table with each record (or line) in the table containing information about a single data product in archive. See the file INDXINFO.TXT for additional details. 4. Whom to Contact for Information For questions concerning this volume set, contact: PDS Geosciences Node Washington University 1 Brookings Drive, Campus Box 1169 St. Louis, MO 63130 314-935-9295 or 314-935-5493 Web Site: http://pds-geosciences.wustl.edu/ E-mail: geosci@wunder.wustl.edu For general information related to the PDS, contact: Planetary Data System, PDS Operator M/S 202-101 Jet Propulsion Laboratory 4800 Oak Grove Drive Pasadena, CA 91109-8099 (818) 354-4321 WWW Site: http://pds.jpl.nasa.gov/ E-mail: pds_operator@jpl.nasa.gov 5. Cognizant Persons This archive volume designed and produced at the PDS Geosciences Node, Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri by Susan Slavney and Edward Guinness.