The Planetary Data System Atmospheres Node: A Comprehensive Archive for Planetary Atmospheric Data

The Planetary Data System Atmospheres Node (ATM) is one of six discipline nodes charged with archiving data from NASA’s planetary missions, as well as data from field campaigns, laboratory experiments, and telescopic observations acquired in support of those missions. The resources and services provided by ATM are evolving based on the needs of the planetary atmospheres user community. For example, there is a greater demand for data discoverability that enables comparative planetology studies, and the number of providers of derived data has increased dramatically as a result of open access requirements levied on data proposers and journal publication authors. We provide an overview of recent initiatives designed to improve the ATM user experience. Specifically, we discuss the following: (1) the power of the new XML-based information model and data standards, known as PDS4, (2) the status of ATM efforts to migrate our data holdings to PDS4, (3) the archiving lifecycle for providers of derived data, including laboratory and field data as a result of expanded R & A programs, (4) our comprehensive approach to finding the various forms of atmospheric data for planetary targets, (5) our community outreach efforts, and (6) our vision for fostering future cross-SMD collaborations with the exoplanet and Earth atmospheres communities.