The MER Filenames - Whats in a Name?  (Information Courtesy NASA Ames Research Center) The Caves of Mars | Education Resources | MER Color Index
If a picture is worth a thousand words, then it is important to know what language those words are in. Nice pictures from other planets are great, but if one does not know the "context" of a particular image, its value as a piece of scientific data is severely limited. Early in the space age, the Planetary Data System, (PDS) was established to devise a scheme for naming data, including images, from space missions. This is true as well for the MER mission. With this system, the filename contains relevant information regarding an image: What camera took the picture, when it was taken, where it was taken, who requested it, etc. Code Description scid MER rover Spacecraft Identifier inst MER science instrument identifier sclk Seconds since 1/1/2000 @ 11:58:55.816 UTC prod Product Type identifier of output data site Site location count pos Position-within-Site count seq Sequence identifier eye Camera "Eye" (L = Left / R = Right) filt Filter position, with a range of 0-8 who Product creator indicator ver Version identifier providing uniqueness for book-keeping In the examples below, each image's filename is broken ot to show what it actually means. On many of the section of the filenames, there are more variables than are presented here. Some of the data is redunadant, while other others are relevant, like what filter the image was shot through with the Panoramic Camera, or what "eye" took which image for a stereo pair. Also included is the time the image was taken, represented by nine digits known as the "Starting Spacecraft Clock count" (SCLK). Each MER image incorporates into the filename the Rover Mission identifier, the Instrument identifier, the SCLK of the camera event, the data Product Type, the Site location, the rover Position within the site, the Sequence number, the camera "Eye", the spectral Filter, the product Creator identifier and a Version number. They are listed in the description of the Product Type field found in the filename convention definition, displayed in the table to the right.
Front Hazard Camera 2F127512485EFF0309P1003l0M1
Rear Hazard Camera 2R127428271EFF0300P1004R0M1
Navigation Camera 2N127430378EFF0300P1515L0M1
Panoramic Camera 2P127604483EFF0309P2543R4M1
Microscopic Imager1M129430251EFF0300P2932M1M1
All Images Courtesy NASA/JPL Mars Exploration Rover Mission The Caves of Mars Project is funded by a NIAC Phase II Grant from the NASA Institute for Advanced Concepts. Copyright © 2002-04 - Complex Systems Research; Inc.