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Appendices for Planetary Geologic Mapping: Program Status and Future Needs

Metadata Updated: January 7, 2026

Appendices include the original survey, response data, and collated results related to the Open File Report. Geoscience maps, regardless of target body, are spatial and temporal representations of materials and processes recorded on planetary surfaces (Varnes, 1973; Spencer, 2000). The information and context provided by these maps promote basic and applied research within and across various geoscience disciplines. They also provide an important basis for programmatic and policy decisions (for example, H.R. 2763 – 102nd Congress, National Geologic Mapping Act of 1992). Since 1961, planetary (that is, all solid surface bodies in the Solar System beyond Earth) geoscience maps have been used in nearly every facet of planetary exploration, from landing site characterization for human (for example, Grolier, 1970) and robotic (for example, Anderson and Bell, 2010) missions to mineralogical analyses of water-alteration on Mars (for example, Loizeau and others, 2007). Modern planetary geoscience maps are either standardized (those published by the United States Geological Survey (USGS) that require adherence to cartographic standards, conventions, and principles) or non-standardized (those published by other venues that are not required to, but might, adhere to cartographic standards, conventions, and principles). Geoscience mapping and its resultant product, whether standardized or non-standardized, is widely considered a routine contextual investigation that should be performed in advance of and (or) in tandem with surface science investigations. Geoscience mapping campaigns are systematically included in mission proposals as anticipated derivative products (for example, Williams and others, 2014), along with other high-order cartographic data products such as controlled image mosaics and digital terrain models. Additionally, planning documents from multiple planetary science focused programs, organizations, and institutions identify geoscience maps as key scientific and technical contributors to planetary exploration (Planetary Decadal Survey, 2011; MEPAG, 2015; Roadmap to Ocean Worlds, 2018). In line with these community uses and priorities, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), in cooperation with the USGS Astrogeology Science Center (Flagstaff, AZ), has built and maintained a non-trivial infrastructure dedicated not only to producing geoscience maps but also to building and disseminating mapping-based resources to the planetary science community.

Access & Use Information

Public: This dataset is intended for public access and use. License: No license information was provided. If this work was prepared by an officer or employee of the United States government as part of that person's official duties it is considered a U.S. Government Work.

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Dates

Metadata Created Date January 7, 2026
Metadata Updated Date January 7, 2026

Metadata Source

Harvested from DOI USGS DCAT-US

Additional Metadata

Resource Type Dataset
Metadata Created Date January 7, 2026
Metadata Updated Date January 7, 2026
Publisher U.S. Geological Survey
Maintainer
Identifier http://datainventory.doi.gov/id/dataset/USGS_5beb65dde4b0b3fc5cf90ed7
Data Last Modified 2020-08-12T00:00:00Z
Category geospatial
Public Access Level public
Bureau Code 010:12
Metadata Context https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema/catalog.jsonld
Metadata Catalog ID https://ddi.doi.gov/usgs-data.json
Schema Version https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema
Catalog Describedby https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema/catalog.json
Harvest Object Id 8b6f883b-8ad5-43e4-8549-b57678121ef9
Harvest Source Id 2b80d118-ab3a-48ba-bd93-996bbacefac2
Harvest Source Title DOI USGS DCAT-US
Metadata Type geospatial
Old Spatial -180.0000, -90.0000, 180.0000, 90.0000
Source Datajson Identifier True
Source Hash ab1f8064a957a3eabca19122b63ded1d4a752985dec3efb3bb82133113326c1d
Source Schema Version 1.1
Spatial {"type": "Polygon", "coordinates": -180.0000, -90.0000, -180.0000, 90.0000, 180.0000, 90.0000, 180.0000, -90.0000, -180.0000, -90.0000}

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