Recommendation 18: The makeup and distribution of nodes should be examined more closely to ensure that the PDS contains the appropriate and relevant node elements and subject matter expertise...

[PDE-CS]

Recommendation 18 The makeup and distribution of nodes should be examined more closely to ensure that the PDS contains the appropriate and relevant node elements and subject matter expertise, that unnecessary duplication of effort and data do not occur, and that appropriate flexibility regarding scope and content is built into policy.

[PDE-CS]

Response from PDS Management

• Following the 2017 Roadmap Study the PDS recognized that the nodes software and tools were not actively managed that did result in some duplication of effort. Since then, a PDS software and tools working group was formed to manage and track the nodes software and tools development efforts, as well as budget.

• Five (5) of the eight nodes are “.edus” and IT security standards are set by their home institutions based on the Cooperative Agreement Notice that was the basis of their selection. IT security at JPL is governed by contract, and IT security of the USGS falls under the scrutiny of the DoI OCIO.

[PDE-CS]

Related response from PDS Management:

• NASA has provided explicit guidance to the PDS nodes on how to prioritize their efforts, as below.

• Archive Focus: PDS Level 1 Requirements defined circa 1989:

• • Provide expertise to guide and assist missions, programs, and individuals to organize and document digital data supporting NASA's goals in planetary science and solar system exploration.
• • Collect and curate suitably organized and well-documented data into peer archives that are maintained by members of the scientific community.
• • Ensure the long-term preservation of the data and maintain their usability.
• • Make data accessible to users seeking to achieve NASA's goals for exploration and science.

• However: After the Roadmap Study NASA’s guidance was modified at the PDS MC meeting in November 2019: NASA clearly stated the PDS nodes priorities as follows:

• • 1) Archive
• • • Peer Review
• • • Long-Term Stability
• • 2) PDS3 to PDS4 migration
• • 3) Discoverability and Usability
• • • Unified Search
• • • Higher Level Data Products
• • • Creation and Management of Tools

• IMG is working with EN to investigate the feasibility of centralizing storage and preservation of data, allowing Nodes to focus on community support.

• PDS is generally not in a position to create "usable" data from mission archives when complicated processing or instrument pipelines are involved. In the 2017 PDS roadmap, one of the findings was "PDS does not develop higher-order data products". That said, IMG, has stood up services like Web Processing on the Web (POW) to help get some archives closer to an "Analysis Ready Dataset (ARD) -- but it is far from an ideal solution.

• NASA continuing to support programs like PDART has begun to help, but it has also highlighted the need for not only the creation of ARD products but online streaming services to access them. Unfortunately, the PDS4 standard/format is not optimized for online streaming services, further complicating data to be more easily "usable" in modern applications.