The International Solar and Terrestrial Physics (ISTP) program is a NASA funded effort combining several scientific research satellite missions to obtain coordinated, simultaneous investigations of the Sun-Earth space environment. Polar is the second spacecraft to be launched under the ISTP program and has the objective of obtaining data about the Earths polar regions. The Visible Imaging System (VIS) is a science research satellite aboard the Polar spacecraft that collects global auroral images of the Earth's Northern Hemisphere using a set of three on-board CCD cameras.
JVis is a software package that enables scientific analysis and visualization of VIS data. It is written in Java and built on top of the Common Data Format (CDF) package released by Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) developers.
VIS data is gathered at the rate of approximately 100 megabytes per day. This data is packaged in CDF files and distributed to scientists by creating CD's upon request and mailing them to the requestors location. The data is then viewed and analyzed using a commercial programming environment (IDL). JVis benefits the VIS community by providing a portable, free programming environment (Java) and enabling web-based distribution of content.
This work was funded by a Wisconsin Space Grant Consortium Faculty Seed Grant.