THE RINGS NODE FOR THE PLANETARY DATA SYSTEM

The Planetary Data System's Rings Node is devoted to the archiving and distributing of scientific data sets relevant to planetary ring syste ms. The two major classes of ring data are images and occultation prof iles, although a variety of additional data types (e.g. spectra, parti cle absorption signatures, etc.) are also of interest. A large fractio n of the data sets are from the Voyager missions to the outer planets, but Earth-based and Hubble Space Telescope data sets are also represe nted. Archiving work often includes reformatting the data into standar dized formats and reconstructing some of the data processing steps. Th e Rings Node also performs a variety of services to support research i nto these data sets. These services include developing on-line catalog s and information systems, filling orders for data, developing softwar e tools, and coordinating special observing campaigns.