Jules Verne Voyager: A Web Interactive Tool for Comparative Planetology

A Web interactive map tool called "Jules Verne Voyager" was originally developed in 1999 by UNAVCO and continues to evolve. The Voyager tool can easily be used for comparative planetology studies by grades 8-14. Thematic mapping datasets, now totaling about 70 Gb, can be accessed by the tool and include global-scale maps of the inner solar system planets and moons, plus Jupiter and the Galilean moons. The map images are viewed on a Web browser created on demand by the server system. On the client-side, only a Java-enabled browser is required, and the Voyager Java applet runs well with common browsers like Netscape, Mozilla, Opera, and Internet Explorer. The applet sends a key-value pair URL to the http://jules.unavco.org server which queues incoming requests and sends them to a bank of computers dedicated to map image creation. The engine for map image creation makes use of the "Generic Mapping Tools" (GMT) software of Paul Wessel and Walter Smith, followed by image conversion of the GMT-created PostScript to GIF for raster image export and display back on the client browser. Because of the GMT-based engine on the server system, the student user can easily create the same type of images from real planetary data that researchers create. The tool also gives a student the ability to switch background datasets and overlay certain other thematic datasets, thus providing a minimal GIS capability. To our knowledge, the map tool has not yet formally been used in a 8-14 classroom environment, though informal use by students and teachers in these grades suggest that it would be well received. The server system is currently capable of handing a moderate level of requests that would result from classroom use; for example, as a system benchmark, over 800 Voyager images were created and served in about an hour during a DLESE 2003 annual meeting workshop. The Voyager map tool is being used by instructors in earth science and comparative planetology as a means to create customized images for classroom use, minimizing the need for Web searches to find equivalent material. We also welcome collaboration which would augment our current planetary thematic mapping datasets.