RGCPS
The Ronald Greeley Center for Planetary Studies (RGCPS), at Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona, was one of an international network of 17 Regional Planetary Image Facility (RPIF) data centers, established by NASA in 1977 to archive planetary images for use by the scientific and educational communities. While NASA sunset the RPIF network in 2020, the RGCPS remains ASU’s planetary data center, archiving NASA photographic & digital planetary data. The facility supports the research of the ASU planetary science faculty, students, and staff, as well as the local and statewide educational communities and the general public, and operations are partially supported by NASA.
The RGCPS maintains photographic and digital data as well as mission documentation and cartographic data. Our facility’s general collection contains images and maps of planets and their satellites taken by solar system exploration spacecraft.
GIS
Geographic Information Systems (GIS) is a method of computer mapping that links the mapped features to a database.
The RGCPS houses a 6-computer Geographic Information Systems (GIS) laboratory, where faculty, students, and visiting researchers can work on planetary mapping projects. Our goal is to provide GIS-ready datasets of the individual planetary bodies, and expert assistance to researchers to aid them in completing their work.
TInstalled on each computer is ArcGIS Pro which includes the full suite of mapping tools, as well as JMars. Also available for processing planetary images is ISIS 3, which is developed by the USGS for processing Planetary Data System (PDS) images.
Campus Location
The RGCPS is located in Bateman Physical Sciences F-Wing, room 560, which is part of the School of Earth and Space Exploration. This building is on Tempe campus, south of University Dr., and to the west of MacAllister Ave. Our mailing address is:
Arizona State University
P.O. Box 871404
Tempe, AZ 85287-1404
For campus parking, go to: Parking on campus
Or: Parking and Transit Services contact information
RGCPS Hours
The RGCPS is open Monday to Friday. Please email Dr. David Williams for the specific open hours during the current academic year.
Our front office phone number is (480) 965-7029.
Dr. Ronald Greeley, Regents’ Professor
Ronald Greeley (1939-2011) was a Regents’ Professor in the School of Earth and Space Exploration (SESE) at Arizona State University (ASU), the Director of the NASA-ASU Regional Planetary Image Facility (RPIF), and Principal Investigator of the Planetary Aeolian Laboratory (PAL) at NASA-Ames Research Center. He had been involved in lunar and planetary studies since 1967. His research focused on understanding planetary surface processes and geologic histories, which involved a combination of spacecraft data analysis, laboratory experiments, and geologic field studies on Earth of features analogous to those observed on the planets.
He was an adored and respected member of the planetary community and a key member of the faculty at Arizona State. He was an incredible mentor and a wonderful friend to everyone who knew him. He is very much missed.
