Level 2 Help for MARSXYZMERGE

INP

There are two options for describing input images. 

Either:
List the image file names 

Or:
provide an ascii file with the file names listed, one per record.

Note that normally only the label is used from the input images.  They
are typically image files for convenience and compatibility with marstie et al.
However, Dynamic XYZ tiepoints require the corresponding input file to be an
XYZ image.


OUT

Same as INP but for output files.
Refer to main help INPUT/OUTPUT notes for details on output formatting


MAX_SPLIT

Maximum number of points in an octants to carry the filtering analysis. Any 
octant that has more than MAX_SPLIT points are split in 8 octants; the 
test is applied to the children octants. Default is 10. If MAX_SPLIT is less
or equal than 9, there is the possibiliy that 8 (or less) points to be 
splitted will end up "alone" in a child octant, in which case all points are
winners and none are filtered out.  


STRATEGY

Strategy to apply to filter the point cloud. Two options are currently 
available:

DENSITY: The point cloud containing the most points in the octant,i.e.,
the densest point cloud, is kept while all the other points (from other point 
clouds) are discarded. The assumption with this strategy is that the densest 
point cloud is the less noisy.

ORDER: An octant to be filtered contains points from at least two 
point cloud sources. The points that are kept are the one from the point cloud
source that is first on the input list. This option is mostly useful for
mosaicing situation. In that case, e.g., nav cam point clouds mosaicing, density
is about the same between point clouds on overlapping areas. Traditionally, the 
first point clouds in the input list is kept.

Default is DENSITY.




SOLUTION_ID

Specifies which solution ID to use for the INPUT nav file (if present).

There are potentially many different definitions for the same coordinate
system. These are identified via a unique Solution ID.  If this parameter
is given, only the specified solution's definition is searched for.  Normally
it is not used.


CONFIG_PATH

A colon-separated list of directories in which to look for configuration
and calibration files.  Environment variables are allowed in the list
(and may themselves contain colon-separated lists).  The directories are
searched in order for each config/cal file when it is loaded.  This allows
multiple projectes to be supported simultaneously, and allows the user to
override any given config/cal file.  Note that the directory structure below
the directories specified in this path must match what the project expects.
For example, Mars 98 expects flat fields to be in a subdirectory named
"flat_fields" while Mars Pathfinder expects them to be directly in the
directory specified by the path (i.e. no intermediate subdirectories).


POINT_METHOD

Specifies a mission-specific pointing method to use.  Normally this
parameter is not used, in which case the "default" pointing methods
are used.  Some missions may have special, or alternate, pointing
methods available, which are indicated by this string (for example,
backlash models, using arm joint angles instead of x/y/z/az/el, etc).
A substring search is used, so multiple methods (where that makes sense)
can be specified by separating the keywords with commas.

Note that nav files created using one pointing method will most likely
not be compatible with a mosaic created using a different pointing method.

The methods available vary per mission, but some methods available at
the time of this writing are:

BACKLASH : Mars 98 SSI only.  Selects a backlash pointing model,
which adjusts the telemetered azimuth and elevation values based on
knowledge of the camera's mechanical backlash and the direction the
motor was travelling when the image was taken.


MATCH_METHOD

Specifies a method for reading the nav file.

Loose method matches with pointing parameters of the image.
Tight method matches with unique id of the image.

Applies only to an input nav file, if given (not to the output nav file).


MATCH_TOL

Tolerance value for matching pointing parameters in the pointing corrections file.
Used if MATCH_METHOD=LOOSE
Default value is pretty arbitrary, though seems to work well so far....


NOSITE

Disables all label-derived parameters to the Site mechanism which underlies
coordinate systems.  This forces all sites to be identical, with all rotations
and offsets set the same.  In the case of MPF or Mars 98, this disables
the lander quaternion and offset (sets them to identity and 0, respectively).
This option should not be used with images taken from different vantage
points (e.g. the spacecraft moved, or mixing a lander and a rover) or
invalid results will be obtained.  The use of this option invalidates the
Fixed coordinate frame; any values reported in the Fixed frame will not
correctly reflect the orientation of the lander/rover.

Obviously, this option should be rarely used; it is intended for when the
image labels defining the site are invalid or inconsistent.


RSF

Rover State File.  This is a list of filenames to load containing
Rover State information.  These files contain position and orientation
information for a rover (or other mobile spacecraft) at various sites.
They are in XML format.  See the "Rover Motion Counter (RMC) Master File SIS"
for details on these files.

Rover State Files have a priority order.  The files listed first have
the highest priority.

Environment variables may be used in the list.

For MER, if a directory is specified, then that directory is searched for
RMC Master files and any found are loaded.  The directory structure and
filename convention is covered in the RMC SIS.  The directory specified
is the one containing "master", so if <dir> is the name specified in the
RSF parameter, the following files will be searched for:

<dir>/master/_Master.svf
<dir>/master/_Site__Master.rvf

The name of each file loaded is printed to the stdout log for reference.


DEBUG_RSF

If enabled, this causes the internal database of RMC locations to be
printed out to the stdout log.  This is after the RSF files have been
loaded and the coordinate systems read from the input label(s).


COORD

This parameter is ignored by marsnav, except for one place.  It is
here for compatibility with subroutines used by other programs (see
e.g. marsmap).

If DO_SURFACE is specified, then the final surface model is printed out
in the coordinate system specified by COORD as well as SURF_COORD.  This
allows for example the input surface to be specified in ROVER frame, and
ROVER frame will be used to adjust it.  But the final surface will be
printed in both ROVER and SITE frames.  This allows the SITE frame value
to be used in subsequent steps, which more closely follows normal practice.


COORD_INDEX

This parameter is ignored by marsnav (except in one case; see COORD).  It
is here for compatibility with subroutines used by other programs (see
e.g. marsmap).


FIXED_SITE

Specifies which major Site is the "Fixed" Site for this run.

Historically, MPF and M98 had a single "Surface Fixed" frame which never
moved, and which all other coordinate system frames were referenced to.
With the advent of long-range rovers (such as MER and FIDO), that became
insufficient.  The rover traverses far enough that errors in knowledge of
coordinate system offset and orientation become unacceptable.

For this reason, a system of major Sites was introduced.  Periodically
during the mission, a Site frame is declared.  This then becomes the
reference frame for all activities until the next Site is declared.
References are kept local, and errors don't propogate across Sites.

However, if images from more than one Site are combined together, the
Site's must be placed relative to each other.  Therefore a single reference
frame is still needed to combine different sites.

The FIXED_SITE parameter controls which of the major Site frames is
the reference ("fixed") site for this program run.  This fixed frame
can vary in different program runs, but is constant throughout one
execution.

If not specified, FIXED_SITE defaults to the minimum Site number (i.e.
lowest numbered, or earliest chronologically) used in all input images.
Normally this default is sufficient; rarely must FIXED_SITE be specified.

One or more Rover State Files must usually be specified in order to combine
image from more than one Site.  These describe the relationship between
sites.  See the RSF parameter.