In order to be considered, data analysis proposals must use data that are in the public domain 30 days before the CDAPS Step-2 proposal due date, and they must make clear to the peer reviewers that the data are publicly available. Proposals that do not comply with this rule may be declared noncompliant and declined without evaluation. It is understood, however, that once the grant is awarded, succeeding years of work may address data that have subsequently come into the archive. Proposers selected as Participating Scientists will have access to data prior to its release to the public domain but the DAP portion of their proposal (which may be funded separately) should still conform to the 30 day rule.

Proposals should be focused on the Saturn system and make significant use of (or greatly enhance the use of) data returned by Cassini instruments. Additionally, data from the Cassini Jupiter flyby in 2000 is eligible. Proposals to work with Cassini data and also use ground-based or other data are acceptable, provided that the success of the proposal, as written, is dependent upon the Cassini data. If this is not the case, the proposal should be submitted to another ROSES element, as appropriate; see Appendix C of this ROSES NRA .

Proposals should describe a unique science investigation for which proposers are not currently funded.

Proposals to CDAPS must include a science investigation. Proposals to produce a higher order data product that enhances the science return from one or more missions, but does not include a science investigation, should be submitted to the Planetary Data Archiving, Restoration, and Tools (PDART) Program, C.7.

Investigations that incorporate theory, modeling, laboratory studies, correlative analyses, and/or other research that would greatly increase the use of, or significantly facilitate the interpretation of, data from the mission are also eligible for CDAPS.

For proposals that contain mission data analysis, planetary spacecraft mission data to be used in proposed investigations must be available in the Planetary Data System (PDS) or equivalent publicly accessible archive at least 30 days prior to the proposal submission date. Spacecraft data that have not been obtained yet (i.e., future mission data) or those that have not been accepted for distribution in approved archives are not eligible for use in investigations. Regardless of the archive(s) used, if the data to be analyzed have issues that might represent an obstacle to analysis, the proposers must demonstrate clearly and satisfactorily how such potential difficulties will be overcome.