r/planetaryscience

I’m working with Galileo NIMS data from Europa, specifically the GO_1116 and GO_1117 observations, and I’m trying to understand how reliable these datasets are for hyperspectral anomaly detection.

I’d like to know:

1. How well calibrated are the GO_1116 and GO_1117 NIMS cubes for spectral analysis?

2. How much instrumental noise or calibration-related artifacts should I expect?

3. Are there known problematic wavelengths/bands or bad pixels that should be removed or masked?

4. Could apparent spectral anomalies be caused by the instrument or data processing rather than actual surface variations?

5. Are the `*_core.cub` products appropriate for this type of analysis?

6. Is there a recommended preprocessing or calibration workflow before performing spectral analysis?

7. How confidently can unusual spectral signatures in these datasets be interpreted as real surface/compositional differences?

I’d especially appreciate input from anyone who has worked with Galileo NIMS data, GO_1116/GO_1117, or Europa spectroscopy.

Any recommendations for relevant calibration documentation or papers would also be really helpful. Thanks!