The international outer planets watch atmospheres node database of giant-planet images

The Atmospheres Node of the International Outer Planets Watch (IOPW, formerly known as International Jupiter Watch; Russell et al., 1990) intends to encourage and coordinate the imaging observations and study of the atmospheres of the Giant Planets. The main activity of the atmospheres node is to provide an interaction between the professional and amateur astronomical communities maintaining a large database of images of the giant planets (primarily Jupiter and Saturn but with increasing contributions of Uranus and Neptune too). The observational datasets of Jupiter and Saturn correspond to images obtained in the visible range (300 nm-1 mu m), during the last decade, most of them performed by amateur observers. We here describe the organization and structure of the database as posted on the Internet and in particular the PVOL software (Planetary Virtual Observatory Laboratory) designed to manage the site in the spirit of the Virtual Observatory projects. We also describe with examples the important role of the amateur-professional collaboration in the study of the atmospheres of Jupiter and Saturn in an epoch of large telescopes and spacecraft observations of both planets. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.