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Visible and Infra-Red Spin Scan Radiometer (VISSR)
Entry ID: gov.noaa.ncdc.C00330

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Summary

Abstract: The National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) has, in archive, both digital data and hard-copy images from early VISSR (Visible and Infra-Red Spin Scan Radiometer) sensors on board the early Synchronous Meteorological Satellites (SMS) and Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites (GOES). VISSR was on two SMS satellites, SMS-1/2, and the first six GOES satellites, GOES-1/6. GOES-4/6 were equipped with the VAS (VISSR Atmospheric Sounder), which routinely produced VISSR data and vertical soundings through the atmosphere. The geographic area covered was North and South America, the Northern and Southern Atlantic Ocean, and the Northeastern and Southeastern Pacific Ocean. The data period was July 1976 through September 1988. The GOES geostationary platform repeated the same field of view every half hour. For severe weather, the VISSR data was obtained every 3 to 5 minutes for a small area containing the weather of interest. VISSR/VAS was a scanning radiometer, with channels in the visible and IR (10 to 12 micrometer region for VISSR data) portions of the spectrum. The sensor produced 1 km visible data at 6 bit precision and 8 km IR data at 8 bit precision. The documentation contained in VISSR data included earth location references. Sensor calibration information is available separately. The VISSR archive file consists of a series of VISSR frames, wherein each frame contains the visible and IR data from one complete view of the earth from one satellite. Each frame consists of a series of records containing the visible and/or IR data from one East-West scan; the full earth view includes about 16,000 visible scan lines (each containing 16,000 data values) and about 1,800 IR scan lines (each containing 3,800 data values). Each scan contains documentation.

Purpose: To make a wide range of climatic data available to researchers and the public.

CURRENTNESS REFERENCE: Ground Condition

Pricing is dependent on customer order specifications. Please contact NCDC for information on
fees and terms for retrieving the Data Set or Product.

Related URL

Link: GET DATA

Link: VIEW EXTENDED METADATA
Description: View Source Metadata document from the Metadata Manager and Repository (NMMR).

Geographic Coverage

N: 80.0 S: -80.0 E: 0.0 W: -180.0

Data Set Citation

Dataset Originator/Creator: National Climatic Data Center, NESDIS, NOAA, U.S. Department of Commerce
Dataset Title: Visible and Infra-Red Spin Scan Radiometer (VISSR)
Dataset Release Date: Unknown
Online Resource: http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov

Temporal Coverage

Start Date: 1976-07-26

Stop Date: 1988-09-25

Location Keywords

OCEAN > ATLANTIC OCEAN > NORTH ATLANTIC OCEAN
OCEAN > ATLANTIC OCEAN > SOUTH ATLANTIC OCEAN
OCEAN > PACIFIC OCEAN > NORTH PACIFIC OCEAN
OCEAN > PACIFIC OCEAN > SOUTH PACIFIC OCEAN
CONTINENT > NORTH AMERICA
GEOGRAPHIC REGION > EQUATORIAL
GEOGRAPHIC REGION > MID-LATITUDE
GEOGRAPHIC REGION > POLAR
GEOGRAPHIC REGION > WESTERN HEMISPHERE
CONTINENT > SOUTH AMERICA
GEOGRAPHIC REGION > TROPICS
OCEAN > PACIFIC OCEAN > CENTRAL PACIFIC OCEAN
OCEAN > PACIFIC OCEAN > EASTERN PACIFIC OCEAN

Data Resolution
Temporal Resolution: 3-5 Minutes

ISO Topic Category

CLIMATOLOGY/METEOROLOGY/ATMOSPHERE
ELEVATION
IMAGERY/BASE MAPS/EARTH COVER
OCEANS

Platform

GOES >NOAA Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites [Information]

SMS >Synchronous Meteorological Satellites [Information]

Instrument

VAS >VISSR Atmospheric Sounder [Information]

VISSR >Visible and Infrared Spin Scan Radiometer [Information]

Project

ESIP >Earth Science Information Partners Program [Information]

GOES >Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites [Information]

Access Constraints

ACCESS CONSTRAINTS: None

DISTRIBUTION LIABILITY: Every effort has been made to ensure that these data are accurate and reliable within the limits of current NOAA quality control procedures. NOAA can only certify that the data provided to its customers is an authentic copy of the records which were accepted for inclusion in NOAA archives. NOAA cannot assume liability for any damages caused by any errors or omissions in the data, nor as a result of the failure of the data to function on a particular system. NOAA makes no warranty, expressed or implied, nor does the fact of distribution constitute such a warranty.

Use Constraints

None

Keywords

EQUATORIAL

TROPICS

MID-LATITUDE

POLAR

WESTERN HEMISPHERE

NORTH AMERICA

SOUTH AMERICA

NORTH ATLANTIC OCEAN

SOUTH ATLANTIC OCEAN

NORTH PACIFIC OCEAN

SOUTH PACIFIC OCEAN

EASTERN PACIFIC OCEAN

CENTRAL PACIFIC OCEAN

GOSIC

G3OS/

Data Set Progress

COMPLETE

Data Center

National Climatic Data Center, NESDIS, NOAA, U.S. Department of Commerce [Information]
Data Center URL: http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/

Data Center Personnel

Name: NCDC CUSTOMER SERVICE
Phone: 828-271-4800
Fax: 828-271-4876
Email: ncdc.orders at noaa.gov
Contact Address:
151 Patton Avenue, Room 120
City: Asheville
Province or State: NC
Postal Code: 28801-5001
Country: USA

Distribution

Distribution_Format: To be determined
Fees: Please See Summary

Personnel

NCDC CUSTOMER SERVICE
Role: DIF AUTHOR
Phone: 828-271-4800
Fax: 828-271-4876
Email: ncdc.orders at noaa.gov
Contact Address:
151 Patton Avenue, Room 120
City: Asheville
Province or State: NC
Postal Code: 28801-5001
Country: USA

Creation and Review Dates

DIF Creation Date: 2006-06-27

Last DIF Revision Date: 2011-07-21

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