Ocean Color Scanner Thermal Infrared Data from ADEOS Satellite

1996-1997 data from the Ocean Color and Temperature Scanner (OCTS) on Japan's ADEOS satellite. The dataset contains Level 1A Global Area Coverage (GAC) thermal infrared band data, subsampled to a 700-meter spatial resolution, and includes radiometric correction coefficients and geometric correction information. It was produced by the National Space Development Agency of Japan (NASDA) and covers the satellite's operational period before its mission ended on June 30, 1997.

Use Cases

• Estimating sea surface temperature using the thermal infrared band (VI) data.
• Analyzing spatial patterns of ocean phenomena across the 1400 km observation field of the OCTS sensor.
• Applying radiometric correction to raw data using the included per-band, per-pixel correction coefficients.
• Studying cloud formation processes through multi-band observations from visible to thermal infrared wavelengths.
• Conducting geometric correction of satellite imagery using the included correction information and sun vector data.

Strengths

• Data spans the full operational lifetime of the ADEOS satellite from August 1996 to June 1997.
• Includes essential correction data (radiometric coefficients, geometric information) for processing raw observations.
• Provides a wide 1400 km observation field for capturing large-scale oceanographic features.

Limitations

• Temporal coverage is limited to less than one year due to the satellite's premature mission end.
• Spatial resolution is 700 meters, which is coarser than full-resolution data due to GAC subsampling.
• Data format is legacy HDF4, which may require specific libraries or tools for modern access.

Provenance

Source

National Space Development Agency of Japan (NASDA), now part of JAXA.

Collection Method

Collected by the Ocean Color and Temperature Scanner (OCTS) sensor onboard the Advanced Earth Observing Satellite (ADEOS).

Time Range

1996-08-17 to 1997-06-30

Freshness

null

Geography

Global ocean coverage from a sun-synchronous orbit.