BUV/Nimbus-4: Backscatter Ultraviolet Radiance and Housekeeping Data, 1970-1977

NASA's Nimbus-4 satellite collected raw ultraviolet radiance counts at 12 wavelengths between 250 and 340 nm every 32 seconds during the daylit portion of its orbit from April 1970 to May 1977. The collection also includes spacecraft ephemeris, subsystem status, and housekeeping data, originally processed on IBM 360 machines and archived in a binary format. Data collection became increasingly sparse after a partial solar array failure in July 1972.

Use Cases

• Analyzing historical atmospheric ozone profiles based on ultraviolet radiance measurements at 12 wavelengths.
• Studying long-term instrument performance and spacecraft telemetry based on housekeeping and subsystem status data.
• Calibrating or validating modern atmospheric models using foundational backscatter ultraviolet spectrometry data.
• Investigating the impact of spacecraft power failures on data collection continuity based on the described operational curtailment.

Strengths

• Covers a significant operational period from April 10, 1970, to May 6, 1977.
• Provides raw instrument counts at 12 specific ultraviolet wavelengths between 250 and 340 nm.
• Data is preserved in its original IBM binary format, offering authenticity for historical analysis.

Limitations

• Data collection became increasingly sparse, particularly in equatorial regions, after a spacecraft power failure in July 1972.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download from the binary format.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment for large-scale statistical analysis.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

Collection Method

Measured by the Backscatter Ultraviolet Spectrometer on the Nimbus-4 satellite, originally processed on IBM 360 machines.

Time Range

April 10, 1970 to May 6, 1977

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 07:32:36.259770; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Global coverage from satellite orbit.