DMSP OLS Analog Satellite Imagery for Nighttime and Meteorological Studies

Analog imagery from the U.S. Air Force Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) Operational Linescan System (OLS). The collection includes visible-band and thermal infrared-band positive transparency images, offering up to four global coverages daily. The data was archived by NSIDC and last updated in 1991.

Use Cases

• Track changes in snow and ice boundaries over time using the visible-band (0.4 to 0.1 micrometer) imagery.
• Analyze cloud formations and meteorological patterns from the thermal infrared-band (10.5 to 12.5 micrometer) data.
• Study nighttime lighting and urban development from unique nighttime visible-band imagery collected by DMSP satellites.
• Correlate lightning occurrence studies with sporadic nighttime imagery captures across the global coverage area.

Strengths

• Provides up to four global coverages daily from a two-satellite system.
• Includes unique nighttime visible-band imagery, not available from other contemporary meteorological satellite programs.
• Cross-track scan width of 3000 km per pass offers a wide field of view.

Limitations

• Data is stored as analog film (positive transparencies), requiring physical access or custom digitization for computational analysis.
• The collection's last update was in 1991, limiting temporal relevance for current studies.
• Imagery was collected sporadically, particularly for nighttime data, leading to potential temporal gaps.

Provenance

Source

U.S. Air Force Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP), archived by the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC).

Collection Method

Collected by the Operational Linescan System (OLS) on near-polar orbiting DMSP satellites.

Time Range

Historical data, last updated 1991-12-31.

Freshness

null

Geography

Global coverage.