GEOS-2 Satellite International Optical Beacon Observations from 1968

Reduced raw geodetic optical observations from the Optical Beacon System instrument flown on the GEOS-2 (Explorer 36) satellite. The dataset contains 1689 data records covering an eight-month period from February to October 1968. The principal investigator for the experiment was R. E. Williston from APL.

Use Cases

• Analyze temporal patterns in optical beacon flash sequences for satellite tracking studies.
• Validate geodetic models using the raw observation data points from international camera systems.
• Study the performance and data characteristics of the xenon flash tube instrument over the mission period.

Strengths

• 1689 data records provide a specific sample size for analysis.
• Covers a defined 8-month time period from 1968-02-20 to 1968-10-03.

Limitations

• Small sample size of 1689 records limits statistical power for some analyses.
• Data is temporally limited to a single year (1968) and may not represent modern conditions.
• Data format is described as ASCII text lines, which may require parsing for structured use.

Provenance

Source

GES DISC (NASA), principal investigator R. E. Williston from APL.

Collection Method

Observations obtained by various international camera systems tracking the GEOS-2 satellite's optical beacon flashes.

Time Range

1968-02-20 to 1968-10-03

Freshness

null

Geography

null