Historical Geosynchronous Satellite Visible Imagery from ATS-6

GVHRRATS6IMVIS contains black and white visible images from the Geosynchronous Very High Resolution Radiometer on the ATS-6 satellite. The dataset comprises several hundred scanned TIFF images, originally produced on 70-mm film, covering the period from satellite launch until August 15, 1974. Principal Investigator William E. Shenk from NASA Goddard Space Flight Center led the experiment.

Use Cases

• Analyze cloud patterns and albedo changes using the 0.55 to 0.75 micrometer spectral band imagery.
• Study the evolution of geosynchronous satellite image quality by examining the gray scale representing brightness temperatures on each image.
• Track historical weather events by correlating image date and sector number from the picture title metadata.
• Calibrate modern sensor data by comparing atmospheric brightness temperatures from the historical gray scale reference.

Strengths

• Imagery has a 5.5 km spatial resolution at the sub-satellite point.
• Data covers a full hemisphere from a geosynchronous orbit parked at 95W longitude.
• Each scanned TIFF file contains 2 or 3 individual pictures for consolidated access.

Limitations

• Data collection ended in August 1974, making it temporally limited to a specific historical period.
• Original data was captured on film and later scanned, which may introduce artifacts or quality loss compared to direct digital capture.
• Specific row counts, file sizes, and total number of images are not provided in the description.

Provenance

Source

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, GES DISC, originally from NSSDC with identifier ESAD-00047.

Collection Method

Images were originally produced on commercial image-generation equipment from digital tapes onto 70-mm film, which were later scanned to digital TIFF files.

Time Range

From satellite launch (1974) until August 15, 1974.

Freshness

Data is historical, with the last update on 1974-08-15.

Geography

Hemispheric view from a geosynchronous orbit at 95W longitude.