IRIS/Nimbus-4: Earth Atmospheric Radiance Spectra from 1970-1971

April 9, 1970 through January 31, 1971 thermal emission spectra of the Earth's atmosphere collected by the Nimbus-4 satellite. The Infrared Interferometer Spectrometer (IRIS) instrument measured radiation between 400 and 1600 cm**-1 with a nominal resolution of 2.8 cm**-1. Data were recovered from 9-track magnetic tapes and are archived in their original IBM 32-bit word binary format by NASA.

Use Cases

• Deriving vertical temperature profiles based on thermal emission spectra
• Modeling atmospheric water vapor content based on infrared radiance measurements
• Analyzing ozone distribution based on spectral data in the 6.25 to 25 micrometer range
• Studying the emissive properties of the Earth's surface based on nadir-viewing measurements with 94 km resolution

Strengths

• Data covers a specific time range from day of year 99 in 1970 to day of year 31 in 1971
• Spectra have a defined spectral resolution of 2.8 cm**-1 across the 400 to 1600 cm**-1 wave number range
• Includes ancillary data such as reference calibration and average instrument temperatures

Limitations

• Data is archived in an original IBM 32-bit word binary record format, which may require specialized tools for processing
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Data collected by the Nimbus-4 Infrared Interferometer Spectrometer (IRIS) instrument, recovered from 9-track magnetic tapes.

Time Range

April 9, 1970 through January 31, 1971

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 01:23:35.080220; freshness should be verified

Geography

Global coverage along satellite track, with nadir spatial resolution of 94 km.