Nimbus-3 Infrared Brightness Temperature Images from 1969-1970

April 1969 to February 1970 data from the Nimbus-3 Medium Resolution Infrared Radiometer (MRIR) experiment, archived by the GES DISC. The dataset consists of photographic film sheet images containing entire daylight orbit segments of brightness temperatures across five specific wavelength bands. It was produced to study Earth's heat balance, water vapor distribution, and surface temperatures.

Use Cases

• Analyzing seasonal changes in stratospheric temperature distribution using the 14.5-15.5 micrometer band images.
• Mapping surface or near-surface temperatures from the 10-11 micrometer wavelength band brightness data.
• Studying water vapor distribution patterns by examining the 6.5-7.0 micrometer band measurements across orbits.
• Investigating the Earth-atmosphere system's heat balance using the broad 5-30 and 0.2-4.0 micrometer channel data.
• Calibrating historical climate models by comparing co-located latitude grid and brightness temperature data from the film sheets.

Strengths

• Data covers a defined 10-month period from April 15, 1969, to February 4, 1970.
• Provides measurements across five specific infrared wavelength bands (e.g., 6.5-7.0, 10-11, 14.5-15.5 µm).
• Includes associated geolocation and calibration data like latitude grids and temperature gray scales.

Limitations

• Sample size is unclear; data is packaged as 'about 3 weeks of images' per TAR file without a total count.
• Data is historically significant but temporally stale, with the last measurement from February 1970.
• Primary data format is digitized 4x5 inch photographic film sheets, which may introduce archival quality limitations.

Provenance

Source

GES DISC (Goddard Earth Sciences Data and Information Services Center), NASA.

Collection Method

Collected by the Nimbus-3 satellite's Medium Resolution Infrared Radiometer (MRIR) instrument and processed onto photographic film sheets.

Time Range

1969-04-15 to 1970-02-04

Freshness

1970-02-04

Geography

Global coverage from satellite orbits.