NEMSN5L2: Nimbus-5 Microwave Spectrometer Data from 1972-1973

Nimbus-5 Microwave Spectrometer (NEMS) Level-2 output data contains surface reflectivity, water vapor, liquid water, layer thickness, temperature, and surface brightness temperature information. Data are available from December 17, 1972 to October 31, 1973, with about five days of observations stored per binary file. The principal investigator for the experiment was David H. Staelin from MIT.

Use Cases

• Analyze historical atmospheric water vapor and liquid water content based on the H2O and O2 channel measurements.
• Study surface radiative properties and land characteristics based on surface reflectivity and brightness temperature data.
• Model historical temperature profiles at standard pressure levels based on the temperature data.
• Compare early satellite microwave observations with modern instruments based on the described five-channel data.

Strengths

• Data covers a specific time period from 1972-12-17 to 1973-10-31, providing a historical snapshot.
• Contains multiple physical measurements including surface reflectivity, water vapor, liquid water, and temperature profiles.
• Data originates from a NASA satellite mission with a named principal investigator (David H. Staelin, MIT).

Limitations

• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Data may reflect temporal bias inherent to the specific 1972-1973 collection period.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Goddard Earth Sciences Data and Information Services Center (GES DISC)

Collection Method

Collected by the Nimbus-5 (Nimbus-E) satellite's NEMS instrument viewing the nadir with a 180-km diameter footprint.

Time Range

1972-12 17 to 1973-10-31

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-12 23:16:04.404840; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Global coverage from the satellite's orbit.