NMCN6L3GARP: Nimbus-6 Meteorological Data for GARP Systems Tests, 1975-1976

Nimbus-6 Level 3 data from two Data Systems Tests in 1975 and 1976, assessing the impact of satellite data on numerical weather forecasting. The product contains meteorological parameters like relative humidity, temperature, and wind speed on a regular latitude/longitude grid reported every 12 hours. NASA recovered this data from original magnetic tapes and stores it online in its original proprietary binary format.

Use Cases

• Assessing the impact of Nimbus-6 HRIR and SCAMS satellite data on numerical weather forecasts based on the described Data Systems Tests
• Analyzing historical atmospheric conditions based on the reported meteorological parameters like relative humidity, temperature, and wind speed
• Studying the evolution of data assimilation techniques for the Global Atmospheric Research Program (GARP)
• Comparing historical model outputs with modern reanalysis data based on the specific 1975-1976 time periods

Strengths

• Data is tied to two specific historical test periods: DST-5 (30 August to 4 September 1975) and DST-6 (29 February to 3 March 1976)
• Contains core meteorological parameters such as relative humidity, temperature, and wind speed on a regular grid
• Recovered and preserved from original magnetic tapes by NASA, indicating archival effort

Limitations

• Data is stored in its original proprietary binary format (BIN), which may require specialized tools for access and interpretation
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download
• Row count and spatial resolution of the lat/lon grid are unknown, which may limit suitability assessment

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

Collection Method

Recovered from original magnetic tapes from the Nimbus-6 satellite Data Systems Tests.

Time Range

Two specific periods: 30 August to 4 September 1975 and 29 February to 3 March 1976.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-12 23:19:17.338357; freshness should be verified

Geography

Global, based on a regular latitude/longitude grid.