Historical Polar Satellite Visible And Infrared Imagery From ESSA And NOAA

1966 to 1978 data from ESSA and NOAA polar-orbiting satellites, providing global visible and infrared band observations. The collection includes scanned images from 35mm film or paper photographs, converted to NetCDF format and mapped to a 10km polar stereographic grid. It was created by scanning archival images, with navigation and processing performed by the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC).

Use Cases

• Analyze historical cloud cover patterns using the visible band data from the Advanced Vidicon Camera System (AVCS).
• Study sea ice extent and surface temperature trends in polar regions using the infrared band data from NOAA-2 to NOAA 5 satellites.
• Compare image quality and sensor performance between the ESSA (1966-1972) and NOAA (1972-1978) satellite eras.
• Validate climate model reconstructions for the 1960s and 1970s using the navigated, pseudo-calibrated imagery in the NetCDF files.
• Examine cross-track scan line data structure from the NOAA satellite Scanning Radiometer (SR) for sensor calibration research.

Strengths

• Covers a 12-year time range from December 1966 to March 1978.
• Data is mapped to a consistent polar stereographic grid with approximately 10km cell size.
• Includes both raw scanned data and processed, navigated imagery in NetCDF files for each image.

Limitations

• Infrared observations are only available from October 1972 onward; earlier data is visible-only.
• Image quality is noted to vary, particularly during the 1960s time period.
• Data may not be available for all dates within the collection's time range.

Provenance

Source

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) Physical Archives, scanned and processed by the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC).

Collection Method

Scanned from original 35mm film or paper photographs, then converted to NetCDF format with added navigation information.

Time Range

1966-12 to 1978-03

Freshness

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Geography

Global coverage, with separate data for northern and southern hemispheres.