TIROS-4 L1 ORT: Black and White Sensor Temperature Data

From February to July 1962, the TIROS-4 satellite collected temperature measurements using a low-resolution omnidirectional radiometer. The data consists of black and white sensor temperature values in degrees Celsius, recorded from two sets of bolometers designed to measure Earth's radiation budget. These historical measurements were originally written on IBM 7094 machines and recovered from magnetic tapes, now archived in text format.

Use Cases

• Calculating the Earth's radiation budget based on measured solar energy absorption, reflection, and emission.
• Analyzing early satellite instrument performance using temperature data from thermally isolated aluminum hemisphere bolometers.
• Comparing atmospheric radiation measurements across the TIROS-3, TIROS-4, TIROS-7, and Explorer-7 satellite series.
• Studying the calibration and data recovery process for historical datasets recovered from IBM 7094 magnetic tapes.

Strengths

• Provides foundational data from a pioneering 1962 satellite mission for calculating Earth's radiation budget.
• Data recovery from original IBM 7094 magnetic tapes preserves a unique historical record of early space-based observations.
• Cross-platform availability on NASA Earthdata and Data.gov signals its importance and ensures continued access.

Limitations

• Column names and exact row count are unknown, limiting immediate analytical utility.
• Conflicting 'last updated' metadata (1962 vs. 2026) creates uncertainty about provenance and curation status.
• Data is archived in a legacy text format, which likely requires specialized parsing or conversion for modern use.

Provenance

Source

Principal Investigator Verner E. Suomi, University of Wisconsin; data archived at NASA GES DISC.

Collection Method

Measurements from the TIROS-4 Low-Resolution Omnidirectional Radiometer experiment, originally recorded on IBM 7094 machines and recovered from ORT tapes.

Time Range

Approximately five months following the satellite launch on February 8, 1962.

Freshness

2026-04-09 21:45:17.645074 (though this conflicts with a 1962 date from another source)

Geography

Global, from the TIROS-4 satellite's orbit.