VISSRSMS2IMIR: Historical Satellite Infrared Imagery from SMS-2

Synchronous Meteorological Satellite-2 (SMS-2) captured infrared imagery of the Western Hemisphere from geostationary orbit, initially at 105°W and later at 135°W. This dataset consists of digital scans of 70mm film containing 10.5–12.5 micrometer IR pictures, each with embedded metadata titles and a 33-level brightness temperature grayscale. Individual pictures can cover up to 500 sq km with a maximum spatial resolution of 3.7 km per pixel and may include contrast enhancement, sectorization, or reduced-size options.

Use Cases

• Analyzing historical cloud cover and storm systems based on the 10.5–12.5 micrometer infrared imagery.
• Calibrating modern satellite data using the embedded 33-level brightness temperature grayscale.
• Studying changes in geospatial phenomena over the Western Hemisphere from the 1970s.
• Developing image processing techniques for scanned film archives with sectorization and enhancement artifacts.

Strengths

• Provides high-resolution historical imagery with a maximum effective size of 4000 by 3904 pixels per picture.
• Each image contains detailed metadata in its title, including satellite ID, picture type, coordinates, and start time.
• Data is available from multiple authoritative platforms (NASA Earthdata and Data.gov), indicating established provenance.

Limitations

• Key metadata such as row count, total size, and specific column structure is unknown across all sources.
• Conflicting 'last updated' dates (2026-04-09 and 1980-02-01) create uncertainty about dataset maintenance.
• The data originates from scanned 70mm film, which may introduce artifacts or quality loss compared to original digital tapes.

Provenance

Source

NOAA National Environmental Satellite Data and Information Service (NESDIS) and NASA Goddard Space Flight Center.

Collection Method

Originally produced from digital tapes onto 70mm film using commercial image-generation equipment, later scanned to digital TIFF files.

Time Range

1975 (from satellite launch and operational dates)

Freshness

2026-04-09 21:10:36.032451

Geography

Western Hemisphere, as viewed from geostationary orbit at 105°W and 135°W longitude over the equator.