VISSRSMS2IMVIS: SMS-2 Satellite Visible Imagery Scans

SMS-2 satellite imagery from 1975 was originally recorded on 70mm film and later digitized into TIFF files. Each scan contains 2 or 3 pictures with a maximum effective size of 500 sq km and a resolution of 3.7 km per pixel. The images include metadata titles and a 33-level gray scale for brightness temperature analysis.

Use Cases

• [Analyzing historical cloud cover patterns] based on [visible imagery in the 0.55 to 0.70 micrometer wavelength]
• [Calibrating brightness temperature scales] based on [the 33-level gray scale on the image boundary]
• [Studying early satellite sensor performance] based on [image sectorization and contrast enhancement options]
• [Mapping large-scale meteorological features] based on [maximum effective size covering 500 sq km]
• [Tracking satellite operational history] based on [specific orbital positions and dates provided in the title]

Strengths

• Images contain embedded metadata including satellite ID, picture type, coordinates, and start time
• Each picture includes a 33-level gray scale for quantitative brightness temperature representation
• The dataset represents a specific historical record from the SMS-2 satellite operational in 1975

Limitations

• Column names and exact row/file counts are unknown across all sources
• Sources conflict on the last update date (1980 vs 2026), suggesting metadata inconsistency
• The data is a digitized scan of analog film, which may introduce artifacts

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, later scanned to digital TIFF files

Time Range

1975

Freshness

2026-04-09 21:11:00.817125

Geography

Hemisphere view from geostationary satellite at 105W and later 135W longitude