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NOAA Polar Orbiting Satellite (POES) Global Visible and Infrared Band Data from ESSA (1966 - 1972) and NOAA (1972 - 1978) Satellites

Published by DOC/NOAA/NESDIS/NCEI > National Centers for Environmental Information, NESDIS, NOAA, U.S. Department of Commerce | National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce | Metadata Last Checked: January 27, 2026 | Last Modified: 2019-01-01T00:00:00.000+00:00
The NOAA Polar Orbiting Satellite (POES) Global Visible and Infrared Band Data from ESSA (1966 - 1972) and NOAA (1972 - 1978) Satellites data set, provided in NetCDF format, was created by scanning satellite images held in the NCEI Physical Archives. Data were scanned from either 35 mm film or paper photographs, then converted to NetCDF format with navigation information to improve accessibility and use in modern satellite applications. Data are mapped to a polar stereographic grid with a grid cell size of approximately 10 km. Visible and infrared data are available for both southern and northern hemispheres within this data collection but may not be available for all dates. Each scanned image's NetCDF file includes the raw scanned data, in addition to the processed imagery that has undergone pseudo-calibration and has been navigated to include location information. The original scans are archived via a separate Submission Agreement. Most of the scanning and all of the navigation and processing was done at the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC). The NOAA team at NSIDC maintains the User’s Guide documentation for this data set, and provides a link so that users who search NSIDC’s site will find the data set. The data are archived at and distributed by NCEI. The ESSA satellites (ESSA-3, -5, -7, -9) were in operation from December 1966 through November 1972. They were equipped with the Advanced Vidicon Camera System (AVCS). In addition, ITOS-1 and NOAA-1 were equipped with the AVCS and were operational from January 1970 to August 1971. Only visible images are available during this time period. Quality varies throughout the 1960s time period. From October 1972 through March 1978, data from the NOAA satellites (NOAA-2, -3, -4, -5) were acquired. They were equipped with a Scanning Radiometer (SR) with both visible and infrared (IR) bands, so IR observations are available for this time period as well as visible. These were organized as cross-track scan lines.

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