Satellite characteristics
Launch Date - End 278031600 - 775692000
Status Decommissioned
Orbit type sun-synchronous
Satellite family: Nimbus
Nimbus is a NASA meteorological research-and-development satellite program (parallel to the operational TIROS program) which started in 1963 with the prime objective to test new instrument concepts (introduction of sensor technology), a secondary objective was to provide atmospheric data for improved weather forecasts. Eventually, the series grew more into a major Earth sciences program (study of oceans, land surfaces and atmosphere) with the availability of better sensing instrumentation. The ERTS (Earth Resources Technology Satellite, later renamed to Landsat-1) program, developed in the early 1970s, is a direct descendent of the Nimbus program.
Sensor characteristics
Sensor name |
CZCS (Coastal Zone Color Scanner) |
Sensor short description |
|
Sensor type |
Imaging radiometer (Vis/IR) |
Resolution class |
Low (300 m - 1 km) |
Swath width (at nadir) |
1566
km |
|
|
Sensor name |
ERB (Earth Radiation Budget) |
Sensor short description |
|
Sensor type |
Earth radiation budget radiometer |
Resolution class |
Very Low (> 1 km) |
|
|
Sensor name |
LIMS (Limb Infrared Monitor of the Stratosphere) |
Sensor short description |
|
Sensor type |
Atmospheric instrument |
Resolution class |
Very Low (> 1 km) |
|
|
Sensor name |
SAM-II (Stratospheric Aerosol Measurement II) |
Sensor short description |
|
Sensor type |
Atmospheric instrument |
Resolution class |
Very Low (> 1 km) |
|
|
Sensor name |
SAMS (Stratospheric and Mesospheric Sounder) |
Sensor short description |
|
Sensor type |
Atmospheric instrument |
Resolution class |
Very Low (> 1 km) |
|
|
Sensor name |
SBUV/TOMS (Solar Backscatter Ultraviolet/Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer) |
Sensor short description |
|
Sensor type |
Atmospheric instrument |
Resolution class |
Very Low (> 1 km) |
|
|
Sensor name |
SMMR (Scanning Multichannel Microwave Radiometer) |
Sensor short description |
SMMR is a multispectral, dual-polarization microwave radiometer observing in K-band (~0.75cm to ~2.5cm), X-band (~2.5cm to ~4.0cm) and C-band (~4.0cm to ~8.0cm).
|
Sensor type |
Imaging radiometer (passive microwave) |
Resolution class |
Very Low (> 1 km) |
Spatial resolution |
22 km to 120 km
|
Spectral bandwidth |
6.6 GHZ (45.4 mm)
10.7 GHz (28 mm)
18.0 GHz (16.6 mm)
21.0 GHz (14.2 mm)
37.0 GHz (8.1 mm)
|
Swath width (at nadir) |
600
km |
Max look angle |
42
° |
|
|
Sensor name |
THIR (Temperature Humidity Infrared Radiometer) |
Sensor short description |
|
Sensor type |
Atmospheric instrument |
Resolution class |
Very Low (> 1 km) |
|
|