HIRS/Nimbus-6 Images of Brightness Temperature on 70 mm Film V001 (HIRSN6IM)

Conversion from the 18-step gray scale to brightness temperatures can be found in a table in each of the first six volumes of "The Nimbus 6 Data Catalog." The HIRS experiment on Nimbus-6 is a follow on to the successful Nimbus-5 ITPR experiment. HIRS was a multi-channel filter radiometer with a Cassegrain telescope before the chopper assembly. The instrument scans in the cross track direction with 21 scans on each side of the subtrack point with about 30 km x 55 km resolution at nadir.

HIRS measured radiances primarily in five spectral regions: (1) seven channels near the 15-micrometer CO2 absorption band, (2) two channels (11.1 and 3.7 micrometers) in the IR window, (3) two channels (8.2 and 6.7 micrometers) in the water vapor absorption band, (4) five channels in the 4.3-micrometer band, and (5) one channel in the visible 0.69-micrometer region. The HIRS Principal Investigator was Mr. W. L. Smith from the NOAA National Environmental Satellite Service.

The Nimbus-6 HIRS data are available from August 17, 1975 (day of year 229) through March 4, 1976 (day of year 238). These data were previously archived at NASA NSSDC under the entry ID ESAD-00094 (old id 75-052A-02A).