Polar-Orbiting Satellite Images

Visible and Infrared satellite imagery taken from camera systems or radiometer instruments on satellites in orbit around the poles. Satellite campaigns include NIMBUS, TIROS, ITOS, ESSA, ITOS, and NOAA. From their low-earth orbits, these satellites produced quadrilateral-shaped images that could be stitched together to form composite images of larger areas of earth. The collection includes composites in Mercator and Polar Stereographic projections as well as Conic projections of North America and the United States. Image files are created by scanning hard-copy prints, 10"x10" negatives and microfilm held in the NOAA archives. Period of record for available imagery is August 1964-March 1985.

Data and Resources

Field Value
accessLevel public
accrualPeriodicity irregular
bureauCode {006:48}
catalog_@context https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema/catalog.jsonld
catalog_conformsTo https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema
catalog_describedBy https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema/catalog.json
identifier gov.noaa.ncdc:C01128
language {en-US}
modified 2015-01-29
old-spatial {"type": "Polygon", "coordinates": [[[-180.0, -90.0], [180.0, -90.0], [180.0, 90.0], [-180.0, 90.0], [-180.0, -90.0]]]}
programCode {006:059}
publisher DOC/NOAA/NESDIS/NCDC > National Climatic Data Center, NESDIS, NOAA, U.S. Department of Commerce (Point of Contact)
resource-type Dataset
source_datajson_identifier true
source_hash c4a2520fb920b475c31b42e23f0acdc8e5e678bc
source_schema_version 1.1
spatial {"type": "Polygon", "coordinates": [[[-180.0, -90.0], [180.0, -90.0], [180.0, 90.0], [-180.0, 90.0], [-180.0, -90.0]]]}
temporal 1964-08-01T00:00:00/1985-05-31T00:00:00
Groups
  • AmeriGEOSS
  • National Provider
  • North America
Tags
  • __
  • amerigeo
  • amerigeoss
  • cameras
  • ckan
  • doc-noaa-nesdis-ncdc-national-climatic-data-center
  • earth-observation-satellites
  • earth-remote-sensing-instruments
  • earth-science
  • geo
  • geographic-region
  • geoss
  • global
  • infrared-imagery
  • infrared-wavelengths
  • national
  • nesdis
  • noaa
  • noaa-poes
  • noaa-poes-polar-orbiting-environmental-satellites
  • noaa-polar-orbiting-environmental-satellites
  • north-america
  • passive-remote-sensing
  • photon-optical-detectors
  • spectral-engineering
  • u-s-department-of-commerce
  • united-states
  • visible-imagery
  • visible-wavelengths
isopen False
license_id notspecified
license_title License not specified
maintainer Jason Cooper
maintainer_email ncdc.orders@noaa.gov
metadata_created 2025-11-20T22:41:04.819181
metadata_modified 2025-11-20T22:41:04.819186
notes Visible and Infrared satellite imagery taken from camera systems or radiometer instruments on satellites in orbit around the poles. Satellite campaigns include NIMBUS, TIROS, ITOS, ESSA, ITOS, and NOAA. From their low-earth orbits, these satellites produced quadrilateral-shaped images that could be stitched together to form composite images of larger areas of earth. The collection includes composites in Mercator and Polar Stereographic projections as well as Conic projections of North America and the United States. Image files are created by scanning hard-copy prints, 10"x10" negatives and microfilm held in the NOAA archives. Period of record for available imagery is August 1964-March 1985.
num_resources 4
num_tags 29
title Polar-Orbiting Satellite Images