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Visible Infrared Spin Scan Radiometer (VISSR) and VISSR Atmospheric Sounder (VAS) Data from GOES 1-7 and SMS 1-2, Version 2024

The NOAA Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES) series of satellites goal is to monitor the atmosphere for severe weather development such as tornadoes, flash floods, hail storms and hurricanes. The positioning of the GOES satellites at around 36,000 km (22,000 statute miles) above the equator at a fixed position above the earth allowed them to scan large geographic regions of the Western Hemisphere and as frequently as once every half hour. Coverage is typically provided by two GOES spacecraft, one at -75.0 Longitude (GOES East) and the other at -135.0 Longitude (GOES West). The Visible and Infrared Spin Scan Radiometer (VISSR) was flown aboard NOAA Synchronous Meteorological Satellite (SMS-1 and SMS-2) and GOES-1 through GOES-3 from 1974 to 1989. VISSR was modified to become the VISSR Atmospheric Sounder (VAS) flown aboard GOES-4 through GOES-7 from 1981 to 1996. The MODE A/AA/AAA format were originally stored on Sony U-matic tapes. The process for reading data from these tapes was not stable and resulted in several issues, such as incomplete files, multiple files and corrupted files. The University of Wisconsin developed 'smart' decoders that detected errors in sync patterns (the binary data used to signal start of each scan from the satellite to the ground station). This resulted in restoring missing data to complete full disk images. Also, noisy images were re-rendered to produce noise-free images. This improved, rescued data replaced the previous data publicly accessible from the NOAA CLASS website in 2024 as a cleaned up data archive.

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Updated: 2026-01-31
Metadata Last Updated: 2026-01-31T02:54:36.972Z
Date Created: N/A
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Dataset Owner: N/A

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Title Visible Infrared Spin Scan Radiometer (VISSR) and VISSR Atmospheric Sounder (VAS) Data from GOES 1-7 and SMS 1-2, Version 2024
Description The NOAA Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES) series of satellites goal is to monitor the atmosphere for severe weather development such as tornadoes, flash floods, hail storms and hurricanes. The positioning of the GOES satellites at around 36,000 km (22,000 statute miles) above the equator at a fixed position above the earth allowed them to scan large geographic regions of the Western Hemisphere and as frequently as once every half hour. Coverage is typically provided by two GOES spacecraft, one at -75.0 Longitude (GOES East) and the other at -135.0 Longitude (GOES West). The Visible and Infrared Spin Scan Radiometer (VISSR) was flown aboard NOAA Synchronous Meteorological Satellite (SMS-1 and SMS-2) and GOES-1 through GOES-3 from 1974 to 1989. VISSR was modified to become the VISSR Atmospheric Sounder (VAS) flown aboard GOES-4 through GOES-7 from 1981 to 1996. The MODE A/AA/AAA format were originally stored on Sony U-matic tapes. The process for reading data from these tapes was not stable and resulted in several issues, such as incomplete files, multiple files and corrupted files. The University of Wisconsin developed 'smart' decoders that detected errors in sync patterns (the binary data used to signal start of each scan from the satellite to the ground station). This resulted in restoring missing data to complete full disk images. Also, noisy images were re-rendered to produce noise-free images. This improved, rescued data replaced the previous data publicly accessible from the NOAA CLASS website in 2024 as a cleaned up data archive.
Modified 2026-01-31T02:54:36.972Z
Publisher Name N/A
Contact N/A
Keywords Earth Science > Spectral/Engineering > Infrared Wavelengths > Brightness Temperature , Earth Science > Spectral/Engineering > Infrared Wavelengths > Infrared Imagery , Earth Science > Spectral/Engineering > Infrared Wavelengths > Infrared Radiance , Earth Science > Spectral/Engineering > Infrared Wavelengths > Thermal Infrared , Earth Science > Spectral/Engineering > Visible Wavelengths > Visible Imagery , Earth Science > Spectral/Engineering > Visible Wavelengths > Visible Radiance , Earth Science > Climate Indicators , Atmospheric - Upper-air - Cloud Properties , Atmospheric - Upper-air - Upper-air Water Vapour , Geographic Region > Equatorial , Geographic Region > Mid-Latitude , Geographic Region > Northern Hemisphere , Geographic Region > Southern Hemisphere , Geographic Region > Western Hemisphere , Geographic Region > Tropics , Continent > North America > United States Of America , Continent > North America > Central America , Continent > South America , Ocean > Atlantic Ocean , Ocean > Pacific Ocean , Ocean > Atlantic Ocean > North Atlantic Ocean > Gulf Of Mexico , Vertical Location > Troposphere , GOES > Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites , VISSR > Visible and Infrared Spin Scan Radiometer , VAS > VISSR Atmospheric Sounder , SMS-1 > Synchronous Meteorological Satellite 1 , SMS-2 > Synchronous Meteorological Satellite 2 , GOES-1 > Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite 1 , GOES-2 > Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite 2 , GOES-3 > Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite 3 , GOES-4 > Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite 4 , GOES-5 > Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite 5 , GOES-6 > Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite 6 , GOES-7 > Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite 7 , 1 km - HTML Markup Was Removed , 500 meters - HTML Markup Was Removed , UWI-MAD/SSEC > Space Science and Engineering Center, University of Wisconsin, Madison , DOC/NOAA/NESDIS > National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Services, NOAA, U.S. Department of Commerce , DOC/NOAA/NESDIS/OSPO > Office of Satellite and Product Operations, NESDIS, NOAA, U.S. Department of Commerce , DOC/NOAA/NESDIS/NCEI > National Centers for Environmental Information, NESDIS, NOAA, U.S. Department of Commerce , gov.noaa.class:PRE_GVAR , climatologyMeteorologyAtmosphere
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