TIROS-4 Low-Resolution Omnidirectional Radiometer Level 1 Radiance Data V001 (TIROS4L1ORR) at GES DISC

The TIROS-4 Low-Resolution Omnidirectional Radiometer Level 1 Radiance Data product contains the longwave radiation values in Langleys/min derived from the black and white sensors. The experiment consisted of two sets of bolometers in the form of hollow aluminum hemispheres, mounted on opposite sides of the spacecraft, and whose optical axes were parallel to the spin axis. The bolometers were thermally isolated from but in close proximity to reflecting mirrors so that the hemispheres behaved like isolated spheres in space. The experiment was designed to measure the amount of solar energy absorbed, reflected, and emitted by the earth and its atmosphere in order to calculate the Earth's radiation budget. The data were originally written on IBM 7094 machines, and these have been recovered from magnetic tapes, referred to as the Omnidirectional Radiometer Radiance (ORR) tapes. The data are archived in their text format. The TIROS-4 satellite was successfully launched on February 8, 1962. The Low-Resolution Omnidirectional Radiometer experiment returned data for about five months. A previous instrument flew on TIROS-3 and a follow-on instrument was flown on TIROS-7, while a similar instrument flew on Explorer-7. The Principal Investigator for these data was Verner E. Suomi from the University of Wisconsin. This product was previously available from the NSSDC with the identifier ESAD-00152 (old id 62-002A-01B).