Polar Orbiting Environmental Satellites (POES)
type: Concept

NOAA POES
change note: 2016-06-09 13:11:29.0 [epneff] added altLabel insert AltLabel (id: null text: NOAA POES (Polar Orbiting Environmental Satellites) language code: en);
alternative label: NOAA POES (Polar Orbiting Environmental Satellites)
in scheme: platforms
definition: The world's first operational weather satellite system was placed into service with the launching of the Environmental Satellite Services Administration (which in 1970 became the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, NOAA) satellites, ESSA-1, on February 3, 1966, and ESSA-2, on February 28, 1966. The objective of this program, called the TIROS Operational System (TOS), was to acquire global observational data routinely on a daily basis. This system consisted of a pair of ESSA satellites in sun synchronous (polar) orbit. The odd numbered satellites (ESSA-1, 3, 5, 7, and 9) utilized the Advanced Vidicon Camera System (AVCS) to obtain global imagery which were transmitted to the ESSA Command and Data Acquisition (CDA) stations at Wallops, Virginia, and Fairbanks, Alaska. The CDA stations relayed the data to the National Environmental Satellite Service (NESS), which later became the National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service (NESDIS), located in Suitland, Maryland, for processing and distribution to forecasting centers of the U.S. and other nations. The even numbered satellites (ESSA-2, 4, 6, and 8) were equipped with Automatic Picture Transmission (APT) TV cameras which transmitted television pictures directly to ground stations worldwide. The ESSA satellites operated in orbits at altitudes of approximately 1450 km. The second generation operational polar orbiting satellites started with the ITOS-1 (Improved TIROS Operational System) mission launched on January 23, 1970 which combined the joint capabilities of two ESSA spacecraft; essentially, the direct readout APT system and the global stored images of the AVCS. The second generation objectives were to provide improved operational Infrared (IR) and Visible (VIS) observations of Earth cloud cover for use in weather analysis and forecasting and also to provide solar proton and global heat data on a daily basis. ITOS-1 also carried an operational 2 channel Scanning Radiometer (SR) providi…
type: Concept