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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

Published by NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information | National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce | Catalog Last Checked: April 12, 2026 at 09:28 PM | Dataset Last Updated: October 01, 2024 at 12:00 AM
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.

Resources

11 resources available

  • NCEI Dataset Landing Page

    TEXT/HTML
    Visit Page

  • NOAA Comprehensive Large Array-data Stewardship System (CLASS) Data Search and Order

    TEXT/HTML
    Visit Page

  • GOES Mode A Documentation

    PDF
    Download

  • GOES Mode AAA Documentation

    PDF
    Download

  • CLASS GOES Data Help Page

    TEXT/HTML
    Visit Page

  • History of GOES Archive at SSEC

    PDF
    Download

  • McIDAS Users' Group (MUG)

    TEXT/HTML
    Visit Page

  • VAS Demonstration: (VISSR Atmospheric Sounder) Description and Final Report

    PDF
    Download

  • Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Keywords

    TEXT/HTML
    Visit Page

  • GCOS Essential Climate Variables

    TEXT/HTML
    Visit Page

  • NOAA Office of Satellite and Product Operations Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites (GOES) Web Page

    TEXT/HTML
    Visit Page

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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

Complete Metadata
@type dcat:Dataset
accessLevel non-public
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describedByType application/octet-steam
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.
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    "title": "Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Keywords",
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    "mediaType": "text/html",
    "description": "The information provided on this page seeks to define how the GCMD Keywords are structured, used and accessed. It also provides information on how users can participate in the further development of the keywords.",
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    "title": "GCOS Essential Climate Variables",
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identifier https://data.noaa.gov/waf/NOAA/NESDIS/ncei/aim/iso/xml/C01724.xml
issued 2024-10-01T00:00:00.000+00:00
keyword 
                                            [
  "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 - < 10 km or approximately .01 degree - < .09 degree",
  "500 meters - < 1 km",
  "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"
]
landingPage https://www.ospo.noaa.gov/Operations/GOES/index.html
language 
                                            []
license https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/
modified 2024-10-01T00:00:00.000+00:00
publisher 
                                            {
  "name": "NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information",
  "@type": "org:Organization"
}
references 
                                            [
  "https://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/19860004398.pdf"
]
rights otherRestrictions
spatial 6.2995,-81.3282,141.7005,81.3282
temporal 1974-05-01T00:00:00+00:00/1996-01-11T00:00:00+00:00
title Visible Infrared Spin Scan Radiometer (VISSR) and VISSR Atmospheric Sounder (VAS) Data from GOES 1-7 and SMS 1-2, Version 2024

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