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Summary
The TRMM Visible and Infrared Scanner (VIRS) is a five-channel
visible/infrared radiometer, which builds on the heritage of the
Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) instrument flown
aboard the NOAA series of Polar-Orbiting Operational Environmental
Satellites (POES). The VIRS detects radiation at 1 visible, 2 near
infrared and 2 thermal infrared wavelengths, allowing determination of
cloud coverage, cloud top height and temperature, and precipitation
indices. The central wavelengths for the VIRS channels are 0.63, 1.60,
3.75, 10.8, and 12.0 microns. All channels are in operation during the
daytime, but only channels 3, 4 and 5 operate during the nighttime.
The Level 1A product file (1A01) is a concatenation of the Level 0
data with a header record and, as such, is reversible to Level 0. The
header record contains information pertaining to orbit times, orbit
number, times of the first scan, and number of scans, among other
things. The Level 0 data contain the actual channel data expressed as
"sensor counts". A Level 1A file contains data for a single orbit and
has a file size of about 31 MB (uncompressed). There are 16 files
of VIRS 1A01 data produced per day.
Spatial coverage is between 38 degrees North and 38 degrees South
owing to the 35 degree inclination of the TRMM satellite.
Contacts for Data Access Information
Goddard DAAC
Hydrology Data Support Team, Code 610.2
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Greenbelt, MD 20771
301-614-5224 voice
301-614-5268 fax
Email: help-disc@listserv.gsfc.nasa.gov
Data Center Identification
GSFC-TSS -
Goddard Space Flight Center Distributed Active Archive Center, NASA
References:
Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission Science Data and Information System (TSDIS)
Interface Control Specification Between the TSDIS and the TSDIS Science User (TSU)
Volume 3: File Specifications for TRMM Products - Level 1,
http://pps.gsfc.nasa.gov/tsdis/Documents/ICSVol3.pdf
Volume 4: File Specifications for TRMM Products - Level 2 and Level 3,
http://pps.gsfc.nasa.gov/tsdis/Documents/ICSVol4.pdf
Document Information
Document Revision Date:Fri May 17 10:09:50 EDT 2002
Document Review Date: Wed May 15 10:24:19 EDT 2002
Document Author: Hydrology Data Support Team
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Atmos Composition
