ESMRN5L1 is the Nimbus-5 Electrically Scanning Microwave Radiometer (ESMR) Level 1 Calibrated Brightness Temperature product and contains calibrated radiances expressed in units of brightness temperature measured at 19.35 GHz. The data, originally written on IBM 360 machines, were recovered from magnetic tapes, also referred to as the Calibrated Brightness Temperature Tapes (CBTT). The data are archived in their original IBM binary proprietary format, also referred to as a binary TAP file.
The Nimbus-5 satellite was successfully launched on December 11, 1972. The ESMR experiment on Nimbus-5 continued the measurements made by its predecessor flown on Nimbus-4. The ESMR instrument objectives were (1) to derive the liquid water content of clouds from brightness temperatures over oceans, (2) to observe differences between sea ice and the open sea over the polar caps, and (3) to test the feasibility of inferring surface composition and soil moisture.
The ESMR Principal Investigator was Dr. Thomas T. Wilheit, Jr. from NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. The Nimbus-5 ESMR data are available from December 11, 1972 (day of year 346) through May 16, 1977 (day of year 136)
This product was previously available from the NSSDC with the identifier ESAD-00219 (old ID 72-097A-04A).