HRIR/Nimbus-3 Level 1 Meteorological Radiation Data V001 (HRIRN3L1) at GES DISC

HRIRN3L1 is the High Resolution Infrared Radiometer (HRIR) Nimbus-3 Level 1 Meteorological Radiance Data (NMRT) product and contains infrared radiances converted to equivalent black-body temperature or "brightness" temperature values. The data, originally written on IBM 360 machines, were recovered from magnetic tapes, also referred to as Nimbus Meteorological Radiation Tapes (NMRT). The data are archived in their original IBM 36-bit word proprietary format, also referred to as a binary TAP file. The HRIR instrument was designed to perform two major functions: first to map the Earth's cloud cover at night to complement the television coverage during the daytime portion of the orbit, and second to measure the temperature of cloud tops and terrain features. The HRIR flown on Nimbus-3 was modified to allow nighttime and daytime cloud cover mapping by use of dual band-pass filter which transmits 0.7 to 1.3 micron, and 3.4 to 4.2 micron radiation. The HRIR instrument was launched on the Nimbus-3 satellite and was operational from April 14, 1966 through July 22, 1969. Nighttime operation was made in the 3.4 to 4.2 micron near infrared region. Daytime operation was based on the predominance of reflected solar energy in the 0.7 to 1.3 micron region. Change-over from nighttime to daytime operation was accomplished automatically (or by ground station command), by actuating a relay in the early stages of the radiometer electronics. The system gain was reduced in the daytime mode to compensate for the higher energy levels. Mr. G. Thomas Cherrix from Goddard Space Flight Center was the Principal Investigator. This product was previously available from the NSSDC with the identifier ESAD-00222 (old ID 69-037A-02C).

Data and Resources

Additional Info

Field Value
Maintainer Earthdata Forum
Last Updated April 13, 2026, 19:31 (UTC)
Created June 2, 2025, 03:26 (UTC)
accessLevel public
bureauCode {026:00}
catalog_conformsTo https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema
harvest_object_id 441349e3-6f87-4a82-a016-98d4615acf49
harvest_source_id b99e41c6-fe79-4c19-bbc3-9b6c8111bfac
harvest_source_title Science Discovery Engine
identifier 10.5067/TIYDKC1PIQ5A
license https://www.usa.gov/government-works
modified 2026-04-06T22:16:00Z
programCode {026:000}
publisher NASA/GSFC/SED/ESD/TISL/GESDISC
resource-type Dataset
source_datajson_identifier true
source_hash 9400cd93035c42a8f2bfd130e82605ebb6e9a7999d68fe5e875d937c82ca8ed6
source_schema_version 1.1
spatial ["CARTESIAN",[{"WestBoundingCoordinate":-180,"NorthBoundingCoordinate":90,"EastBoundingCoordinate":180,"SouthBoundingCoordinate":-90}]]
temporal 1969-04-17/1970-03-21
theme {"Earth Science"}