TIROS-3 Low-Resolution Omnidirectional Radiometer Level 1 Temperature Data V001 (TIROS3L1ORT) at GES DISC

The TIROS-3 Low-Resolution Omnidirectional Radiometer Level 1 Temperature Data product contains the black and white sensor temperature values in degrees Celsius. The experiment consisted of two sets of bolometers in the form of hollow aluminum hemispheres, mounted on opposite sides of the spacecraft, and whose optical axes were parallel to the spin axis. The bolometers were thermally isolated from but in close proximity to reflecting mirrors so that the hemispheres behaved like isolated spheres in space. The experiment was designed to measure the amount of solar energy absorbed, reflected, and emitted by the earth and its atmosphere in order to calculate the Earth's radiation budget. The data were originally written on IBM 7094 machines, and these have been recovered from magnetic tapes, referred to as the Omnidirectional Radiometer Temperature (ORT) tapes. The data are archived in their original text format.The TIROS-3 satellite was successfully launched on July 12, 1961. The Low-Resolution Omnidirectional Radiometer experiment returned data for about three months. Two follow-on instruments were flown on TIROS-4 and -7, while a similar instrument flew on Explorer-7.The Principal Investigator for these data was Verner E. Suomi from the University of Wisconsin. This product was previously available from the NSSDC with the identifier ESAD-00187 (old id 61-017A-01A).

Data and Resources

Additional Info

Field Value
Maintainer Earthdata Forum
Last Updated February 17, 2026, 03:48 (UTC)
Created April 1, 2025, 19:30 (UTC)
accessLevel public
bureauCode {026:00}
catalog_conformsTo https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema
harvest_object_id ef5d83db-d54b-422d-a8f1-6aa978a0dd70
harvest_source_id b99e41c6-fe79-4c19-bbc3-9b6c8111bfac
harvest_source_title Science Discovery Engine
identifier 10.5067/8J551VOANJQR
landingPage https://docserver.gesdisc.eosdis.nasa.gov/public/project/Images/TIROS3L1ORT_Sample.png
modified 2026-02-16
programCode {026:000}
publisher NASA/GSFC/SED/ESD/TISL/GESDISC
resource-type Dataset
source_datajson_identifier true
source_hash 5bfa4c8eaf57a643f61e14ace5a52ded5e4943fa230408e0d4157654b1d3608a
source_schema_version 1.1
spatial ["CARTESIAN",[{"WestBoundingCoordinate":-180,"NorthBoundingCoordinate":82,"EastBoundingCoordinate":180,"SouthBoundingCoordinate":-82}]]
temporal 1961-07-12/1961-07-12
theme {"Earth Science"}