U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE / Environmental Science Services Administration nvironmental ata Service KEY TO METEOROLOGICAL RECORDS TION NO. 5.313 Catalog of Meteorological Satellite Data -ESSA 3 Television Cloud Photography Parti PURPOSE The Key to Meteorological Records Documentation Series has been established to provide guidance information to research personnel making use of climatological data. Frequently users of such data have found it necessary to spend a great deal of time estab- lishing whether the criteria for observing or computing various elements have changed over the period of record or in what form the data are available. It is therefore hoped that the presentation of this series may not only conserve valuable time but may have a direct influence in improving the accuracy of research results. EARLIER TIROS AND ESSA DATA CATALOGS Earlier catalogs of TIROS and ESSA Meteorological Satellite data are available in this series, as follows: No. 5.31 "Catalogue of Meteorological Satellite Data - TIROS I Television Cloud Photography", published in 1961, price 70 cents. No. 5.32 "Catalogue of Meteorological Satellite Data - TIROS II Television Cloud Photography", published in 1963, price 20 cents. No. 5.33 "Catalogue of Meteorological Satellite Data - TIROS III Television Cloud Photography", published in 1962, price 70 cents. No. 5.34 "Catalogue of Meteorological Satellite Data - TIROS IV Television Cloud Photography", published in 1963, price $1.00. No. 5.35 "Catalogue of Meteorological Satellite Data - TIROS V Television Cloud Photography", published in 1964, price $1.75. No. 5.36 "Catalogue of Meteorological Satellite Data - TIROS VI Television Cloud Photography", published in 1964, price $2.00. No. 5.37 "Catalogue of Meteorological Satellite Data - TIROS VII Television Cloud Photography Part 1 June 19, 1963 to December 31, 1963", published in 1965, price $1.25. No. 5.37 "Catalogue of Meteorological Satellite Data - TIROS VII Television Cloud Photography Part 2 January 1, 1964 to June 30, 1964", published in 1965, price $1.00. No. 5.37 "Catalogue of Meteorological Satellite Data - TIROS VII Television Cloud Photography Part 3 July 1, 1964 to December 30, 1964", published in 1964, price $1.00. No. 5.37 "Catalogue of Meteorological Satellite Data - TIROS VII Television Cloud Photography Part 4 January 1, 1965 to December 31, 1965", published in 1966, price 45 cents. No. 5.38 "Catalogue of Meteorological Satellite Data - TIROS VIII Television Cloud Photography Part 1 December 21, 1963 to June 30, 1964", published in 1965, price $1.00. No. 5.38 "Catalogue of Meteorological Satellite Data - TIROS VIII Television Cloud Photography Part 2 July 1, 1964 to December 31, 1964", published in 1965, price $1.00. No. 5.38 "Catalogue of Meteorological Satellite Data - TIROS VIII Television Cloud Photography Part 3 January 1, 1965 to August 31, 1965", published in 1966, price 45 cents. (Continued on inside of back cover.) I **r ES of * U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE C.R. Smith, Secretary ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE SERVICES ADMINISTRATION Robert M. White, Administrator ENVIRONMENTAL DATA SERVICE Woodrow C. Jacobs, Director KEY TO METEOROLOGICAL RECORDS DOCUMENTATION NO. 5.313 Catalog of Meteorological Satellite Data -ESSA 3 Television Cloud Photography Part 1 October 4 - December 31, 1966 WASHINGTON, D.C. 1968 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office Washington, D.C. 20402 - Price 75 cents PREFACE This is the first issue in a series of catalogs describing the television cloud photo- graphs obtained by ESSA 3 meteorological satellite. The material in this issue covers the period of October, November and December 1966. The maps and listings generally follow the pattern established in the "Catalogue of Meteorological Satellite Data - TIROS I Television Cloud Photography", published as No. 5.31 in the Weather Bureau Series Key to Meteorological Records Documentation . However, emphasis is placed on the date and track number as a means of identifying the film. Documentation Section National Environmental Satellite Center USING THE CATALOG 1. Scan the cloud maps for dates and areas of interest. 2. When a picture of interest is located, the film can be ordered by date from the National Weafher Records Center, Asheville, N. C, at a cost of $8.50 per day. 3. Information for a particular pass, such as the time interval between frames, actual pic- ture taking pass number and number of usable frames, may be determined by using the tabu- lated listings preceding the composite nephanalyses. CATALOG OF METEOROLOGICAL SATELLITE DATA - ESSA 3 Television Cloud Photography PART 1 - October 4, 1966 to January 1, 1967 • The ESSA 3 meteorological satellite, launched on October 2, 1966 by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, is the third Environmental Survey Satellite in the TIROS Operational (TOS) System. ESSA 3 was put into a nearly circular, sun-synchronous polar orbit, approximately 892 statute miles above the earth's surface with an apogee of 925 statute miles and a perigee of 859 statute miles. The orbit is inclined 79° (Retrograde) to the equatorial plane with a nodal period of 114.5 minutes which corresponds to slightly more than 13 circuits of the earth each day. ESSA 3 is a TIROS type satellite in a "cartwheel" configuration which allows earth- oriented picture coverage. The spacecraft is spin-stabilized and magnetically torqued to a wheel attitude, so that the spin axis is normal to the plane of the orbit and the radially mounted cameras view the earth once during each spacecraft revolution about its axis. The cameras in the ESSA 3 satellite are one inch diameter vidicons (television camera tube) of the Advanced Vidicon Camera System (AVCS) type. Each picture covers an area of approximately 4,000,000 square miles, One camera provides full global coverage, therefore, two cameras provide full system redundancy. Each of the cameras can independently take pictures and store them for later playback to one of the Command-and-Data-Acquisition (CDA) stations which are located at Wallops Station near Chincoteague , Va., and Gilmore Creek, Fairbanks, Alaska. Pictures, taken every 260 seconds, are usually obtained in sequences of twelve frames to a pass. Each frame is electronically gridded by computer with latitude and longitude lines and geographic outlines merged with the picture. An identification legend underneath each picture provides the following information: year, month, day, hour, minute and second of picture taking time; track and zone numbers; station initial; satellite number; mode; camera; latitude of a labeled grid intersection near the picture center; latitude spacing of grids in degrees; longitude of a labeled grid intersection near the picture center; longitude spacing of grids in degrees; pass number; frame number; and sun glint position. In the example of figure 1, the legend indicates the picture was taken on orbital pass number 1675 by ESSA 3 and that it is a TAPE picture taken by camera 2 on February 12, 1967 at 203807Z . The frame is number four in the sequence and was acquired at Fairbanks, Alaska. The picture is located in the area of track 4 (TABLE 1) zone 58 (not referenced) with the subsatellite point of the picture located near 25°N and 105°W. The grids are spaced 5° both in latitude and longitude and sun glint is shown in the picture at 19°N and 109°W. For ESSA 3 the system of "TRACKS" is used to identify the general geographic areas over which picture sequences were taken. These tracks are listed in the ESSA 3 track table (TABLE 1) which appears in this catalog immediately following the tabulated listings. The track boundaries are parallel to the path followed by the subsatellite point during the day- light portion of each orbital pass. The width of each track is exactly equal to the amount the earth rotates between consecutive passes. Thus, in general, the subsatellite point makes one traverse along each track each day (from midnight to midnight, GMT). The track bounda- ries are fixed permanently for the life of ESSA 3, and are arbitrarily referenced to the point 0° latitude, 0° longitude, with track numbers increasing westward. Since the ESSA 3 orbital period of 114.5 minutes is not an exact submultiple of 24 hours, the satellite starts 12 and 13 passes on alternate days. This results in track 13 being much narrower than the others and, thus, it is not traversed every day. There are also days on which one particular track is traversed just after GMT midnight, and again later the same day just before GMT midnight. On the film reels , picture sequences are grouped together by track number and assembled in chronological order. Track numbers are stamped on the film immediately preceding the sequence to which they apply. 1 Figure 1 - Example of ESSA 3 cloud Photography The following pages of maps and tabulated listings give descriptive information about the pictures obtained by ESSA 3. In the listings each picture sequence is described by one line, and the sequences are grouped together by date and track number. This is the order in which they appear on the film reel. The column headings and entries have the following meanings : DATE: For tape (remote) sequences - month and day of the daylight equator crossing of the subsatellite point. For direct sequences - month and day of the midpoint time of the sequence. TRACK: Defines the geographical area which contains the path of the subsatellite point. The entries refer to TABLE 1. TIME: Approximate time in hours and minutes (a) For tape sequences - daylight equator crossing (b) For direct sequences - midpoint time of the sequence FILM LEGEND: This section gives the information actually appearing on the film in the panel board legend accompanying each picture PASS: Orbital pass number on which the pictures were read out. M: Mode of transmission indicated in the legend. D = Direct T = Tape C: Camera number indicated in the legend. 1 = Camera number one 2 = Camera number two S: CDA station which received the sequence. W = Wallops Station, Va. G = Fairbanks, Alaska P/T PASS: Equator crossing pass number of the picture sequence. On the composite maps in this catalog, this number appears beneath the nephanalysis for the picture sequence. FRAME TI V US Time interval, in seconds, between frames, Indicates time interval varies within the sequence. Number of usable frames in the sequence. METEOROLOGICAL AND OTHER FEATURES: EXTRATROPICAL CIRCULATIONS - TABLE (1) 0. CLOUD VORTEX (Well Defined) 1. CLOUD VORTEX (Poorly Defined) 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. CLOUD VORTEX (With Frontal Band or Other Associated Band(s)) CLOUD VORTEX (WITH DOUBLE CENTER) CIRCULATION CENTER CLOUD VORTEX (Unusual Appearance TROPICAL DISTURBANCES - TABLE (2) 0. Hurricane or TYPHOON (Named) 1. Tropical STORM (Named) 2. CLOUD VORTEX (Well Defined) 3. CLOUD VORTEX (Poorly Defined) 4. DISTURBED AREA (2° or less in extent) 5. DISTURBED AREA (2° to 4° in extent) 6. DISTURBED AREA (Over 4° in extent) 7. ASYMPTOTES OF CONVERGENCE 8. APPARENT ITC ZONE 9. BANDS - TABLE (3) 0. PROBABLE FRONT (Well Defined) 1. PROBABLE FRONT (Poorly Defined) 2. APPARENT OCCLUDED FRONT 3. APPARENT STABLE OR OPEN WAVE 4. PROBABLE FRONT (With Cloud Vortex) 5. BAND, LOW LATITUDE (Within 15° of the Equator) 6. BAND, HIGH THIN CLOUDS (Possible Jet Association) PRESUMED NON-FRONTAL BAND OF UNUSUAL APPEARANCE CLOUD FEATURES - TABLE (5) 0. CUMULONIMBUS (no Apparent Organization) 1. CB's or Other Evidence of Violent Weather Over the United States 2. CB's in Apparent Squall Lines 3. EDDY PATTERNS VORTICAL PATTERN IN A CELLULAR FIELD MOUNTAIN WAVE CLOUDS APPARENT GRAVITY WAVES (Not Obviously Associated with Terrain) 7. 8. 9. UNUSUAL CLOUD CONFIGURATION CLOUD FEATURES - TABLE (4) 0. SOLID CELLS (Random)* 1. SOLID CELLS (Organized Pattern)* 2. HOLLOW POLYGONAL OR CRESCENT PATTERN* 3. VERMICULATED CLOUD PATTERN* 4. COASTAL STRATUS 5. INLAND STRATUS OR FOG (Including Penetrating Coastal Stratus) 6. CLOUD STREETS (Extratropical ) 7. CLOUD STREETS (Tropical) *0, 1, 2 and 3 refer to homogeneous cloud field greater than 3° of great circle arc in diameter. MISCELLANEOUS - TABLE (6) 0. ICE OR SNOW (Glacial) 1. SNOW (Non-Mountainous) 2. SNOW (Mountain) 3. ICE ON SEAS 4. ICE ON LAKES OR RIVERS 5. SUN GLINT 6. HAZE OR SMOG 7. PROBABLE CONTRAILS 8. LANDMARK OF EXCEPTIONAL QUALITY 9. LANDMARK, DISCERNIBLE Following the listings is a series of maps which shows the area covered by each sequence having usable frames for which picture taking time has been determined. Most of the picture sequences were analyzed for their cloud content during routine oper- ations and these nephanalyses have been reproduced on the maps. Each nephanalysis is identi- fied with the date and track number (preceded by a "T") and the equator crossing number that occurred during the nephanalysis. The track number and date should be utilized as the pri- mary identification of the nephanalysis. Satellite attitude and exposure time are not always accurately known at the time the nephanalyses are constructed. However, most of the neph- analyses are considered to be geographically accurate to about + 2° with a few ranging from + 1° to + 5°. Users are cautioned not to attribute any greater accuracy to the locations of cloud patterns shown. The symbols used in the nephanalyses are defined by the following legend: /vS CUMULOFORM CLOUD LLL STRATIFORM CLOUD TT) CIRROFORM CLOUD XX APPARENT CUGG OR CB BOUNDARY OF MAJOR CLOUD SYSTEMS - FRONTS, VORTICES, OR OTHER SYSTEM DOMINATING THE SCENE VIEWED BY THE SATELLITE DEFINITE BOUNDARY OF MORE OR LESS UNORGANIZED CLOUD MASSES INDEFINITE BOUNDARIES OF MORE OR LESS UNORGANIZED CLOUD MASSES -< >- STRIATIONS -< >- STRIATIONS , TENUOUS /-CS rQ\ CLOUD LINES AN /vS CLOUD LINES, TENUOUS - CLOUD FORM y~v , \7>7 nTTMr»TTrr> kv rV^ — LLL rv\ 5555 ■► DENOTED BY '- J( — ' ' ' ' <- Jt — ' DIRECTION OF SHEAR OF CIRRUS - FROM CB ANVIL OR OTHER SOURCE WAVE CLOUDS (MOUNTAIN OR TRANSVERSE) ESTIMATED LOCATION OF JET STREAM - SHAFT MAY BE BROKEN TO AVOID OBSCURING SYMBOLS INSIDE NEPH BOUNDARY *^F HEAVY — — VORTEX MF HEAVY 1 — THIN CLOUD AMOUNT OPEN (0) = < 20% coverage MOSTLY OPEN (MOP) = 20-50% coverage MOSTLY COVERED (MCO) = 50-807„ coverage COVERED (C) > 80% coverage NOTE ; STIPPLING WILL BE USED TO EMPHASIZE THE AREAS CONSIDERED BY THE ANALYST TO BE OF GREATEST SYNOPTIC SIGNIFICANCE. The ESSA 3 master films are deposited at the National Weather Records Center (NWRC) , Environmental Science Services Administration, Federal Building, Asheville, North Carolina 28801. Persons or institutions desiring copies may order them from the NWRC in the form of 35 mm. positive transparencies for projection or 35 mm. duplication negatives from which opaque copies can be made. Pictures are ordered by date at a cost of $8.50 per day. All copies will be furnished with sprocket holes since the necessary film emulsion is available only in this form. It is not possible to furnish copies of individual frames or to provide enlargements or other picture formats. Available also from the NWRC, for the cost of reproduction, are reels of microfilmed nephanalysis charts for TIROS I thru ESSA 1. DATE TRACK TIME FILM LEGEND P/T FRAME METEOROLOGICAL AND OTHER FEATURES EXTROP. TROP. BANDS CLOUD MISCEL- PASS M C s PASS Tl US CIRC. TABLE (1) DISTURB. TABLE (2) TABLE (3) FEATURES LANEOUS TABLE (6) TABLE (4) TABLE (5) 1004 6 0013 0020 T 2 G 0020 260 06 1004 7 0208 0021 T 2 G 0021 2bi 06 10(34 8 0403 0024 I w HHZ2 260 06 1004 9 0557 0024 T w 0023 260 06 1004 10 0752 0024 T M 0024 260 06 1004 11 0947 0026 T G 0025 260 06 1004 12 1141 0026 T G 0026 260 06 1004 1 1 1336 0027 T G 0027 260 06 1004 1 1531 0028 T 2 G 0028 260 06 1004 2 1725 0029 T W 0029 260 06 9 3 1004 3 1920 0030 T w 0030 260 05 931 8 05 2 6 1004 4 1908 0031 T ] G 0030 260 01 1004 5 2114 0031 T C 0031 260 06 21 7 1004 6 2309 0032 1 G 0032 260 12 33 1 9 3 1005 7 0104 0033 T G 0033 260 12 337 1 7791 00 3 1005 8 0258 0036 T W 00 34 260 12 1005 9 0453 0036 T W 0035 260 12 2 939 1005 10 0648 0036 T ] W 0036 260 12 1 1 13 8 1005 11 0842 0037 T 1 w 0037 260 12 1005 12 1037 0038 T I G 0038 260 12 9 93 8 1005 13 1232 0039 T ] G 0039 260 12 779 1005 I 1426 0040 T ) G 0040 260 12 I 339 8 90 1005 2 1621 0041 T G 0041 260 12 1 9279 88 8 1005 3 1816 0042 T I G 0042 260 12 1005 4 2010 0043 T 2 G 0043 260 12 3 919 72 0506 9 79 607 1005 5 2205 0044 T 2 G 0044 260 12 3121 I 7921 00 2 1005 6 2400 0045 T 2 G 0t/45 260 12 73 216 00 1006 7 0154 0046 T 2 G 0046 260 12 7 66 299 7 1006 8 0349 0049 T 2 U 0047 260 12 27 1 2937 5 6 1006 9 0544 0049 T 2 W 0048 260 12 912 1 9138 09 1006 10 0738 0049 T 2 W 0049 260 12 1 339 68 01 1006 11 0933 0050 T 2 W 0050 260 12 11 98 6 000 1006 12 1127 0051 T 2 G 0051 260 12 99 000 1006 13 1322 0052 T 2 G 0052 260 12 97 993 2 0000 1006 1 1517 0053 T 2 G 0053 260 12 61 199 08 00 1006 2 1711 0054 T 2 G 0054 260 12 2 1 9297 88 1007 6 0050 0058 T ] G 0058 260 12 1 7792 1007 7 0245 0061 T W 0059 260 12 1 1 997 1007 8 0439 0061 T W 0060 260 12 18 99 9 1007 9 0634 0061 T W 0061 260 12 79 5 1007 10 0829 0062 T ] W 0062 260 12 9 11 89 0050 6 1007 11 1023 0063 T I G 0063 260 12 1 9 1007 12 1218 0064 T ] t G 0064 260 12 70 1 99 05 4 6 1007 13 1412 0065 T G 0065 260 12 4 2 1007 1 1607 0066 T I G 0066 260 12 999 00 1007 2 1802 0067 T I G 0067 260 12 827 8506 7 6 1007 3 1956 0068 T L G 0068 260 12 2 91 6 6 72 60 1037 4 2151 0069 T G 0069 260 12 2 1 79 008 2 1007 5 2346 0070 T I G 0070 260 12 1 6 1008 6 0140 0071 T L G 0071 260 12 7 1 3 1008 7 0335 0073 T L W 0072 260 12 6 9394 6 1008 8 0530 0073 T I W 0073 260 12 7 1008 9 0724 0074 T I W 0074 260 12 9993 1008 10 0919 0075 T I W 0075 260 12 99 1 933 06 1008 11 1114 0076 T I G 0076 260 12 9381 000 1008 12 1308 0077 T 1 G 00 77 260 12 186 1 9193 00 1008 1 1503 0078 T I G 0078 260 12 020 1 2722 080 1008 2 1658 0079 T L G 0079 260 12 1 7987 1008 3 1852 0080 T I G 0080 260 12 706 1008 4 2047 0081 T I G 0l-)81 260 12 1 677 1008 5 2242 0082 T I G 0082 260 12 7 1009 6 0036 0083 T I G 0083 261? 12 77 1009 7 0231 0086 T I W 0084 260 12 7 61 9 7 1009 H 0426 0086 T L W 0085 260 12 6 99 00 7 1009 9 0620 0086 T I w 0U86 260 12 98 99 75 6 1009 10 0815 3087 T I w 0087 260 12 1 99 42 fa 1009 11 1009 0088 T I G 0088 260 12 9 61 89 50 4 1009 12 1204 0089 T •j 0089 260 12 11 97 4 7 1009 1 3 1359 0090 T I G 0090 260 12 799 4 1009 1 1553 0091 T I G 0091 260 12 166 7939 1009 2 1748 0092 T L G 0092 260 12 7299 70 7 1009 3 1943 0093 T G 0093 260 12 19 99 27 59 1309 4 2137 0094 T I G C094 262 12 7 1009 5 2332 0095 T I G 0095 260 12 7 1010 6 0127 0096 T 1 0096 260 12 7 6 1010 7 0321 0098 T I tv 0097 260 12 093 19 779 9 1010 8 0516 0098 T L W 0098 260 12 78 1010 9 0711 0099 T w 0099 260 12 1 1010 10 0905 0100 T V. 0100 260 12 8 060 1010 11 1100 0101 T 1 G 0101 260 12 6 3 00 1013 12 1254 102 T I G 0102 260 12 9 8893 00 DATE TRACK TIME FILM LEGEND P/T FRAME METEOROLOGICAL AND OTHER FEATURES EXTROP. TROP. BANDS CLOUD MISCEL- PASS M C s PASS Tl US CIRC TABLE (1) DISTURB. TABLE (2) TABLE (3) FEATURES LANEOUS TABLE (6) TABLE (4) TABLE (5) 10 10 1 1449 0103 T 1 G 0103 260 12 71 1 733 00 10114 2 1644 0104 T 1 G 0104 260 12 724 6 1010 3 1838 0105 T 1 G 0105 260 12 8 277 00 52 1010 4 2033 0106 T 1 G 0106 260 12 9 7 00 22 00 1010 5 2228 0107 T 1 G 0107 260 12 I 7 1011 6 ido UJ I-