ISCCP B1 Details
ISCCP B1 files provide observations from geostationary satellites. No retrievals are yet available from the data. Examples of imagery from the data can be found at the Global ISCCP B1 Browse System (GIBBS).
Spatial
The spatial coverage of the B1 data set is best summarized by this figure. The data set is nearly global in coverage, except for the poles, since most of the data came from the geostationary meteorological satellites postioned on an equatorial plane around the world.
The spatial resolution is about 10 km at the Equator.
Temporal
The temporal coverage of ISCCP data spans 1979 to present.
The data are subsampled to 3 hourly. That is, the satellite image nearest the synoptic time (00, 03, ..., 21 UTC) is kept in the ISCCP B1 record providing eight observations per day.
Spectral
| Satellite ID | Channels |
|---|---|
| Meteosat 2-7 | IR Window, Visible, Water Vapor |
| Meteosat 8-9 | IR Window, Visible, Water Vapor, and 8 more channels |
| GMS 1-4 | IR Window, Visible |
| GMS 5 | IR Window, Visible, Water Vapor, IR Split Window |
| MTSAT-1R | IR Window, Visible, Water Vapor, IR Split Window |
| SMS 1-2 | IR Window, Visible |
| GOES 1-7 | IR Window, Visible |
| GOES 8-11 | IR Window, Visible, Water Vapor, IR Split Window, Near IR |
| GOES 12 | IR Window, Visible, Water Vapor, IR CO2, Near IR |
| FY2-C | IR Window, Visible, Water Vapor, IR Split Window, Near IR |
Data Format
Since the original B1 data consists of many different formats, a uniform B1 format (B1U) is being developed which contains all the data within the original B1 files, yet in a consistent format. The B1U format is a flat binary format with headers providing meta-data along with the imagery. Routines are being developed to read B1U files and navigate the imagery. Routines are currently available in Fortran and IDL.
