TIROS II Radiation Experiment and Its Physical Significance*

Abstract

The meteorological satellite TIROS II carries a five-channel radiometer which scans the earth by rotation of the satellite. Two channels are sensitive to sunlight reflected from the earth and three are responsive to terrestrial infrared emission. The effect of the optical properties upon the measurements is indicated. Calculations, using model atmospheres, show the sources of outgoing terrestrial radiation and limb-darkening effects for two of the channels. A map of the radiation received by the channel sensitive in the window region (8–12 µ) is compared with a conventional weather chart.