User:Sir Jazer 13/TIROS-N (satellite bus)

TIROS-N (satellite bus) is a set of 4 satellites managed by NOAA and launched and designed by NASA. It is designed for weather, wildlife tracking, ice mapping, and monitoring volcanic activity. All of the satellites were sun-synchronous. The first were the following:
 * TIROS-N
 * NOAA-6
 * NOAA-B
 * NOAA-7

TIROS-N
TIROS-N is a satellite launched in October 23, 1979. It was the first of this whole series. It decayed in 1980. This satellite and those successors were polar orbiting satellites.

Abstract of the satellite
An attempt for digital processing of analog images taken in the infrared channel (10.5–11.5 μm) from TIROS-N is presented. The data digitized to 8-bits are normalized by using SR Data Manipulator. The investigated period is November 3–4, 1979. The geographic rectification moves the data into a polar stereographic map. To estimate the cloud heights empirical relationships are applied. The following characteristics of the cloud field are produced: the cloud amount, the dominant cloud-type, the daily variation of IR brightness temperature and the cloud texture. The results are visualized on a colour display.

NOAA-6
(See NOAA-6) NOAA-6 was a satellite after the decay of TIROS-N. This is also used for tracking endangered animals. It also has many other uses.

Other Uses

 * wild animal and bird tracking
 * drought early warning
 * global vegetation monitoring
 * snow and ice mapping
 * dynamic oceanography
 * hydrology
 * geology
 * detection of forest fires
 * detection of agricultural burning
 * detection of gas flares
 * fire fuel mapping
 * volcanology
 * air and sea pollution monitoring
 * toxic algal bloom detection
 * continental mapping

NOAA-B
It should have been NOAA-7, but the orbit was so elliptical that it was considered a failure. (See NOAA-B)

NOAA-7
The satellite design provided an economical and stable sun synchronous platform for advanced operational instruments to measure the Earth's atmosphere, its surface and cloud cover, and the near space environment. The primary sensors included an Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) and a TIROS Operational Vertical Sounder (TOVS). There were a number of secondary experiments on-board NOAA-7. These include a Space Environment Monitor (SEM) and a Data Collection and Platform Location System (DCPLS). The United States Air Force also provided a contamination monitor to assess contamination sources, levels and effects for consideration on future spacecraft.