Abstract
EXPERIMENTS using both infrared and microwave radiometers have been developed for the Nimbus series of satellites1,2. Selective chopper radiometers (SCR) for Nimbus 4 and Nimbus 5 incorporate cells containing carbon dioxide gas to accomplish the narrow-band filtering, thereby achieving a very high effective spectral resolution—of the order of the width of the absorption lines themselves. By this means emission from levels in the atmosphere as high as 45 km can be selected. The first SCR on Nimbus 4, which was six channels in the 15 µm CO2 band3,4, has worked successfully for more than 3 yr; data from it have provided the first global maps of stratospheric temperature at these high levels5–7, and stratospheric warmings have been identified8,9.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 51 print issues and online access
$199.00 per year
only $3.90 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Wark, D., and Hilleary, D. T., Science, N. Y., 165, 1256 (1969).
Hanel, R. A., and Conrath, B., Science, N.Y., 165, 1258 (1969).
Houghton, J. T., and Smith, S. D., Proc. R. Soc. Lond., A, 320, 23 (1970).
Abel, P. G., Ellis, P. J., Houghton, J. T., Peckham, G., Rodgers, C. D., Smith, S. D., and Williamson, E. J., Proc. R. Soc. Lond., A, 320, 35 (1970).
Ellis, P. J., Peckham, G., Smith, S. D., Houghton, J. T., Morgan, C. G., Rodgers, C. D., and Williamson, E. J., Nature, 228, 139 (1970).
Barnett, J. J., Cross, M. J., Harwood, R. S., Houghton, J. T., Morgan, C. G., Peckham, G., Rodgers, C. D., Smith, S. D., and Williamson, E. J., Q. Jl R. met. Soc., 98, 17 (1972).
Global Stratospheric Analyses from the Oxford-Heriot-Watt SCR on Nimbus 4 (Atmospheric Physics Department, Oxford University, 1972).
Barnett, J. J., Harwood, R. S., Houghton, J. T., Morgan, C. G., Rodgers, C. D., Williamson, E. J., Peckham, G., and Smith, S. D., Nature, 230, 47 (1971).
Labitzke, K., and Barnett, J. J., J. geophys. Res., 78, 483 (1973).
Ellis, P., Holah, G., Houghton, J. T., Jones, T. S., Peckham, G., Peskett, G. D., Pick, D. R., Rodgers, C. D., Roscoe, H. R., Sandwell, R., Smith, S. D., and Williamson, E. J., Proc. R. Soc. Lond. (in the press).
Houghton, J. T., and Smith, S. D., Nimbus 5 Users' Guide (NASA, Washington DC, 1972).
Houghton, J. T., and Hunt, G. E., Q. Jl R. met. Soc., 97, 1 (1971).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
BARNETT, J., HOUGHTON, J., MORGAN, C. et al. Stratospheric Observations from Nimbus 5. Nature 245, 141–143 (1973). https://doi.org/10.1038/245141a0
Received:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/245141a0
Comments
By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.