J. Mcgregor et Aj. Gorman, SOME CONSIDERATIONS FOR USING AVHRR DATA IN CLIMATOLOGICAL STUDIES .1. ORBITAL CHARACTERISTICS OF NOAA SATELLITES, International journal of remote sensing, 15(3), 1994, pp. 537-548
Seven years of data are used to examine the orbital characteristics of
five NOAA satellites and the implication for using AVHRR data in clim
atological studies is investigated. Generally a steady drift from a no
minally Sunsynchronous orbit results in the earlier arrival of even-nu
mbered satellites and the later arrival of odd-numbered satellites. Th
e most extreme example of drift, for the case of NOAA-6 resulted in a
difference of average arrival time of 90 minutes over the operational
lifetime of the satellite. Phasing results in a +/- 51 minute variatio
n in arrival time. The combination of drift and phasing can have a sig
nificant effect on the use of AVHRR and other NOAA satellite data in c
limatological studies, particularly for the mid- and high-latitudes du
ring the winter and summer solstices.