Remotely Accessible Near-Real Time Imagery from Polar Orbiting and Geostationary Satellites

Satellite receiving systems for the NOAA polar orbiting satellites and the
Japanese GMS geostationary satellite have been installed in Honolulu. Visible
and infrared images are available. The systems are controlled by workstations
connected to the Internet. The emphasis has been on real-time processing,
generation of scientifically useful products and worldwide Internet access of
subsets of data, although the full raw data is archived on 8 mm tapes as well.

The images are automatically calibrated, ground-located and registered
to a set of 'tiles' covering areas of interest. As of April 1993
these consist of the following: the Hawaiian EEZ (NOAA-AVHRR), the
JGOFS/EQPAC area (NOAA-AVHRR), the CEPEX area (NOAA-AVHRR), the
TOGA-COARE area (GMS-VISSR) and a full-globe image (GMS). The tiles
can be accessed by anonymous ftp. Distribution of images by
electronic mail through INMARSAT to ships at sea is also possible.
The processed images are typically available within less than one hour
of the data acquisition.