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.