Introduction
The NERC satellite receiving station at Dundee University has been systematically recording satellite images on a daily basis since 1978.
Satellite Image Archive
Data archiving started with the launch of the prototype 3rd generation NOAA satellite TIROS-N in October 1978. The station also recorded data from the CZCS on NIMBUS-7 between August 1979 and the end of the mission in December 1986. A replacement, SeaWiFS, is now being received and archived. Data from MODIS, carried on the EOS AM/PM series satellites, is being received and archived here, providing much-improved spatial and spectral resolution. Data are also received from METEOSAT and other geostationary satellites for daily use but are not routinely archived for more than a few days.
To find out which areas of the earth we cover please see our coverage document.
The archive is kept on tape and CD-ROM, with a photographic archive kept for quick browsing. We can supply either enhanced photographic images produced from the data, or we can supply the data itself over the internet or on tape, disk or CD-ROM.
Data from satellite passes is kept on disc for six days allowing customers to order interactively on the World Wide Web. Passes older than that can be restored from the archive upon request.
Quicklooks on the Web
Quicklooks (small images) are created for each satellite pass and kept in a separate archive. The whole quicklook archive is available on the web so that customers wanting high resolution data can search for appropriate passes, for example those with cloud-free areas.
Services We Can Provide
- Free quicklook images on the Web
- High resolution data ordered on the Web and sent by FTP
- High resolution data on tape or CD-ROM
- Photographic image products and full-colour posters
- A full archive in hard-copy form back to 1978 for browsing here in Dundee
- The ability for us to perform searches of the archive based on your own criteria, such as cloud-free areas.
For complete information please see our Information page.
Tours of the Satellite Receiving Station
You can take a virtual tour of the Satellite Station.
If you wish to visit us (small parties of school children welcome) please contact us. For directions see the virtual tour document.
If you are unable to visit then you can view our antennae in real-time from our roof-top webcams.
More information
- Images- how to find them, how to order them and their prices
- Glossary - commonly used terms and acronyms
- Information page
- Copyright information
