Polar Exploration with Nimbus Meteorological Satellite

Résumé

Discusses the use of photographs from spacecraft to determine various kinds of features, based on experiences with Nimbus I during Aug-Sept 1964. Advanced Vidicon Camera System photographs of sea and glacier ice in Canada, Greenland, and the Antarctic are shown; and the nature and quality of data yielded are considered. The striking pattern of sunlight and shadows resulting from low sun angle near the poles is noted, also a method for estimating heights of peaks, glacier slopes, etc from length of the shadows. Surface temperatures and snow and ice emissivities in the Antarctic were determined from High Resolution Infra-Red photographs.