Meteorological Satelliteg. William W. Vaughan* The Very Early Years, Prior to Launch of TIROS-1

Abstract was conducted with the intent to identify the scientific issues of 1950 still outstanding (Vaughan 1986). There The meteorological program began in the were a large number of issues still unresolved in 1985, as the result of the actions taken by a very small but dedicated group after 35 years of rather extensive meteorological of people from the late 1940s to 1960. This paper provides firsthand research. However, a significant observation was that accounts by two of these dedicated individuals. Their remarks provide an insight into the trials and tribulations they and the program the subject of using to support research encountered during these very early years. Those now active in the associated with problems in was not program, many of whom do not recall this time, might appreciate the addressed in any of the articles published in the effort of these pioneers and the legacy they left for us. Compendium of Meteorology. Some pictures of clouds taken from vertical sound- ing rockets were published as early as 1949, and the 1. Introduction feasibility of weather observation from a satellite was discussed by S. M. Greenfield and W. W. Kellogg in While their projectile was advancing toward the a 1951 classified report by the RAND Corporation on in 1860, Jules Verne's intrepid "lunarnauts" meteorological satellites prepared for the U.S. Sen- looked back and "saw" cloud systems against the ate Committee on Aeronautical and Space Sciences 's background. "Some parts brilliantly lighted (Greenfield and Kellogg 1960a). However, the first showed the presence of high mountains, often disap- known depiction of what large-scale weather patterns pearing behind thick spots, which were never seen on might be expected to look like from high altitudes was the lunar disc. They were rings of clouds placed that of Harry Wexler. It was presented as part of a concentrically round the terrestrial globe." About a paper, "Observing the Weather from a Satellite Ve- hundred years were to elapse before the real succes- hicle," given at the Third Symposium on Space Travel, sors to Verne's travelers actually saw the majestic held at the American Museum, Hayden Planetarium, cloudscape against the terrestrial globe (Fritz 1964). New York, on 4 May 1954 (Widger 1961). Wexler In 1951 the American Meteorological Society pub- described what he envisioned as a meteorological lished the Compendium of Meteorology (Malone 1951). satellite's or satellite weather station's primary pur- The purpose of this extensive and outstanding book pose and properties (Wexler 1954). His remarks was to assess the status of meteorology in the late follow. 1940s and indicate areas of future research needed to extend the frontiers of our knowledge. Many of us who A satellite vehicle traveling about the Earth undertook our formal training in meteorology during outside the atmosphere would not assist in the 1950s became rather well acquainted with this portraying the pressure, temperature, humidity, seven-pound (it seemed like more) book and found it and wind fields by direct measurement. How- to be an invaluable source of information on our ever, by a "bird's-eye" view of a good portion of current knowledge of the atmosphere. In 1985 an the Earth's surface and the cloud structure, it should be possible by inference to identify, extensive review of the Compendium of Meteorology locate, and track storm areas and other meteo- rological features. The vehicle would then serve 'University of Alabama in Huntsville, Huntsville, Alabama. principally as a "storm patrol." There exists + NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Alabama. under normal conditions a characteristic cloud Corresponding author address: Dr. William W. Vaughan, Atmospheric condition for a "typical" extra-tropical storm. Science Program, University of Alabama in Huntsville, Huntsville, AL 35899. In order to reconnoiter the weather most In final form 31 May 1994. effectively, the satellite weather station should ©1994 American Meteorological Society have the following properties:

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Unauthenticated | Downloaded 10/09/21 07:41 AM UTC (a) It should be located far enough away to at several inland stations. Thus, the ability of high- have an instantaneous field of view com- altitude photography to detect unknown storms was parable to North America and adjacent demonstrated. By mid-1958 work had begun in the ocean areas—similar to the area covered Advanced Research Projects Agency of the Depart- by the forecaster's "working" chart. ment of Defense on a meteorological satellite that was (b) It should not be so high that cloud areas to become TIROS. On 13 April 1959, cognizance of and geographical features are not readily identifiable. this program was transferred to the National Aeronau- (c) It should move in such a manner as to tics and Space Administration (NASA 1966). have the same cloud system in the field of The first TIROS meteorological satellite was flown1 view at least twice in a 12-hour period to on 1 April 1960. It demonstrated that cloud-cover obtain a track of the storm associated with information provided by a satellite is useful in describ- the cloud system. ing the location of weather systems and inferring (d) It should not move so fast that individual atmospheric motions. It established the value of the cloud systems cannot be located accu- spacecraft and supporting ground equipment devel- rately with respect to known ground fea- oped around Vidicon cameras. The successful opera- tures. tion of TIROS-1 gave hints of the potential for identi- (e) It should cover the entire Earth in daylight fication and tracking of fronts and storms from day to or at least once daily. (f) It should have a westward component of day and eventually the continuous quantitative global motion relative to the Earth's surface so as observation of the atmosphere. While the accomplish- to detect quickly new storms which usually ments have exceeded those envisioned by Wexler move from west to east. and others in the early days, without their foresight and persistence use of the meteorological satellite would Such a vehicle is one which is located at 2.01 not have reached the dimension it has today. Earth's radii from the Earth's centre or about During January 1982, sessions were organized at 4,000 miles from the Earth's surface and which two national conferences regarding the development, has a period of rotation about the Earth of growth, and future of meteorological satellites (Vaughan exactly 4 hours. 1982a,b). The objective was to capture the firsthand observations and comments from some of those who played major roles in the engineering, scientific, and 2. The beginning programmatic activities associated with the early years of meteorological satellites. Accordingly, this paper In the late 1940s and early 1950s, rockets were reflects on and contains the remarks made by some of used for experimental investigations of the atmo- these pioneers, which we believe the readers will find sphere. In 1947, a V-2 rocket launched at White of interest. Sands, New Mexico, took the first successful photo- graphs of the earth's cloud cover, from an altitude of 110 to 165 km. From 1947 to 1950, additional V-2 and 3. William W. Kellogg's remarks Viking rockets carried high-altitude cloud photography experiments, which led to the first serious proposal for In giving appropriate and deserved attention to meteorological satellites. The MOUSE (Minimum Or- some of our earlier pioneers, we could do no better bital Unmanned Satellite of the Earth) concept was an than William W. Kellogg in his contribution published outgrowth of the high-altitude research program started by NASA in the proceedings of the session on meteo- in 1946 using captured V-2 rockets. The initial MOUSE rological satellites organized forthe Annual Meeting of design used a spin-stabilized, basketball-sized satel- the American Meteorological Society in January 1982 lite carrying miniaturized instrumentation. The Televi- (Vaughan 1982a). We believe the readers will find sion and Infrared Observing Satellite (TIROS) incor- Kellogg's presentation most interesting, and therefore, porated many of the MOUSE features (Singer 1992). in order not to lose any of his very informative remarks, In 1954, a U.S. Navy Aerobee rocket took pictures we have decided to include them as part of the paper. over the southwestern United States that emphasized the utility of a meteorological satellite. These pictures showed a storm that had passed onto land from the 1 Launched by NASA into near-circular orbit on a Thor-Able rocket at Gulf of Mexico. The complexity of this storm had 50° inclination, with an orbital altitude of about 450 miles. The cylinder, which weighed 263 lb and measured approximately 22 remained completely undetected by conventional inches in height by 42 inches in diameter, transmitted 23 000 cloud- means. The presence of the multicirculation patterns cover pictures from a standard Vidicon television camera before explained previously inexplicable rains that occurred ceasing operation on 30 June 1960. Built by RCA Astro-Electronics.

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Unauthenticated | Downloaded 10/09/21 07:41 AM UTC After a youth filled with enthusiasm for Buck see in the subsequent discussions during this Rogers and a fascination with the possibility of session whether Bjerknes' feeling was borne spaceflight, it was a thrill for me to represent the out or not. U.S. Air Force on the Upper Atmosphere V-2 There were many other activities in those Research Panel in 1945. The first V-2's fired days—projects that eventually led to the me- from White Sands carried concrete in the nose teorological satellite. Most were cone as ballast, but it was obvious that better hard to convince that rocket and satellite data uses could be found for the payload-carrying would really be useful to them. It was another capacity. The scientists on the panel suggested group of scientists, our cousins you might say, instrument payloads. (This panel later became who coined the word "aeronomy" and who were the Upper Atmosphere Rocket Research Panel, most active in this area. They were the people and continued for many years.) who studied charged particles and magnetic Several years later, while still a graduate stu- fields and the composition of the upper atmo- dent at UCLA, I joined the RAND Corporation. sphere. I considered myself to be a meteorolo- RAND was already at that time (1947) working gist, but, in effect, I straddled the two fields of on the concept of satellites, though it would be meteorology and aeronomy. The general atti- more than a decade before the first satellite tude of meteorologists working on problems of would actually be launched. The idea that the lower atmosphere was: "I could use all this satellites could be used as weather reconnais- space money in better ways." Some still have sance vehicles seemed fairly obvious. I began this point of view. For example, the American to work on the problem, and found RAND with Meteorological Society's Upper Atmosphere its many resources the ideal place. I was joined Research Committee, which was chaired by by Stan Greenfield, newly graduated from New Bernhard Haurwitz, prepared—with my help— York University. What we needed was evidence a statement that said that there should be more that observations from a satellite would be emphasis put on the development of meteoro- useful in meteorology. logical satellites. (This was in about 1956.) It In January, 1949, Delbert Crowson, then a seemed obvious to us that this would be a good Major in the Air Force, published a short paper idea, and meteorological satellites were already in the Bulletin of the American Meteorology being planned at that time. To our surprise, the Society with the title "Cloud Observations from Council of the American Meteorological Society Rockets." In it he showed for the first time a decided not to approve the statement. Bernhard photograph taken looking down on clouds from Haurwitz was furious, not so much because of a rocket, and he included a short analysis. How- the turn-down by the Council, but because of ever, he did not take the next step to point out the reasons given. The Council said that they the possibilities of observations from satellites. could not approve the resolution because they My favorite professor at the University of Califor- did not have an expert on meteorological satel- nia, Los Angeles, Joe Bjerknes, had great lites [!]. enthusiasm for the idea of doing a detailed In July, 1955, Professor Joe Kaplan, who was analysis of rocket pictures. The case study by chairman of the United States International Bjerknes, in which he interpreted several sets Geophysical Year (IGY) Committee, announced of photographs taken high above New Mexico, at a meeting of the Committee Speciale de was published as an appendix to a short report I'Annee Geophisique Internationale in Brus- by Greenfield and myself, which was classified sels that the President of the United States had SECRET in 1951 when it first came out. Now agreed that the United States would launch a there is a version that was declassified in order satellite as a contribution to the IGY for geo- that it appear in the archives (Greenfield and physical research. Kaplan liked to call it a "long- Kellogg 1960a). Bjerknes wrote ". . . it may be playing rocket," since these were the early said that the rocket pictures add a considerable days of long-playing microgroove phonograph amount of interesting information to the ordi- records, and the name was popular for a while. nary weather map analysis and, in addition, A panel was created under the National Acad- that the accumulated knowledge from the maps emy of Sciences to guide the United States' helps us in the new problem of interpreting what Scientific Earth Satellite Program. I was the we see from high-level rocket pictures. It may meteorological member. It was chaired by Ri- be added that although in the present report the chard Porter, whom many of you remember; ordinary surface and upper wind maps had to he became the long-time Vice President2 of be used to a great extent to arrive at the total COSPAR. I remember that the panel constantly picture, accumulated experience from several

analyses from joint rocket and conventional 2lt was noted by one of the reviewers that in the early days, because methods would make it possible to arrive at the of the rivalry between the USA and USSR, each provided one of the right analysis by rocket pictures only." We will vice presidents of COSPAR, while a "neutral" served as president.

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Unauthenticated | Downloaded 10/09/21 07:41 AM UTC worried about whether we would actually get a ally got a picture from the Vanguard. satellite into orbit, since the Vanguard Program The second meteorological experiment was depended upon the Viking Rocket. The Viking entirely different. It was Suomi's proposal for had been developed by Martin for the Navy. It the first Earth radiation experiment. As is char- was the most advanced rocket of its time, par- acteristic of Suomi's ideas, it was beautifully ticularly in its guidance and control systems. simple and it worked. It consisted of ping-pong But unfortunately it was unstable in the early balls, in effect, on the ends of transmission stages of its flight. (It was long like a pencil and antennas; some of them black and some white. developed vibrational modes of oscillation that They measured the omnidirectional flux of so- caused the instability.) It was capable of only lar and infrared radiation. The first satellite with putting about 45 kg into orbit, which put serious Vern's ping-pong balls went "into the drink" restrictions on possible instrumentation and shortly after launch, but the second one was power sources. launched on October 13, 1959 and became Due to the delays of the Vanguard and Viking Explorer 6. It worked, and it got the first mea- Programs, the first United States satellite with surements of the radiation balance of the Earth, a scientific payload was actually put up after a something that I think Tom Vonder Harr is going crash program that involved the Army Ballistic to tell us more about later in this session. Missile Agency at Redstone Arsenal and the Jet While the Vanguard Program was struggling Propulsion Laboratory of California Institute of for success, there were many other things hap- Technology. William Pickering, James Van pening. One was that the Upper Atmosphere Allen, and Wernher von Braun did manage to Rocket Research Panel changed its name to get it up in short order but that's another story, the Rocket and Satellite Research Panel. I had since it didn't involve meteorology. (It did lead been a member all this time, and some other to the discovery of the radiation belts.) Still, rela- "big guns" joined it at this time. People like tively few meteorologists were interested in the James Van Allen, Homer Newell, Wernher von potential of satellite observations at that time. Braun, William Pickering, John Townsend, and Notable exceptions were members of the Army's several others, encouraged by Joe Kaplan, Evans Signal Laboratory group led by Bill Stroud, worked very hard to sell the idea of a civilian Bill Nordberg, and Verner Suomi at the Univer- space agency. They felt there were two things sity of Wisconsin. (I wish Vern had been able to a civilian agency could provide that the military, make it to this meeting to help me reminisce which had, after all, supported the rocket and about the early days of satellite meteorology.) satellite program very well, could not do. One The experiments proposed by the Evans Signal was that, if civilian, the program could be Laboratory group and the University of Wis- unclassified. Security classification had always consin were backed up by ground-based work been a nagging problem in this program. And sponsored by the Geophysics Research Direc- secondly, it would show to the world that the torate of the Air Force Cambridge Research United States' space program, which would Laboratory. Such people as Chan Touart, Wil- eventually have to be very large, was in the liam Widger, Arnold Glaser, and others took service of mankind and was entirely for peace- rocket pictures and began to get experience ful objectives. analyzing them. This experience paid off when In March of 1958, President Eisenhower an- the first satellite pictures began to come in. nounced that he had decided to go ahead with The first satellite that could be called "meteo- the creation of NASA, the National Aeronautics rological" was Vanguard II, a 45 kg satellite and Space Agency. That was in the spring. It launched on February 17, 1959. The instru- was clear that it would take a while for NASA to mentation was developed by the Evans Signal get into high gear, so as a holding operation, Laboratory group, Stroud and Nordberg. It the Department of Defense set up the Ad- involved a very simple concept similar to the vanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA) scanning radiometers we have now, with a and they decided early in the game that a photocell that would scan the Earth and build up meteorological satellite would be one of its a picture one line at a time. Scanning was to be projects. Roger Warner was in charge of ARPA's done by rotation of the satellite as it went along meteorological satellite development. He called its path, and it had a tape recorder that would a historic meeting at the Pentagon with Gordon record the output of this one cell. However, Vaeth, Michael Ference, F.W. Reichelderfer, uneven separation from the launch vehicle and Sigmund Fritz, and Harry Wexler (who up until the fact that it apparently was not properly his death was one of the great supporters of the balanced meant that instead of rotating program). Also, several people from the mili- smoothly, it wobbled so that the scan on the tary were there: Ernst Stuhlinger, Charles Bates, ground made a complicated pattern that never Arthur Bostick, William Widger, plus Edgar could be unraveled. Therefore, we never actu- Cortright from National Advisory Committee for

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Unauthenticated | Downloaded 10/09/21 07:41 AM UTC Aeronautics (NACA), which was later to be- In 1947, the initiated come NASA. One of the first things they did was a research project at the RAND Corporation to to set up a committee to oversee the develop- examine the feasibility of conducting military ment of a meteorological satellite. reconnaissance from Earth orbiting satellites. I was chairman of that committee. We had the Based on known and projected television imag- problem of designing the first satellite, although ing capabilities, electronics, power supplies, the general decision had been made to go with etc., it was possible to demonstrate that useful RCA's newly developed Vidicon television tube payloads could be placed in a 300-400 mile as the basic sensor. It was ideally suited to this orbit with rockets that were no unreasonable application for a number of reasons, but we had extrapolations from the German V-2 rocket. some interesting problems, one of them being Based on the information generated by this how to mount this Vidicon on the satellite so that research study, it was logical to extend it to it could get a picture. We did not have any way include an examination of additional uses for of stabilizing the satellite as we do now—it was this potential capability. My colleague, Dr. Will- a rotating satellite. We decided to put the iam Kellogg, and I took advantage of this unique Vidicon looking along the spin axis. For this configu- opportunity to raise and address the question ration you would know the direction of the of feasibility and utility of a satellite designed to picture, but you would not know its orientation. gather meteorological information. Originally, we wanted to have three cameras: a Any attempt to explore the usefulness of wide-angle, a medium-angle and a narrow- weather observations from a satellite must start angle with about 100 meters resolution. The with the questions of what can be seen from third camera was dropped, because in those such altitudes, and can meteorologically sig- days such a detailed picture was considered to nificant information be extracted? With regard be too militarily sensitive. (This attitude may to what can be seen from satellites, one must seem peculiar nowadays, since the LANDSAT remember that at that point in time, 1949-1950, pictures now have nearly an order of magnitude no satellite had been launched. Our concept of better resolution.) what might be obtainable at that time was TIROS 1 was turned over to NASA, to a limited to essentially nonquantifiable TV im- division under Morris Tepper and Ed Cortright, ages. (Non-quantifiable was not quite accurate in the spring of 1959. It was launched on April in that the level of brightness measurable by this Fools' Day, 1960. The satellite we turned over system does provide additional information.) to NASA was fairly well along in its develop- The ability to specify what might be seen was ment, and it worked very well after the launch. limited, therefore, to an examination of what In the years since that famous launch in April high altitude photography was available, and 1960, we have seen enormous advances in the the projected capabilities of the satellite imag- science and technology of satellite meteorol- ing system. ogy. I was personally a bit disappointed in those Available observations from high altitude con- early days that applications of this new tech- sisted primarily of limited photography taken nique did not happen faster. But we will learn from high altitude manned balloons (e.g., Ex- from the rest of the talks in this session what did plorer I and II, etc.) and camera sequences shot happen in the years that followed. from vertically fired rockets (e.g., V-2, Aerobee, Viking). Unfortunately, most high altitude photogra- phy was not taken for the purpose of looking at 4. Stanley M. Greenfield's remarks clouds and in fact attempted to deliberately avoid these limitations to its basic mission. A close colleague of William W. Kellogg at the Whenever possible, photographs taken from RAND Corporation in the late 1940s and 1950s was vertically fired rockets were utilized primarily to Stanley M. Greenfield. He also played a key role in the aid in determining the axial orientations of the initial conceptualization and design of a meteorologi- vehicle. In addition, considerable effort was cal satellite. His description and characterization of made to fire the rocket under fair weather events at this time were published by NASA in the conditions thereby assuring optical tracking, and lowering the probability of photographing proceedings of the session on meteorological satel- extensive cloud formations. Deplorably, this lites organized for the January 1982 American Insti- salient point did not emerge until after many tute of Aeronautics and Astronautics' 20th Aerospace dizzying hours were spent watching thousands Sciences Meeting (Vaughan 1982b). We believe the of feet of film taken from many rapidly spinning firsthand comments by Greenfield complement those rockets. We, however, were ultimately suc- of Kellogg and will also be of significant interest to the cessful in obtaining several photographic se- readers. quences that provided excellent photographs

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Unauthenticated | Downloaded 10/09/21 07:41 AM UTC of extended cloud systems taken from altitudes The starting point for this approach had to be an ranging from 50-80 miles. These photographs analysis of what qualitative information on stan- provided a clear sense of large scale cloud dard meteorological parameters was obtain- patterns and hence, circulation. In addition, it able from cloud photographs. Given adequate quickly became clear, by carefully defocusing ground resolution, it was apparent that wind the pictures, that the ability to resolve structural direction, degree of atmospheric stability, and a cloud elements with linear dimensions of the sense of the horizontal and vertical wind shear order of 500 feet would permit one to identify were obtainable from widespread cloud photo- major cloud types. It was felt, and later shown, graphs. Additionally, vertical wind shear could that cloud identification, even in the absence of be used to obtain the direction of the horizontal other quantitative information, would permit sig- temperature gradient. Moisture and precipita- nificant interpretation of the broad scale synop- tion were inferable from cloud presence and tic weather pictures. type as well as surface albedo (e.g., change in Having established the resolution required to albedo due to newly fallen snow, etc.). Taken provide usable meteorological observations, it together it was felt that this information, when was then possible to utilize the reconnaissance combined with frontal theory, continuity, and satellite system parameters previously derived. synoptic information from peripheral areas, The results of this analysis indicated that using would permit an experienced analyst to recon- television camera technology available at that struct the synoptic picture in the unknown area. time it was possible, from an altitude of 350 This approach was attempted using the photo- miles, to achieve a resolution of 500 feet under graphs obtained from three separate rocket full sunlight with 25% contrast and an f/10 lens. flights. While not perfect, the results convinced Further, at a speed of 5 frames/sec, these us that satellite photography was capable of parameters would permit a transverse strip providing an integrated and interpretable view 350 miles wide to be photographed as a satel- of the widespread synoptic weather patterns. lite orbited the Earth. Finally, if the satellite's The second approach involved the late Dr. J. orbit were set tangent to latitude 56°N, then Bjerknes. At that time, Dr. Bjerknes was at the these system parameters would permit the Department of Meteorology, University of Cali- entire Earth's surface in the vicinity of 40° to 50° fornia at Los Angeles. He had played a role in latitude to be covered every 24-48 hours with the development of the polar front theory and, lesser coverage towards the equator. at the time of this study, was preeminent in the In essence then, these results indicated that field of synoptic meteorology. Dr. Bjerknes was given adequate rocket power, it was feasible to asked to analyze the rocket photography in design a satellite system that would produce, conjunction with all of the available meteoro- temporally and spatially, significant coverage of logical data for the area in question. What the Earth with television resolution sufficient to resulted was a truly beautiful analysis in which identify the cloud forms. It should be recognized Dr. Bjerknes was able to demonstrate the benefi- that this cavalier assumption that 500 ft. resolu- cial complementarity between widespread cloud tion would permit one to identify clouds is actu- observations taken from high altitude and syn- ally based on an in-depth examination of ex- optic weather data (Greenfield and Kellogg pected contrasts assuming various cloud and 1960a). [His guardedly enthusiastic conclusion ground albedos. The results of this examination to his Rand Study are repeated above in the indicated that the minimum contrast designed remarks by Kellogg.] into the system would validate this assumption In essence then, an idea was born, its poten- in the great majority of expected conditions. The tial utility was recognized, and its feasibility was remaining question was, could useful synoptic demonstrated within the narrow constraints of information be extracted from these observa- the information available at the time. What was tions? accomplished and what was concluded from Two approaches were taken in attempting to this initial study is best illustrated by quoting answer the above question. Both approaches directly from the unclassified version of the final addressed the question from the standpoint of report: observations that were only pictorial. Any quan- titative information obtained was derived indi- "A major advantage of satellite weather observa- rectly from the pictorial observations. The first tions is the repeated broad spatial coverage. Such approach accepted the rocket photographs as broad coverage provides the with an essential element for his analysis, which is gener- the only synoptic information available. That is ally referred to as continuity. It permits him to follow to say, it was assumed that these observations a given system as it moves and develops over a represented the only information available in period of days. It is a relatively simple matter to the area. The question was then, how much of identify a system once it is known that such a the synoptic picture could be reconstructed? system is present. Once a weather situation is so

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Unauthenticated | Downloaded 10/09/21 07:41 AM UTC identified, it can be earmarked from high-altitude 1960, many papers had already appeared on pictures, and not only may it then be tracked the subject and the course had been set for the across an inaccessible area like an ocean, but any developments discussed in the companion pre- over-all changes or modifications that affect the sentations to this one (King 1956; Suomi 1957; visible parameters may be almost immediately Singer 1957b; Greenfield and Kellogg 1958, noticed. It is also likely that, having a complete 1960b; Kaplan 1959). analysis of the surrounding territory on land, where observations are plentiful, and many satellite ob- By 1956, the nation had made its initial com- servations of the unknown area (through which it is mitment to developing its capabilities in space. possible to get fixes on systems and to examine RCA, the company that had, under subcontract visually the over-all weather picture), a complete to the RAND Corporation, carried out the initial analysis of the desired region will become a much studies on satellite television systems, pro- simpler thing to construct. posed a very simple, small version to be placed "This report has attempted to show what is in orbit by a Jupiter C rocket. By 1958, the Thor- thought to be necessary in the making of such an Able launch vehicle became available and, as analysis. It is obvious, however, that, with the indicated in the paper by Schnapf (1982), the limited data available, many important points may simple satellite quickly was expanded into inadvertently have been overlooked. An inquiry of TIROS 1, the first meteorological satellite, this type can therefore serve only as a guide to a full-scale study of the subject, in which every launched in April 1960. While this initial televi- suggestion and method leading to a full test is either sion system did not provide the resolution sug- accepted, modified, or discarded. gested by our original study, the vehicle's or- "The development of all the suggested methods bital characteristics were not very far removed mentioned in this report appears to be feasible. As from those concepts. any analysis depends on its integral parts for its Roughly ten years elapsed from the emer- accomplishments, from this standpoint, if from no gence and examination of the original idea to its other, the analysis of synoptic weather from satel- development into a piece of operating hard- lite observations is also feasible." ware. In that period of time a whole community of interest was developed which quickly began Having satisfied ourselves as to the feasibility to extend the original ideas into more sophisti- and potential utility of a meteorological satel- cated and potentially more useful configura- lite, it became useful to consider how it might be tions. By the time the original idea reached the implemented. The results of our study had operational test stage (TIROS 1), it was already been published as a classified report in 1951 obsolete. The result has been the development (Greenfield and Kellogg 1960a). Discussions and global acceptance over the last two de- within the meteorological community, with ac- cades of a family of meteorological satellites cess to classified information, produced agree- (both geo-stationary and low altitude orbiters) ment with the feasibility of the concept, and a that have made, and continue to make, signifi- sense of excitement over its potential utility that cant contributions to the well-being of man. The evolved over a period of years. This evolved current versions of these satellites have ad- general interest finally helped to declassify the vanced far beyond the simple approach origi- subject of meteorological satellites and, start- nally conceived of by William Kellogg and my- ing in 1954, a series of papers began to appear self. But that serves to increase our pride in the in the open literature discussing the concept contribution made by our original proposal. (Wexler 1954; Greenfield 1956; Glaser and Conover 1957; Widger and Touart 1957; Singer 1957a; Anon. 1958a,b; Greenfield and Kellogg 5. Concluding remarks 1959,1960b). This involvement of an interested community of scientists became very important Meteorological satellites have developed to a point for two basic reasons. First, it quickly moved the where they are now considered an integral part of the concept out of the realm of and nation's meteorological observation system (Hill 1991). gave it increased respectability. Second, this Since the initial thoughts and plans developed during broader interest kept the subject alive and evolv- the late 1940s and 1950s, significant progress has ing until the needed launch vehicles had been been made in the application of space technology for developed. In addition, what was apparent almost from the start of our original study—the meteorological purposes. New understanding of our need for quantitative data—developed, during atmosphere and useful applications of imagery and this gestation period, into a rapidly expanding remote soundings of atmosphere, surface tempera- research effort on the use of radiative transfer ture, etc., at both global and local scales have resulted theory and multi-frequency sensors to probe from the program. The overview provided in this paper the atmosphere from satellites. By the time the was prepared not only to provide an opportunity to first meteorological satellite was launched in reflect on the accomplishments of the early pioneers,

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Unauthenticated | Downloaded 10/09/21 07:41 AM UTC but to provide a basis from which the future potentials tion as seen from a meteorological satellite. J. Meteor., 17,283- might be envisioned. The dedication of these pioneers 290. Hill, J., 1991: Weather from Above—America's Meteorological and their respective organizations played a very im- Satellite. Smithsonian Institution Press, 97 pp. portant role in the TIROS-1 meteorological satellite Kaplan, L. D., 1959: On the inference of atmospheric structure from development (Allison and Neil 1962; RCA 1964) and remote radiation measurements. J. Opt. Soc. Amer., 49,1004- subsequent application activities. 1007. King, J. I. F., 1956: The radiative heat transfer of planet earth. Acknowledgments. The authors wish to express their apprecia- Scientific Use of Earth Satellites, University of Michigan Press, tion to Dr. William W. Kellogg and Dr. Stanley M. Greenfield for their 133-136. careful review and comments on the paper. An anonymous reviewer NASA, 1966: Satellite meteorology 1958-1964. NASA Ref. Publ. provided a number of helpful inputs, including the suggestion to SP-96,141 pp. include a reference about the early work of Dr. S. Fred Singer. RCA, 1964: TIROS—A study of achievement. Astro-Electronics Division Report, Radio Corporation of America, Princeton, NJ, NASA CR-141091, 48 pp. Schnapf, A., 1982: The development of the TIROS global environ- References mental satellite system. 20th Aerospace Sciences Conference, Orlando, FL, American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronau- Allison, L. J., and E. A. Neil, Eds., 1962: Final report on the TIROS 1 tics, NASA Conf. Publ. 2227, 7-16. meteorological satellite system. NASA Tech. Rep. R-131,258pp. Singer, S. F., 1957a: Meteorological measurements from a mini- Malone, T. F., Ed., 1951: Compendium of Meteorology. American mum satellite vehicle. Trans. Amer. Geophys. Union, 38,469- Meteorological Society, 1334 pp. 482. Anon., 1958a: Minutes of the first meeting of the Committee on , 1957b: A method for the determination of the vertical ozone Meteorological Aspects of Satellites, Space Science Board, distribution from a satellite. J. Geophys. Res., 62,299-308. National Academy of Sciences, Washington, DC. , 1992: Origins of the MOUSE proposal. Preprints, 43d Int. , 1958b: Satellites will advance knowledge of weather. News Astronautical Congress, Washington, DC, International Astro- Release 871-58, Department of Defense, Office of Public Infor- nautical Federation Paper 92-0200,6 pp. mation. Suomi, V. E., 1957: The radiation balance of the earth from a Fritz, S., 1964: Pictures from meteorological satellites and their satellite. Annl. Int. Geophys. Year, 6,331-340. interpretation. Space Sci. Rev., 3,541-580. Vaughan, W. W., 1982a: The conception, growth, accomplish- Glaser, A. H., and J. H. Conover, 1957: Meteorological Utilization of ments, and future of meteorological satellites. Proc. Session on Images of the Earth's Surface Transmitted from a Satellite Meteorological Satellites at the American Meteorological Society's Vehicle. Press, Blue Hill Meteorological 62d Annual Meeting, San Antonio, TX, NASA Conf. Publ. 2257, Observatory. 101 pp. Greenfield, S. M., 1956: Synoptic weather observations from ex- , 1982b: Meteorological satellites—Past, present, and future. treme altitudes. Paper P-761, RAND Corporation. Proc. Session on Meteorological Satellites at the American , and W. W. Kellogg, 1958: Meteorological satellites. Space Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics' 20th Aerospace Sci- Handbook, Astronautics and Its Applications, Random House, ences Meeting, Orlando, FL, NASA Conf. Publ. 2227, 63 pp. 236-246. , 1986: Compendium of Meteorology scientific issues of 1950 , and , 1959: Weather reconnaissance by satellites. Astro- outstanding, NASA Ref. Publ. 1167, 57 pp. nautics, 4(1), 32-33 and 77-78. Wexler, H., 1954: Observing the weather from a satellite vehicle. J. , and , 1960a: Inquiry into the feasibility of weather recon- Br. Interplanet. Soc., 13,269-276. naissance from a satellite vehicle. Report R-365, RAND Corpo- Widger, W., 1961: Satellite meteorology—Fancy and fact. Weather, ration (unclassified edition of RAND Report R-218, April 1951), 16,47-55. 152 pp. , and C. N. Touart, 1957: Utilization of satellite observations in , and , 1960b: Calculations of atmospheric infrared radia- weather analysis. Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., 38,531-533.

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