NSSDCA ID: 1966-057A-01
Mission Name: Cosmos 122The Cosmos 122 dual vidicon camera experiment was designed to test the capability of Russian weather satellites to provide daytime pictures of the earth's cloudcover distribution, local storms, and global weather systems for use by the Soviet Hydrometeorological Service . The instrumentation consisted of two identical vidicon cameras that were mounted in the satellite base and were directed toward the earth. Each camera viewed a 500- by 500-km area -- one to the left and the other to the right of nadir -- with a resolution of 1.25 km at nadir from a satellite altitude of 600 to 700 km. The cameras took a one-frame image of the earth's cloud cover with slight overlapping of successive frames to provide continuous coverage. The cameras switched on automatically any time the sun was more than 5 deg above the horizon. Because the earth illumination varied so much, automatic sensors adjusted the camera apertures to produce high-quality pictures under a variety of illumination conditions. The image formed by each vidicon tube either was transmitted directly to the ground if the satellite was in radio contact with one of two ground stations or was recorded on magnetic tape for later transmission if the satellite was beyond the zone of radio communication. The TV images received by these ground stations were processed and transmitted to the Hydrometeorological Center in Moscow, where they were analyzed and used in various forecast and analysis products. The pictures were archived at the Hydrometeorological Center. The Cosmos 122 cameras, although having 2.5 times the resolution of those carried on the ESSA satellites, could not provide continuous overlapping global coverage as do the ESSA cameras owing to the lower orbit of the Cosmos 122 satellite (620 km compared to 1400 km). Thus, to close the gaps in coverage, at least two satellites were required in the weather satellite system. In addition, cloudcover mosaics were produced from 10 or more individual cloudcover pictures at the Hydrometeorological Center to provide a more comprehensive view of global weather systems. Some of the individual pictures and the cloud mosaics were transmitted to various foreign meteorological centers as part of an international meteorological data exchange program. The United States received some of these pictures at the National Environmental Satellite Service (NESS) in Suitland, Maryland, via the "cold line" facsimile link with Moscow. Pictures were transmitted to NESS from September 11, 1966, through October 26, 1966. These pictures were archived at NESS for 1 yr and then, unless of unusual interest, were discarded. The experiment terminated operations in October 1966.
Questions and comments about this experiment can be directed to: Coordinated Request and User Support Office
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