Nov 21 1976
From The Space Library
NASA-funded studies conducted in Fla. and Tex. using infrared images from NOAA's Natl. Environmental Satellite Service had provided fruit and vegetable growers with timely information on ground temperatures during periods of crop-killing freezes, NOAA announced. The images, provided every half hour by Goes 1 from its equatorial station over South America at 35 800-km altitude, were transmitted from heat-radiation sensors to ground stations for conversion to visual imagery. The Fla. study used a computer to display the temperature variations in shades of gray, verified by ground readings taken in the area by Univ. of Fla. personnel. The Texas study converted the satellite data to typewriter characters that produced a remarkably similar printout, transmissible over teletypewriter machines, more widely available than photofax equipment. Both studies aimed at helping growers decide whether to undertake expensive steps to keep crops from being damaged by frost; heating orchards in Florida might cost up to $5 million per night. (NOAA Release 76-257)
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