The SCAMSN6IM data product consists of images of brightness temperatures, water vapor and temperature on 70 mm film strips from the Nimbus-6 Scanning Microwave Spectrometer. Each display contains eight vertical strips of data from one orbit. All strips have the same geographic coverage, but each represents a different parameter. The first three are brightness temperatures for channels 2 (31.65 GHz) and 3 (52.85 GHz) and their differences. The next two represent retrieved water vapor and liquid water from clouds or precipitation over the oceans, respectively. The remaining three strips on the right represent inverted mean temperatures for atmospheric layers 1000-500 mbar, 500-250 mbar, and 250-100 mbar, respectively. The first five parameters are displayed in 18-step gray levels, the values of which can be found in a table in each of the first five volumes of "The Nimbus 6 Data Catalog." The last three parameters are displayed by contour bands (labeled on the side) that are spaced 4 K apart. Spatial resolution on the ground for the parameters varies from 145 km at nadir to 330 km at the scan extremes. The images are saved as TIFF digital files. About 3-5 months of images are archived into a ZIP file. Additional information can be found in section 2.4.1 of "The Nimbus 6 User's Guide."

The SCAMS experiment on Nimbus-6 is a follow on to the successful Nimbus-5 NEMS experiment. SCAMS continuously monitored emitted microwave radiation at frequencies of 22.235, 31.65, 52.85, 53.85 and 55.45 GHz. The three channels near the 5.0-mm oxygen absorption band were used primarily to deduce atmospheric temperature profiles. The two channels near 10 mm permitted water vapor and cloud water content over calm oceans to be estimated separately. The instrument, a Dicke-superheterodyne type, scanned +/- 45 degrees normal to the orbital plane with a 10 degree field of view. The three oxygen channels shared common signal and reference antennas. Both water vapor channels had their own signals and reference antennas. The absolute rms accuracy of the oxygen channels was better than 2 Kelvin and that of the water vapor channels better than 1 Kelvin.

The SCAMS Principal Investigator was Prof. David H. Staelin from MIT. The Nimbus-6 SCAMS images are available from June 15, 1975 (day of year 166) through May 31, 1976 (day of year 152).

This product was previously available from the NSSDC with the identifier ESAD-00200 (old ID 75-052A-10B).