NOAA data processing system

Abstract

The 28th Japanese Antarctic Research Expedition has installed a NOAA data processing system at Syowa Station (69°00′S, 39°35′E) and has started the operation. This system is used to obtain cloud and sea ice distribution in the broad area under the project of "Antarctic Climate Research (ACR)", which started in 1987. The main part of the system is composed of a FACOM S3300 mini computer, which is used to acquire the received data of satellite at a real time, to make the calibration to obtain the albedo and temperature, to make a map projection, to display the images and to store the data in computer compatible tapes. Moreover, images of brightness temperature difference and histogram are made to discuss the way to discriminate clouds over the snow and ice surfaces.