The NOAA Polar Orbiting Environmental Satellite (POES) satellite platforms provided High Resolution Picture Transmission (HRPT) image data products. The HRPT consists of six channels of Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) data in the visible, near-infrared and infrared spectrum. The data are digitized to 10-bit precision and transmitted at 360 Lines Per Minute (LPM) at 665 kilobits per second (kbps). The HRPT data stream also included non-imagery data from other instruments on board the spacecraft.

The AVHRR instrument has a resolution of 1.1 km providing 10-bit data in five separate spectral bands. Contrasted with the 4 km, 8 bit data and 2 spectral bands for the Automatic Picture Transmission (APT) for low resolution imagery transmissions, HRPT, with its 5 data channels and 10 bits of data represents about a 10-fold advantage in the amount of information that may be analyzed when compared to APT data. This is very important to meteorologists and other professionals who need the most accurate information available for analysis especially in a region of limited satellite coverage.

The HRPT satellite images were uploaded to the Committee on Earth Observation Satellites (CEOS) ftp site by Ed Hudson during STAR period. The images cover the STAR area only. A script file was set to download the data once there were new data posted.

For further information on HRPT imagery, please see: https://noaasis.noaa.gov/POLAR/HRPT/hrpt.html