View Instrument

The OLS instrument consists of two telescopes and a photo multiplier tube (PMT). The visible telescope is sensitive to radiation from 0.40 - 1.10 um (0.58 - 0.91 um FWHM) and 10-3 - 10-5 Watts per cm2 per sterradian. The infrared telescope is sensitive to radiation from 10.0 - 13.4 um (10.3 - 12.9 um FWHM) and 190 to 310 Kelvins. The PMT is sensitive to radiation from 0.47 - 0.95 um (0.51 - 0.86 um FWHM) at 10-5 - 10-9 Watts per cm2 per sterradian. The detectors sweep back and forth in a "whisk broom" or pendulum-type motion. The continuous analog signal is sampled at a constant rate so the Earth-located centers of each pixel are roughly equidistant, i.e., 0.5 km apart. 7,325 pixels are digitized across the 1080 swath from limb to limb. The instruments are built by Westinghouse Corporation.