ERTS operations and data processing

The overall communications and data flow between the ERTS spacecraft and the ground stations and processing centers are generally described. Data from the multispectral scanner and the return beam vidicon are telemetered to a primary ground station where they are demodulated, processed, and recorded. The tapes are then transferred to the NASA Data Processing Facility (NDPF) at Goddard. Housekeeping data are relayed from the prime ground stations to the Operations Control Center at Goddard. Tracking data are processed at the ground stations, and the calculated parameters are transmitted by teletype to the orbit determination group at Goddard. The ERTS orbit has been designed so that the same swaths of the ground coverage pattern viewed during one 18-day coverage cycle are repeated by the swaths viewed on all subsequent cycles. The Operations Control Center is the focal point for all communications with the spacecraft. NDPF is a job-oriented facility which processes and stores all sensor data, and which disseminates large quantities of these data to users in the form of films, computer-compatible tapes, and data collection system data.