In the mid-1960s, Dr. Verner E. Suomi, founder of the Space Science and Engineering Center, University of Wisconsin-Madison and “Father of Satellite Meteorology”, invented the Spin-Scan camera. This instrument was the payload of the Applications Technology Satellites I and III (ATS-I and ATS-III) launched in 1966 and 1967 respectively. The launching of the ATS-I into geosynchronous Earth orbit pioneered continuous viewing of weather from space and allowed scientists to study a synoptic picture of existing meteorological conditions for the first time.

The Schwerdtfeger Library has created a prototype database of ATS-III (and eventually, ATS-I) images for web access. The resulting database is searchable across numerous parameters and allows for several display options.Having this period in our weather history (1966-1972) accessible to researchers increases the time base available for climate study and modeling.