NOAA-13, also known as NOAA-I before launch, was an American weather satellite operated by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

The goal of the NOAA/NESS polar orbiting program is to provide output products used in meteorological prediction and warning, oceanographic and hydrologic services, and space environment monitoring.

The NOAA-13 instrument complement consists of 1° the 5-channel Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer/2 (AVHRR/2); 2° the TIROS Operational Vertical Sounder (TOVS), which consists of the Stratospheric Sounding Unit (SSU), the Microwave Sounding Unit (MSU) and the High Resolution Infrared Radiation Sounder (HIRS/2); 3° the Solar Backscatter Ultraviolet Radiometer (SBUV/2), which is similar to the SBUV on Nimbus 7 and is only flown on the afternoon orbiters; 4° the Search and Rescue System (SARSAT); 5° the Space Environment Monitor (SEM), which consists of the Total Energy Detector (TED) and the Medium Energy Proton and Electron Detector (MEPED); 6° the French/CNES-provided Argos Data Collection System (DCS); and two experimental sensors sponsored by the Office of Naval Research (ONR): 7° Magnetospheric Atmospheric X-ray Imaging Experiment (MAXIE); and 8° the Energetic Heavy Ion Composition Experiment (EHIC).

[5] The AVHRR/2 was a five-channel scanning radiometer capable of providing global daytime and nighttime sea-surface temperature and information about ice, snow, and clouds.

The electronic module included systems for data processing, temperature control, telemetry, scan and motor logic.

All three instruments were designed to determine radiances needed to calculate temperature and humidity profiles of the atmosphere from the surface to the stratosphere (approximately 1 mb).

It had three channels that operated at 669.99, 669.63, and 669.36 per cm using three pressure-modulated cells containing CO2 (at 100, 35 and 10 mb) to accomplish selective bandpass filtration of the sampled radiance.

[7] The third instrument, the MSU, had four channels operating in the 50- to 60-GHz oxygen band (50.31, 53.73, 54.96 and 57.95 GHz) which obtained vertical temperature profiles free of cloud interference to an altitude of about 20 km.

Microwave energy received by each antenna was separated into vertical and horizontal polarization components by an orthomode transducer and each of the four signals was fed into one of the radiometer channels.

[7] The Argos Data Collection and Location System (DCS) on NOAA-13 was designed to obtain low-duty-cycle transmissions of meteorological observations from free-floating balloons, ocean buoys, other satellites, and fixed ground-based sensor platforms distributed around the globe.

Cooperating organizations included NOAA, the Russian Merchant Marine, Canada Department of Defense and communications industries, and CNES/France.

SARSAT equipment was provided by Canada and France to be flown on NOAA POES and on Russian polar orbiting satellites (COSPAS or "System for Search of Vessels in Distress").

The SARSAT system elements were: 1) a space-based receiver, frequency translation repeater (provided by the Department of Communications, Canada) for both existing and experimental Emergency Locator Transmitter (ELT)/Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacons (EPIRB) bands; 2) a Local User Terminal (LUT) which received the ELT/EPIRB signals and processed the doppler data to Earth locate the transmitting platform; 3) operational and experimental ELT and EPIRB systems; 4) a space-based receiver and processor for the experimental (406 MHz) ELT/EPIRB transmissions (provided by CNES, France); and 5) the Mission Control Centers for coordinating activities, processing global data and coordinating search activities.

Data from the 121.5-MHz ELTs, the 243-MHz EPIRBs, and experimental 406-MHz ELTs/EPIRBs were received by the Search and Rescue Repeater (SARR) and broadcast in real time on an L-band frequency (1544.5 MHz).

Real-time data were monitored by Local User Terminals (LUTs) operating in many countries (including United States, Canada, France, and Russia).

The 406-MHz data were also processed by the Search and Rescue Processor (SARP), and stored on the spacecraft for later transmittal to the CDA stations in Alaska and Virginia, thus providing full global coverage.

The solar irradiance was determined at the same 12 wavelength bands by deploying a diffuser that reflected sunlight into the instrument field of view.

The SBUV/2 had another narrowband filter photometer channel, called the Cloud Cover Radiometer (CCR), which continuously measured the Earth's surface brightness at 380 nm.

The components of the sensor module were a scanning double monochromator, a cloud cover radiometer, a diffuser plate, and detectors.

[11] The EHIC experiment flown on NOAA-13 measured the chemical and isotopic composition of energetic particles between hydrogen and nickel over the energy range of 0.5 to 200 MeV/nucleon.

[12] The MAXIE flown on NOAA-13 mapped the intensities and energy spectra of X-rays produced by precipitating electrons in the atmosphere of Earth.

[5] Just 12 days later, on 21 August 1993, a short circuit occurred that prevented the solar array from charging the satellite's batteries.