SATELLITE IMAGERY
Geostationary Earth Orbiting Satellites
Geostationary Satellite orbits the earth as fast as the earth
spins and therefore appear to hang over a single point over the
earth. An instrument in a geostationary satellite does not view
the entire earth and has a poor view of the polar regions. The
advantage of a satellite in the geostationary Earth orbit, or GEO) is that an instrument as a continuous view of the mid-latitude and tropical
regions. Satellites in this orbit are good for weather studies
as you can track the movement of the storms. The satellite loops
displayed on your favorite weather channel are observations from
a satellite in a geostationary satellite. The United States typically operates two geostationary satellites called GOES (Geostationary
Operational Environment Satellite). One has has a good view of the
east coast
and the other GOES has a better view of the
west coast. Other
satellites in geostationary orbit include the METEOSAT (METEOrological
SATellite) which views the eastern Atlantic Ocean, Africa and
Europe and the GMS (Geostationary Meteorological Satellite) which
has a good view of Asia, Australia and the west Pacific Ocean.
By combining all the geostationary observations into one image, you can view
the cloud cover of the world!
Latest GEO Satellite Composite
(updated every 3 hours) provided by the Space Science and Engineering Center (SSEC).
