A spacecraft that orbits Earth and captures images of clouds, storms and atmospheric conditions for weather monitoring.
forecastingWhat is Weather Satellite?
Weather satellites fall into two categories: geostationary (fixed position 35,786 km above the equator, providing continuous images of one region) and polar-orbiting (circling the globe at 800 km altitude, providing detailed but less frequent coverage). Himawari-9 (Japan) is the primary geostationary satellite for Southeast Asia and the western Pacific, providing imagery every 10 minutes. INSAT/GSAT (India) covers South Asia. Satellites are essential for tracking typhoons over open ocean where no ground stations exist.
Key points
- A spacecraft that orbits Earth and captures images of clouds, storms and atmospheric conditions for weather monitoring.
- Category: forecasting
Related terms
See also: satellite is connected to other weather concepts. Browse the full glossary for related definitions.