weather satellite

An artificial satellite that orbits the Earth and carries out meteorological observations, transmitting them to ground receiving stations. The data it can obtain are highly varied, not limited solely to capturing images of clouds, which is its best-known function thanks to television weather segments. These satellites are also responsible for monitoring a host of variables and elements of meteorological and climatic interest, such as aerosols (smoke, dust, volcanic ash…), polar auroras, glaciers, icebergs, ice sheets, sea surface temperature, winds, storms, concentrations of polluting gases, stratospheric ozone, CO₂, methane… The coverage provided by weather satellites is global, which amounts to a volume of millions of new data points every day, feeding numerical weather prediction models. The first weather satellite to successfully complete its mission was TIROS 1, launched by NASA on 1 April 1960. Its precursor was Vanguard 2, part of a US Navy project, launched the previous year (on 17 February 1959). Although this satellite was designed to measure the distribution of cloud cover and air density, it provided barely any data, which is why TIROS 1 is usually considered the first weather satellite in history. The launch, in 1963, of the WMO's World Weather Watch Programme definitively boosted the observation of the atmosphere from space, thanks to weather satellites. Depending on the height above the Earth's surface at which an artificial satellite is placed, four types of orbit are considered: 1) low Earth orbit (polar or parking orbit); 2) medium Earth orbit (used by satellites enabling global navigation systems); 3) geosynchronous orbit; and 4) high Earth orbit. Weather satellites fall within categories 1 and 3.