ATMS 120 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Polar Orbit, Geosynchronous Orbit, Color Scheme
6 Feb 2021
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Document Summary
As the earth rotates, the orbital period of the satellite matches the orbit of the earth. They can always look at the same spot. The tilt matches the earth"s tilt (25. 5 degrees) One of the primary goals of launching meteorological satellites was to observe hurricanes. Primary satellite orbit used for weather observation. Look at the same point on the equator at the same longitude and see nearly half of the earth. Most orbit from pole to pole and let the earth spin beneath them. Very high spatial resolution (250m to 15 m) Only see a small swath of the earth"s surface at any given point in time. Only getting it once and can"t keep tracking it. Bright objects have a high albedo (snow, thick clouds, ice caps) Dark images have a low albedo (vegetation, land, thin clouds, oceans) The atmosphere is transparent to visible light. Sun is a point source so we can make out shadows and cloud texture.
