Weather Satellite
The first attempt to look at the earth's weather from space occurred early in the history of the United States space program. In 1959 Vanguard II was launched with light-sensitive cells able to provide information about the earth's cloud cover. Unfortunately, the satellite tumbled in orbit and was unable to return any information. Explorer VI, also launched in 1959, was more successful and transmitted the first photographs of the earth's atmosphere from space.
In 1960 the United States launched the first experimental weather satellite, TIROS 1. The acronym for Television and Infra Red Observation Satellite, TIROS 1 televised over 22,000 photos before it failed six weeks later. It detected potential hurricanes days before they could have been spotted by any other means. It watched the spring breakup of the ice in the St. Lawrence River and helped forecast weather for the supplying of Antarctic bases. TIROS 1 also used infrared detectors to measure the amount of heat radiated by the earth's surface and the clouds.
Later versions of TIROS improved upon the original with television cameras that provided direct, real-time readouts of pictures to simple stations around the world. In 1970 ITQS-l was launched with the capability of not only direct-readout, automatic picture transmission but also the ability to store global images for later transmission and processing. Another successful series was called NOAA after the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Some of these satellites were placed in geostationary orbit (moving at the same speed as the Earth) and thus were able to continuously observe one area. This helped in the detection of severe storms and tornadoes and provided real-time coverage at an earlier stage of cloud and frontal weather movements.
Other TIROS-type satellites, such as NIMBUS (1960s) and NOAA-9 (1980s-1990s), are in polar orbit, where their infrared sensors measure temperatures and water vapor over the entire globe. Several GOES ( Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites) also cover the western and eastern hemispheres. The GOES satellites form part of an international global weather forecasting system administered by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). In addition to two U.S. GOES satellites (GOES East and GOES West, covering the two U.S. coasts), the eastern Pacific ocean is monitored by a Japanese geostationary satellite, India's INSAT covers the Indian Ocean, Russia maintains a geostationary satellite over western Asia, and the European Space Agency's Meteosat observes the eastern Atlantic Ocean, Europe and Africa. These satellites are able to provide weather reports for places that have not been covered very well in the past: ocean regions, deserts, and polar areas. They also trace hurricanes, typhoons, and tropical storms, in the process saving many lives. Their data are used to produce state-of-the-art charts showing sea-surface temperatures, information useful to the shipping and fishing industries.
New satellites that probe the earth's atmosphere by day and night in all weather are being developed in many countries. Since the weather satellite is now an established tool of meteorologists all over the world, both developed and developing nations will continue to rely on these crafts.
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