The weather satellite is a type of Weather Instrument that is used for monitoring the climate and weather of the earth from the space. The weather satellites help in collecting information about ocean currents, pollution, sand and dust storms, ice mapping, and various environmental information through satellite that are located in the space.

Through these meteorological satellites the meteorologists also collects information about the clouds and cloud systems, which helps them forecast rain and storms. The images taken by the weather satellites help the meteorologists study the climatic phenomenon on a broader perspective.

The volcanic activities of the active volcanoes like Mt. Etna and also the volcanic ash cloud of Mount St. Helens could be monitored through weather satellites. Besides, the vegetation of the earth, ocean color and condition of the sea are monitored by a special satellite known as Environmental Satellites.

The weather satellite has largely helped the meteorologists to keep a global watch on the changing weather phenomenon of the earth. There are two types of weather satellites:

• Geostationary: These satellites orbit the earth at a height of 35,880 km above the equator. The Geostationary Weather Satellite records images of the hemisphere with infrared sensors and visible lights.

Polar Orbiting: These Satellites circle the earth from the north to south at an altitude of 850 km. They can view every location of the earth twice a day. As they are closer to the earth's surface the images taken by the Polar orbiting satellite have better resolutions than geostationary ones.