ASSA Radio Astronomy Group

A weather satellite is a type of satellite that is primarily used to monitor the weather and climate of the Earth. Satellites can be either polar orbiting, seeing the same swath of the Earth every 12 hours, or geostationary, hovering over the same spot on Earth by orbiting over the equator while moving at the speed of the Earth's rotation.

These meteorological satellites, however, see more than clouds and cloud systems. City lights, fires, effects of pollution, auroras, sand and dust storms, snow cover, ice mapping, boundaries of ocean currents, energy flows, etc., are other types of environmental information collected using weather satellites.

Receiving signals from weather satellites is something amateur radio astronomers also explore as it often uses similar equipment and is ideal for learning more about antenna design and direction finding, signal processing and understanding the issues of RFI and signal gain. For additional information on polar orbiting environmental satellites and the equipment required, see here