WEATHER SATELLITES Measurements

Satellite Measurements

The following list details many of the uses of weather satellites.

• Radiation measurements from the earth's surface and atmosphere give information on the earth-atmosphere energy budget.
• Measurements from the ocean surface are translated into sea-surface temperatures - information valuable to the fishing industry as well as meteorologists.
• Satellites can monitor snow cover in winter, ice fields in the Arctic and Antarctic, and the height of the ocean's surface.
• Infrared sensors on satellites can assess conditions of crops, areas of deforestation and regions of drought.
• Some satellites are equipped with a water vapor sensor that can profile the distribution of water vapor in the atmosphere.
• Volcanic eruptions and the motion of ash clouds can be detected.
• During the winter, satellites monitor the southward progress of freezing air in Florida and Texas, allowing forecasters to warn growers of impending low temperatures.
• Satellites can receive environmental information from remote data collection platforms on the surface. These include instrumented buoys, river gauges, automatic weather stations, siesmic and tsunami stations, and ships. This information is then relayed to a central receiving station at Wallop's Island, Virginia.