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Information and History
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NOAA's Environmental Satellites: A History
On April 1, 2000, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration celebrated the 40th anniversary
of the launch of the world's first weather satellite. With today's advanced technology, and with
images of clouds shown daily on television weather forecasts, it may be difficult to remember the days
when there were no weather satellites.
Today, the nation's environmental satellites are operated by NOAA's National
Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service in Suitland, Maryland.
NOAA's operational environmental satellite system is composed of two types of
satellites: geostationary operational environmental satellites (GOES) for
national, regional, short-range warning and "now-casting," and
polar-orbiting environmental satellites (POES) for global, long-term forecasting
and environmental monitoring. Both types of satellites are necessary for
providing a complete global weather monitoring system. In addition, NOAA
operates satellites in the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP),
which are also polar-orbiting satellites. NESDIS also manages the processing and
distribution of the millions of bits of data and images the satellites produce
each day.
Polar-orbiting Satellites: The First to be Launched
International Program Cooperation
The Future of Polar-orbiting Satellites
Geostationary Satellites
Synchronous Meteorological Satellites
Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites
Graphics are available on the Internet.
First television picture from space.
First launch pictures
Early TIROS satellites
Early Polar satellites
Early GOES satellites
Satellite Resources
NPOESS presentations
NOAA Photos Library
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