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NOAA currently operates
16 meteorological satellites in 3 separate constellations. The future
NPOESS constellation will merge the two polar orbiting constellations
into a single program. |
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Geostationary
Operational Environmental Satellites (GOES)
The
GOES system maintains a continuous data stream from a two-GOES
system in support of the National Weather Service requirements. These
satellites send weather data and pictures that cover various sections
of the United States. Current weather satellites can transmit visible
or infrared photos, focus on a narrow or wide area, and maneuver in
space to obtain maximum coverage. ...details
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Polar Operational Environmental
Satellite (POES)
The
POES satellite system offers the advantage of daily global
coverage, with morning and afternoon orbits that deliver global data,
for improvement of weather forecasting. The information received
includes cloud cover, storm location, temperature, and heat balance in
the earth's atmosphere. ...details
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Defense Meteorological Satellite
Program (DMSP)
The
Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) is a Department of
Defense (DoD) program run by the Air Force Space and Missile Systems
Center (SMC). The DMSP designs, builds, launches, and maintains
satellites monitoring the meteorological, oceanographic, and
solar-terrestrial physics environments. ...details
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The National Polar-orbiting
Operational Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS)
The
National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System
(NPOESS) and its managing Integrated Program Office (IPO) were
established in 1994 to converge existing Air Force, NASA & NOAA
polar-orbiting satellites into an integrated national program.
Polar-orbiters in low-Earth orbit continue to be used to monitor global
environmental conditions, collect and disseminate data related to
weather, atmosphere, oceans, land and near-space environment.
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