gcsescience.com 23 gcsescience.com
Artificial
Satellites -
Monitoring,
Information Gathering and the Polar Orbit.
Satellites which gather information
use a polar orbit.
Unlike a geostationary orbit which is above the equator,
a polar orbit goes over the
North and South Poles.
The polar
orbit is closer to the
Earth's surface than the geostationary orbit.
The satellite in the polar orbit travels much faster.
One complete orbit may take as little as 3 or
4 hrs.
By the time that the satellite has made one orbit
the Earth will have turned beneath it.
The satellite sees a new section of the Earth with each orbit.
This type of satellite is ideal
for collecting information
for weather prediction or surveillance (spying)
because
1. It sees the whole surface
each day.
2. It is close enough to the
Earth to get detailed and reliable
information.
Headings
The
Earth and Beyond Search Questions
gcsescience.com Contents Index Quizzes gcsescience.com
Copyright © 2008 Dr. Colin France. All Rights Reserved.