How high are the satellites that take the images of the clouds we show on television.
The GOES West satellite (GOES stands for Geo-stationary Operational Environmental Satellite) orbits the earth at an altitude of 22,240 miles; that's altitude results in an orbit which moves at the same speed as the earth rotates, which allows it to take a near-continuous stream of photos of the same place. That's important, as it enables us to produce the satellite loops that are very important in analyzing changes in weather systems.
