A Guide to Weather Satellites

Abstract

Whenever there is a live weather satellite image (amateur radio enthusiasts use the term WXSAT) being displayed on my computer, I am reminded of the immortal line from an old comedy by the late Tony Hancock: “There can’t be many people around here who know it’s not raining in Tokyo!” Although that comment referred to amateur radio hams discussing the weather around the world in the early 1960s, it could now be made by thousands of amateur weather monitors in numerous countries. In this chapter, we take a brief look at the background history of satellite remote imaging, the main constellations of imaging weather satellites, the types of images that they deliver, how they can really help the astronomer, and the options for amateurs wanting to obtain them.