POES satellites include: Defense Meteorological Satellite
Program (DMSP), Landsat, SPOT and NOAA Polar-orbiting
Operational Environmental Satellites (NPOES). The DMSP and NPOES
satellites are operational meteorological satellites. Imagery
from successive orbits overlay each other, providing global
daily coverage from each satellite. Commercial polar orbiters
like Landsat and SPOT, on the other hand, are intended for
geophysical remote sensing, with an emphasis on high-resolution
and multispectral imagery, at the cost of daily global coverage.
POES have meteorological and geophysical importance because of
their high-resolution global coverage and well calibrated
channels. They are designed to stay in a low earth orbit and
reach high latitudes. The POES program began in 1960 with the
launch of TIROS-1. Later satellites in the Improved TIROS
Operational Satellite (ITOS) program were expanded to capture
concurrent multiple-channel data on a daily basis. Image
provided by: Satellite Coverages and Orbits (NCAR) Tex