How does a weather satellite help with weather forecasting?

Satellites help meteorologists and forecasters observe what is happening in the atmosphere via a bird’s eye view.

There are two types of weather satellite systems:

Polar orbiting - these satellites orbit around the earth in their north-south orbits and observe the same spot on Earth twice daily to provide imagery and atmospheric soundings of temperatures and moisture data of our whole planet.

Geostationary - these satellites are in orbit about 35000km above the equator and they spin at the same rate of the Earth. They are constantly focused on the same area. This enables the satellite to take a picture of the Earth, at the same location, every half hour.