INTRODUCTION:

Satellite is a heavenly body which revolving rounds the planet in a particular orbit
from a fixed point at approximately 35786km above the earth’s surface. A single
geostationary satellite is on a line of sight with about 40 percent of the earth's
surface. Three such satellites, each separated by 120 degrees of longitude, can
provide coverage of the entire planet, with the exception of small circular regions
centered at the north and south geographic poles. It provides the kind of
continuous monitoring necessary for intensive data analysis. There are two types
of satellite in nature.
a) Natural Satellite
b) Artificial Satellite
The satellite which creates automatically in nature is called natural satellite. For
example, Moon. The satellite which is created by human beings is called Artificial
Satellite. For example, Geo stationary satellite. GEO satellites primary purpose is
weather imagery to optimize forecasting. In addition to weather imagery, these
satellites include instrumentation used in environmental monitoring
communications via a relay system. A satellite in geosynchronous (or
geostationary) are positioned a fixed point at approximately 35,786 kilometers
(19,323 nautical miles or 22,241 statute miles) above the earth's surface. At this
fixed height, the satellite matches the Earth’s rotation speed and allows the
satellites a full-disc view at a stationary position. To stay over the same spot on
earth, a geostationary satellite also has to be directly above the equator.
Otherwise, from the earth the satellite would appear to move in a north-south
line every day. A single geostationary satellite is on a line of sight with about 40
percent of the earth's surface. Three such satellites, each separated by 120
degrees of longitude, can provide coverage of the entire planet, with the
exception of small circular regions centered at the north and south geographic
poles. A geostationary satellite can be accessed using a directional antenna,
usually a small dish, aimed at the spot in the sky where the satellite appears to
hover. The principal advantage of this type of satellite is the fact that an
earthbound directional antenna can be aimed and then left in position without
further adjustment. Another advantage is the fact that because highly directional
antennas can be used, interference from surface-based sources, and from other
satellites, is minimized.
GEO-STATIONARY SATELLITE:
A Geo-Stationary Satellite is any satellite which is placed in a geo-stationary orbit.
Satellites in geostationary orbit maintain a constant position relative to the
surface of the earth. Geostationary Satellites do this by orbiting the earth
approximately 22,300 miles above the equator. This orbital path is called the
Clarke Belt, in honor of Arthur C. Clarke. Its latitude stays at zero and its longitude
remains constant. The typical service life expectancy of a geostationary satellite is
ten to fifteen years. As geostationary satellites circle the earth at equator, they
are not able to provide coverage at the Northernmost and Southernmost
latitudes. They are often referred to Geosynchronous or GEO.

It
is

classified in 3 parts:
1) LEO (Lower Earth Orbit)
2) MEO (Medium Earth Orbit)
3) GEO (Geostationary Orbit)
 LEO is 500-2000km above the earth
 MEO is 8000 – 20000km above the earth
 GEO is 35786 km above the earth
History:
The first appearance of a geostationary orbit in popular literature was in the first
Venus Equilateral story by George O. Smith,but Smith did not go into details.
British science fiction authorArthur C. Clarke disseminated the idea widely, with
more details on how it would work, in a 1945 paper entitled "Extra-Terrestrial
Relays — Can Rocket Stations Give Worldwide Radio Coverage?", published in
Wireless World magazine. Clarke acknowledged the connection in his introduction
to The Complete Venus Equilateral. The orbit, which Clarke first described as useful
for broadcast and relay communications satellites, is sometimes called the Clarke
Orbit. Similarly, the Clarke Belt is the part of space about 35,786 km (22,236 mi)
above sea level, in the plane of the equator, where near-geostationary orbits may
be implemented. The Clarke Orbit is about 265,000 km (165,000 mi) in
circumference.
ADVANTAGES:
1) High coverage area
2) Five geostationary satellites are enough to cover all regions of the earth.
3) One ground segments is enough for satellite monitoring
4) No problem with frequency changes

DIS-ADVANTAGES:

1) Polar regions are not observed

2) They can’t see North and South poles
3) Limited use for greater than 60-70 degrees of North and South
4) Weak signal after travelling over 35,000 km.
5) Signal sending delay

Applications:

1) Telecommunication: worldwide operational telecommunication

systems for telephones, TV and digitized transmission lines.
2) ARMY
3) Alarm systems: detection of rocket launches
4) Geostationary Satellites are also commonly used for communications
and weather- observation.
Polar Satellite:
Polar was launched on February 24, 1996 by NASA in the Global Geospacer
Science project. It is the second satellite to be launched in that project. Polar is an
atmospheric studies satellite in polar orbit with an orbital period of 18 hours. The
Polar satellite's mission is expected to last 1.5 years.Polar carries several different
instruments, and has many different scientific studies to perform. One purpose of
Polar is to gather information that will help scientists protect future satellites
from radiation and other atmospheric dangers. Since the satellite is flying in the
upper atmosphere, there is some concern that the satellite's instruments may be
affected in some way or damaged by the sun's harmful radiation.One of the main
atmospheric studies experiments on board the Polar satellite is called the
TIDE/PSI investigation. It is designed to observe ions in the Earth's atmosphere,
especially in the polar regions. These observations include measurements of the
partial pressure, wind velocity, and temperature of the ions. These ions include
hydrogen, helium, nitrogen, oxygen, and molecules of these species and their
compounds. These ionized gases make up what scientists call the plasma
environment. An example of a plasma is the extremely hot atmosphere of the
Sun. That is, it is a gas consisting of charged particles (mostly electrons and
protons). The plasma being studied by Polar is made up of ionized gases in the
magnetosphere. Relatively low energy/high density ionospheric plasmas and the
higher energy/lower density plasmas are associated with geomagnetic activity.
This geomagnetic activity causes storm-like conditions in space that can be
dangerous to spacecraft. Polar's job, therefore, is to collect data that will help
engineers design future spacecraft that will be able to withstand the
electromagnetic activity in space.Polar's most notable recent achievement
occurred when physicist Dr. Louis Frank of the University of Iowa used images
collected by Polar to support a theory that "comet-like objects" of about 10
meters in diameter are hitting the Earth's atmosphere and releasing nearly pure
water as they break apart into larger clouds. These "comet-like-objects", if they
exist, will be the focus of much further study regarding their chemical make-up.
These "objects" could possibly have an effect on science's understanding of the
sources of water on the Earth, and the water cycle of the atmosphere. Many
scientists have recently joined Dr. Frank in encouraging NASA to launch a satellite
dedicated specifically to studying this phenomenon.
Applications of Polar Satellite:
A polar orbiting satellite closely parallels the earth's meridian lines, thus having a
highly inclined orbit close to 90°. It passes over the north and south poles each
revolution. As the earth rotates to the east beneath the satellite, each pass
monitors an area to the west of the previous pass at intervals of roughly 90 to 100
minutes. These strips can be pieced together to produce a picture of a larger
area.

1) monitoring the weather

2) observing the Earth’s surface
3) military uses including spying

Advantage: Polar satellites have the advantage of photographing clouds directly

beneath them. They also circle at a much lower altitude (about 850 km) providing
more detailed information about violent storms and cloud systems.
Difference between Polar and Geostationary
Satellite:
POLAR SATELLITE:
These satellites are mainly situated up to 200km to 2000km from the earth’s
surface. Some of the examples of polar satellites are PSLV, ASLV etc.
Main functions of polar satellites
 land mapping: polar satellites are used for land mapping and the availability
of useful land on the earth. In India for that CORTOSAT1a is responsible for
land mapping. AlsoCORTOSAT 1b which gives info about agricultural
aspects. some other satellites which are involved in this are CORTOSAT 2.

 disaster management: After the disaster of Uttarakhand GOI launched a

satellite named SARSAT(save and rescue satellite). The main purpose of
SARSAT was to find missing people.

GEOSTATIONARY SATELLITE:
The satellites which are located 20000 to 36000 km away from the surface of
earth.
Main functions are:
 telecommunication
 navigation