SEO:- Satellite for Earth Observation
SEO stands for Satellite for Earth Observation. It is designed for observation of earth from orbit in space. Its major uses include weather monitoring, Environmental monitoring, Meteorology, Mapmaking, etc. These SEOs usually work above 600 km as below that the atmosphere presents produces significant drag which hinders the working and requires more energy due to frequent orbit readjustment strategy. To get an almost global coverage at low altitudes the Satellite must be in a polar orbit, with an orbital period of about 100 minutes. Another type of such satellites operates at higher altitudes i.e. 36000 km. This type of SEOs is in an orbit called geostationary orbit. Such an orbit gives coverage of more than 1/3rd of the earth’s surface. So about 3 SEO in geostationary orbit can cover the entire the earth’s surface. The geostationary orbit SEO is mainly used for meteorological purposes.