How do you observe the Earth with satellites?

Imagine you're playing hide and seek, but instead of hiding behind a tree, Earth is hiding behind clouds, and you're using satellites to find it!

You can think of satellites like super high-up friends who take pictures of the Earth from space. They’re kind of like your phone camera, except way bigger and way higher up. These satellites float around in space, taking photos or videos of Earth, sometimes every hour, sometimes every day.

Once a satellite takes a picture, it sends that picture back to us on Earth using radio waves, the same kind your mom’s microwave uses to heat up popcorn! We have special places called ground stations, like giant antennas, that catch those signals and turn them into images we can see.

Sometimes satellites watch how much sunlight hits different parts of Earth. Other times, they check how hot or cold the land or oceans are. It’s kind of like having a friend who keeps track of everything happening on your playground, from how many kids are playing to whether it's raining!