Satellite data are received directly at the Kwajalein weather station and include the Japanese Multi-functional Transport Satellite-1 Replacement (MTSAT-1R) and three Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellites (POES): NOAA-14, 17, and 18. MTSAT-1R orbits above the equator at a speed that allows it to remain over a fixed point on the equator (140E to be exact). POES satellites make a complete poleward orbit around the earth about 14 times per day and collect data as the earth spins beneath the satellite's orbit.

The satellite data are processed at the Kwajalein weather station using the Man computer Interactive Data Access System (McIDAS), a sophisticated software package created by the Space Science and Engineering Center (SSEC) at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Satellite imagery produced by McIDAS can be animated, color enhanced for detail, and overlaid with surface and upper-air meteorological information.

The MTSAT-1R satellite provides half-hourly infrared (IR), water vapor, and visible images of much of the Pacific Ocean region west of Hawaii. The resolution is 1.25 km in the visible wavelength and 5 km in the IR and water vapor channels.

POES imagery is available at the Kwajalein weather station approximately every 2-4 hours. Data are received from two sensors onboard the POES satellites: the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR), and the Television Infrared Observation Satellite (TIROS) Operational Vertical Sounder (TOVS). The five channel AVHRR provides 1 km visible, near IR, IR, and water vapor window imagery. The TOVS complex includes a High-resolution Infrared Radiation Sounder (HIRS). Among the 20 HIRS channels are bands sensitive to carbon dioxide and water vapor absorption. A cloud height and detection algorithm for locating high-level cirrus clouds uses these channels. This state-of-the-art carbon dioxide radiance rationing technique overcomes some weaknesses inherent in the IR blackbody temperature used to estimate the altitude of cirrus. Cloud emissivity, total ozone estimates, and temperature profiles are also extracted from the TOVS data.