Visible imagery has the best detail when there is enough sunlight to see the clouds. This type of imagery is useless at night when its dark.
Outer space is black in a visible satellite image.
It captures the temperature of the clouds or ground. The IR pictures show bright white for the coldest land surfaces and highest clouds. Warmer surfaces are shown as darker shades of gray to black. Infrared imagery is as useful at night as it is during the day, because the surfaces continue to emit their characteristic infrared radiation even though the sun is down. Types of Satellites GOES G eostationary O perational E nvironmental S atellites or GOES satellites orbit the earth at an altitude of 22,000 miles above the equator once every 24 hours, keeping pace with the earth's rotation.