This Image Weather satellites take snapshots of weather conditions in a number of different ways. They can measure temperature and moisture content of the atmosphere along with providing images of the clouds. Some satellites orbit over the poles so they can monitor weather at the highest latitudes, others are in an orbit that is stationary relative to a point on the earth.
Satellites transmit a number of different types of images.
The most commonly used for television weathercasting are visible and infrared. Visible images are similar to what you would see if you took a picture of the clouds from the Space Shuttle. The image above is created by an infrared sensor. The sensor detects the temperature of infrared radiation from the earth. Clouds are usually colder than the air surrounding them so they stand out in these images.