Satellites can operate in several types of Earth orbit.
The most common orbits for environmental satellites are geostationary and polar, but some instruments also fly in inclined orbits. Other types of orbits are possible, such as the Molniya orbits commonly used for Soviet spacecraft. This is especially useful for monitoring severe local storms and tropical cyclones. Because a geostationary orbit must be in the same plane as the Earth's rotation, that is the equatorial plane, it provides distorted images of the polar regions with poor spatial resolution. These satellites operate in a sun-synchronous orbit.