Polar Orbiting Satellites - Scan coverage

The orbital period is about 98-102 minutes.

 The scan swath is about 3000 km wide.

Note that the orbit is directed to the northwest. The satellites do not pass directly over the North pole or South Pole creating a precession in the orbit so that is passes over locations further west on subsequent orbits.

mage created by David Johnson at the National Center of Atmospheric Research