Geostationary satellites

The orbit of geostationary satellites is much higher - around 36,000 km. The satellite is positioned directly above the equator, and its speed is presicely matched the the speed of rotation of the Earth. The result is that the satellite stays in the same location relative to the earth's surface. The satellite can continuously monitor a large area, and a few well placed satellites can cover a large part of the earth's surface. The major disadvantages are that higher latitudes are not well observed, and the higher orbit leads to lower spatial resolution.