<P> Other environmental satellites can detect changes in the Earth's vegetation, sea state, ocean color, and ice fields . For example, the 2002 Prestige oil spill off the northwest coast of Spain was watched carefully by the European ENVISAT, which, though not a weather satellite, flies an instrument (ASAR) which can see changes in the sea surface . </P> <P> El Niño and its effects on weather are monitored daily from satellite images . The Antarctic ozone hole is mapped from weather satellite data . Collectively, weather satellites flown by the U.S., Europe, India, China, Russia, and Japan provide nearly continuous observations for a global weather watch . </P> <P> As early as 1946, the idea of cameras in orbit to observe the weather was being developed . This was due to sparse data observation coverage and the expense of using cloud cameras on rockets . By 1958, the early prototypes for TIROS and Vanguard (developed by the Army Signal Corps) were created . The first weather satellite, Vanguard 2, was launched on February 17, 1959 . It was designed to measure cloud cover and resistance, but a poor axis of rotation and its elliptical orbit kept it from collecting a notable amount of useful data . The Explorer VI and VII satellites also contained weather - related experiments . </P> <P> The first weather satellite to be considered a success was TIROS - 1, launched by NASA on April 1, 1960 . TIROS operated for 78 days and proved to be much more successful than Vanguard 2 . TIROS paved the way for the Nimbus program, whose technology and findings are the heritage of most of the Earth - observing satellites NASA and NOAA have launched since then . Beginning with the Nimbus 3 satellite in 1969, temperature information through the tropospheric column began to be retrieved by satellites from the eastern Atlantic and most of the Pacific Ocean, which led to significant improvements to weather forecasts . </P>

When was the first weather satellite launched into space