All satellite orbits are full of compromises, the Near Polar Orbits (NOAA-19) are described herein.
Firstly, why near and not polar, well if a true polar orbit is used then the Poles are over flown repeatedly so a near polar orbit can reduce this redundancy. Now in order to get a good view of the poles we need to know how close (far away) we need to fly. This introduces the first and probably the most important compromise we must make.