Here are five ways that SWOT will alter what we understand about water on Earth:
1. SWOT will survey almost all water in the worlds surface area for the very first time.
Water is vital for life on this planet. SWOT will assist scientists track Earths water budget– where the water is today, where its coming from, and where its going to be tomorrow.
Set for a December launch, the SWOT satellite will assist scientists study such ocean functions as currents and eddies in locations like the Black Sea closer to the coast than previous ocean-observing satellites. Credit: NASA Earth Observatory
2. SWOT will see Earths water in higher meaning than ever before.
The spacecrafts science instruments will see the worlds freshwater bodies and the ocean with unprecedented clearness. SWOT will be able to gather data on ocean features less than 60 miles (100 kilometers) throughout, helping to improve scientists understanding of the oceans function in environment change.
By providing a high-definition view of freshwater bodies, SWOT will assist create a much more total image of Earths water spending plan. Numerous huge rivers stay a mystery to scientists, who cant outfit them with keeping track of instruments for various factors, consisting of inaccessibility. The spacecrafts instruments will observe the entire length of nearly all rivers wider than 330 feet (100 meters), viewing them in three measurements for the very first time. Where ground and satellite technologies currently offer information on just a couple of thousand of the worlds largest lakes, SWOT will expand that number to over a million lakes larger than 15 acres (62,500 square meters).
The SWOT objective will collect details on the height of water in Earths lakes, oceans, rivers, and reservoirs. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/CNES/ Thales Alenia Space
3. The satellite will deal with a few of the most pressing environment change questions of our time.
A vital part of forecasting our future environment is identifying at what point the ocean slows down the absorption of excess heat trapped in the environment and starts launching it back into the air, where it could speed up international warming. SWOT will supply crucial info about this international ocean-atmosphere heat exchange, allowing researchers to evaluate and improve climate projections. In addition, the satellite will assist fill spaces in scientists photo of how sea level is altering along coastlines, using insights that can then be utilized to enhance computer system designs for water level rise projections and the forecasting of coastal floods.
4. SWOT data will be utilized to inform decisions about our lives.
Climate modification is also speeding up Earths water cycle, causing more unpredictable rainfall patterns, consisting of torrential rainstorms and extreme droughts. Some neighborhoods all over the world will hence experience floods while others suffer droughts. SWOT information will be used to keep track of dry spell conditions in lakes and improve flood forecasts for rivers, offering necessary details to water management agencies, catastrophe preparedness companies, universities, civil engineers, and others who require to track water in their areas.
5. This objective is leading the way for future NASA Earth objectives while also building on an enduring international collaboration.
With its ingenious innovation and dedication to engaging a diverse community of people who plan to use the missions information, SWOT is laying a path for future Earth-observing missions. Measurements from SWOT– and the tools to support scientists in examining the information– will be accessible and free. This will help to foster research study and applications activities by a vast array of users, including those who may not normally have the chance to access this knowledge.
Such an enthusiastic mission is possible since of a decades-long partnership between NASA and CNES that started in the 1980s to keep an eye on Earths ocean. This collaboration pioneered using a space-based instrument called an altimeter to study sea level with the launch of the TOPEX/Poseidon satellite in 1992. The NASA-CNES collaboration has actually continued uninterrupted for three decades and has actually expanded to encompass work with other firms, including the CSA and the UK Space Agency for SWOT, in addition to ESA (European Space Agency), the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites, and the European Commission for the Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich satellite, which introduced in November 2020.
More About the Mission
SWOT is being jointly developed by NASA and CNES, with contributions from the CSA and the UK Space Agency. For the flight system payload, NASA is providing the Ka-band Radar Interferometer (KaRIn) instrument, a GPS science receiver, a laser retroreflector, a two-beam microwave radiometer, and NASA instrument operations. CNES is providing the Doppler Orbitography and Radioposition Integrated by Satellite (DORIS) system, the dual frequency Poseidon altimeter (developed by Thales Alenia Space), the KaRIn radio-frequency subsystem (together with Thales Alenia Space and with support from the UK Space Agency), the satellite platform, and ground control sector.
This illustration reveals the Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) satellite in orbit with its photovoltaic panels and KaRIn instrument antennas deployed. Credit: CNES
The global Surface Water and Ocean Topography objective will supply high-definition information on the salt- and fresh water on Earths surface.
On December 16, NASA successfully launched the Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) satellite into Earth orbit from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California atop a Falcon 9 rocket. The mission is a collaborative effort in between NASA and the French area firm Centre National dÉtudes Spatiales (CNES)– with contributions from the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) and the UK Space Agency– that will survey water on more than 90% of the planets surface area.
The satellite will measure the height of water in Earths freshwater bodies and the ocean, providing insights into how the ocean influences climate change; how a warming world impacts reservoirs, lakes, and rivers; and how communities can better prepare for catastrophes, like floods.
SWOT will help researchers track Earths water budget– where the water is today, where its coming from, and where its going to be tomorrow. SWOT will be able to collect data on ocean features less than 60 miles (100 kilometers) across, assisting to improve researchers understanding of the oceans role in environment modification. By offering a high-definition view of freshwater bodies, SWOT will assist produce a much more complete photo of Earths water budget. Environment modification is likewise accelerating Earths water cycle, leading to more volatile rainfall patterns, consisting of torrential rainstorms and severe droughts. SWOT information will be used to keep an eye on drought conditions in lakes and enhance flood projections for rivers, supplying essential details to water management firms, disaster preparedness firms, universities, civil engineers, and others who require to track water in their local areas.
