SWOT (Surface Water and Ocean Topography)

Earth

Surface Water

Water on Earth

SWOT Mission Unlocks a New View of Our Waterways

Explore how rivers move, change, and sustain life across the planet with SWOT data.

Posted March 23, 2026

Earth

Earth Science

Jet Propulsion Laboratory

SWOT (Surface Water and Ocean Topography)

Water on Earth

US-French Satellite Takes Stock of World’s River Water

In a first, a space mission led by NASA and France has tracked Earth’s rivers swelling and shrinking from month to month over the course of a year and found significantly less of a swing than previous model-based estimates. A record drought in the Amazon likely influenced the tally made by the Surface Water and […]

Posted March 4, 2026

SWOT (Surface Water and Ocean Topography)

Jet Propulsion Laboratory

NASA-French Satellite Spots Large-Scale River Waves for First Time

In a first, researchers from NASA and Virginia Tech used satellite data to measure the height and speed of potentially hazardous flood waves traveling down U.S. rivers. The three waves they tracked were likely caused by extreme rainfall and by a loosened ice jam. While there is currently no database that compiles satellite data on […]

Posted May 21, 2025

SWOT (Surface Water and Ocean Topography)

Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Oceanography

Oceans

NASA, French SWOT Satellite Offers Big View of Small Ocean Features

The international mission collects two-dimensional views of smaller waves and currents that are bringing into focus the ocean’s role in supporting life on Earth. Small things matter, at least when it comes to ocean features like waves and eddies.

Posted May 15, 2025

SWOT (Surface Water and Ocean Topography)

Earth

Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Oceans

Next-Generation Water Satellite Maps Seafloor From Space

More accurate maps based on data from the SWOT mission can improve underwater navigation and result in greater knowledge of how heat and life move around the world’s ocean. There are better maps of the Moon’s surface than of the bottom of Earth’s ocean. Researchers have been working for decades to change that. As part […]

Posted March 19, 2025

Earth Science

Oceanography

Science-enabling Technology

SWOT (Surface Water and Ocean Topography)

Technology Highlights

NASA’s Cloud-based Confluence Software Helps Hydrologists Study Rivers on a Global Scale

Rivers and streams wrap around Earth in complex networks millions of miles long, driving trade, nurturing ecosystems, and stocking critical reserves of freshwater. But the hydrologists who dedicate their professional lives to studying this immense web of waterways do so with a relatively limited set of tools.

Posted February 4, 2025

SWOT (Surface Water and Ocean Topography)

Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Water on Earth

Cutting-Edge Satellite Tracks Lake Water Levels in Ohio River Basin

Data from the U.S.-European Surface Water and Ocean Topography mission gives researchers a detailed look at lakes and reservoirs in a U.S. watershed. The Ohio River Basin stretches from Pennsylvania to Illinois and contains a system of reservoirs, lakes, and rivers that drains an area almost as large as France.

Posted December 17, 2024

PACE (Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, Ocean Ecosystem)

Climate Science

Oceans

SWOT (Surface Water and Ocean Topography)

NASA’s PACE, US-European SWOT Satellites Offer Combined Look at Ocean

One Earth satellite can see plankton that photosynthesize. The other measures water surface height. Together, their data reveals how sea life and the ocean are intertwined. The ocean is an engine that drives Earth’s weather patterns and climate and sustains a substantial portion of life on the planet. A new animation based on data from […]

Posted December 9, 2024

SWOT (Surface Water and Ocean Topography)

Earth

Earth Science

Earth Science Division

Jet Propulsion Laboratory

International SWOT Satellite Spots Planet-Rumbling Greenland Tsunami

Data from space shows water tilting up toward the north side of the Dickson Fjord as it sloshed from south to north and back every 90 seconds for nine days after a 2023 rockslide. The international Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) satellite mission, a collaboration between NASA and France’s CNES (Centre National d’Études Spatiales), […]

Posted November 1, 2024

Climate Change

Natural Disasters

SWOT (Surface Water and Ocean Topography)

Uncategorized

Water on Earth

International SWOT Mission Can Improve Flood Prediction

A partnership between NASA and the French space agency, the satellite is poised to help improve forecasts of where and when flooding will occur in Earth’s rivers, lakes, and reservoirs. Rivers, lakes, and reservoirs are like our planet’s arteries, carrying life-sustaining water in interconnected networks.

Posted May 8, 2024