SWOT (Surface Water and Ocean Topography)

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

SWOT (Surface Water and Ocean Topography)

Earth Science

Water on Earth

International SWOT Mission Can Improve Flood Prediction

Posted May 7, 2024

SWOT (Surface Water and Ocean Topography)

Earth

Earth Science

Earth Science Division

Water on Earth

NASA-Led Study Provides New Global Accounting of Earth’s Rivers

The novel approach to estimating river water storage and discharge also identifies regions marked by ‘fingerprints’ of intense water use. A study led by NASA researchers provides new estimates of how much water courses through Earth’s rivers, the rates at which it’s flowing into the ocean, and how much both of those figures have fluctuated […]

Posted April 26, 2024

SWOT (Surface Water and Ocean Topography)

Earth

Earth Science

Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Water on Earth

SWOT Satellite Helps Gauge the Depth of Death Valley’s Temporary Lake

Data from the international Surface Water and Ocean Topography mission helped researchers to calculate the depth of water in this transient freshwater body. California’s Death Valley, the driest place in North America, has hosted an ephemeral lake since late 2023.

Posted April 15, 2024

SWOT (Surface Water and Ocean Topography)

Earth

Extreme Weather Events

Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Oceans

Water on Earth

SWOT Satellite Catches Coastal Flooding During California Storms

Operated by NASA and the French space agency, the Surface Water and Ocean Topography mission provides a new view of water on land, at the coast, and in the ocean. A series of atmospheric rivers drenched California in February, with record amounts of rainfall and hurricane-force winds sweeping across parts of the state. At one […]

Posted March 5, 2024