Why SWOT Matters

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[01-Aug-18] Water volume cannot currently be measured directly from space. The Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) mission, planned for launch in 2021, intends to provide a major improvement in the availability of surface extent and storage change for surface water bodies such as lakes, reservoirs, wetlands, and rivers globally. With SWOT data, water volume, and river discharge can be more easily estimated. [26-Jul-18] The SWOT mission is being jointly developed and managed by NASA, the French Space Agency (CNES), and the Canadian Space Agency, with contributions from the United Kingdom Space Agency. It is UK-based Flann Microwave's first project for NASA, and has seen engineers working closely with their counterparts at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), in Pasadena, California, in developing custom-made waveguide equipment. [28-Jun-18] Hydrologist George Allen (Texas A&M University) and SWOT Hydrology Science Lead Tamlin Pavelsky (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill) used a statistical model to determine that global river and stream surface area is about 45 percent greater than indicated by previous studies. The findings, published in the journal Science, may change our understanding of the importance of streams and rivers in exchanging greenhouse gases with the atmosphere.