SWOT Emblem

NASA has selected Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) of Hawthorne, California, to provide launch services for SWOT.

An alternate logo for the Surface Water Ocean Topography (SWOT) Mission.

SWOT will collect data across a 75-mile (120-kilometer) wide swath, with a gap in the center for an altimetry track. This animation shows the collection of data over the state of Florida, which is ...

This collaborative mission poster, designed by CNES (French Space Agency), shows the Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) satellite soaring over an abstract of a water molecule.

A photograph of the Varzea Forest area of Brazil (3 of 4).

Artist's impression of the future SWOT satellite making sea surface height observations, even through clouds.

Soccer Nets on a levee in the Amazon

A diagram illustrating the swaths of data that SWOT will collect. 

This SWOT "Bannerbug" exhibit was created for display during hardware tests conducted during an eleven-day period in October 2008.

Artist’s concept of seven altimeters orbiting Earth: Jason-CS/Sentinel-6B, SWOT, Sentinel-6A, Jason 3, TOPEX/Poseidon, Jason 1 and OSTM/Jason 2.

A photograph of the Varzea Forest area of Brazil (2 of 4).

SWOT will provide NASA’s first global survey of Earth’s surface water.

SWOT technologies - advanced wide-swath technology, ocean and surface water topography measurements, and high-resolution products - will support such societal needs as dams, shipping, and surface w...

Lake Calado, Amazon

A banner explaining the purpose of the SWOT mission, created and displayed during testing.

A Flooded Forest in the Amazon

The SWOT satellite observatory is being jointly built by NASA and Centre National D’Études Spatiales (CNES).

Mounted above the Payload Module, the Spacecraft Bus is a multi-purpose platform housing many of the electronics required for the observatory to function, including components for power, propulsion...

Arctic

Alaska lakes.

An artist’s concept of the SWOT spacecraft (January 2012).

The U.K. Space Agency will provide a part of the radar payload for SWOT.

AirSWOT plays a key role in SWOT mission development. It allows scientists to study interferometric data before launch and thus be prepared to effectively interpret SWOT data after launch.

SWOT Applications Lead, Margaret Srinivasan, helps young visitors match data user types - from coastal safety officers to farmers - with pictures representing SWOT applications.

An image of the original concept for the Water and Terrestrial Elevation Recovery (WATER) Mission, which later became SWOT.