SWOT Emblem

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

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

Lake Calado, Amazon

A photograph of the Varzea Forest area of Brazil (1 of 4).

A Flooded Forest in the Amazon

Floodplain Channel in the Amazon

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

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

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

Arctic

Teams from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California and the March Air Reserve Base in Riverside County, California, loaded the scientific payload for the SWOT Earth-observing satelli...

Highly visible in their red shirts, SWOT project team members - including Project Manager Parag Vaze at left - interact with the public during the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) "Open House" ...

An early rendering of the SWOT spacecraft (February 2011).

Disappearing lakes in Barrow, Alaska.

Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) Open House visitors are delighted to see how well their color-coded stickers match the "sea surface topography model of the Gulf of Mexico within a wooden box.

AirSWOT is using parts of Saskatchewan as a testing ground for mapping water levels.

Pictured are team members who helped load the hardware for the Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) satellite's research instruments onto a C-17 airplane pose for a picture. The payload left M...

NASA’s Blue Marble

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

Visiting Scout uses a color-coded, calibrated stick to determine "sea surface topography" within a wooden box while his sister records his results by placing stickers on a card.

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

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

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...

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

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