Lake Calado, Amazon

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

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

An artist’s concept of the SWOT spacecraft (February 2015).

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

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...

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

NASA’s Blue Marble

Disappearing lakes in Barrow, Alaska.

Floodplain Channel in the Amazon

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 ...

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

Arctic

SWOT leaving NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, en route to March Air Reserve Base in Riverside County, California. Once the scientific payload arrived, it was sent to a Thale...

Part of the Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) satellite's science instrument payload sits in a clean room at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory during assembly.  

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.

The first 90 days of the SWOT science mission will be flown in a "fast-sampling" phase that revisits specific areas once per day. This phase will begin after a 90-day commissioning phase for engine...

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...

A Flooded Forest in the Amazon

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

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

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" ...

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

Siberian Lakes

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...

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