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California Institute of Technology
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Arctic Lakes
Published:
May 8, 2014
Arctic Lakes
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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...
SWOT Spacecraft Bus
A diagram illustrating the swaths of data that SWOT will collect.
Diagram of SWOT Data Collection
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.
Part of the SWOT satellite's science instrument payload in a clean room at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
Alaska lakes.
Alaska Lakes
SWOT will provide NASA’s first global survey of Earth’s surface water.
SWOT (Animated Gif)
A banner explaining the purpose of the SWOT mission, created and displayed during testing.
Understanding Surface Water Characteristics and Ocean Dynamics
This SWOT "Bannerbug" exhibit was created for display during hardware tests conducted during an eleven-day period in October 2008.
SWOT Banner on Display
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...
SWOT 1-Day Repeat Orbit
A photograph of the Varzea Forest area of Brazil (3 of 4).
Varzea Forest, Brazil
Engineers integrate separate parts of the SWOT satellite into one in a Thales Alenia Space clean room facility in Cannes, France.
Part of the SWOT satellite's science instrument payload in a clean room at a Thales facility.
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.
Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) Mission Poster
Artist's impression of the future SWOT satellite making sea surface height observations, even through clouds.
Artist's Impression of the SWOT Satellite
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.
Altimeter Series
NASA’s Blue Marble
NASA's Blue Marble
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...
Team members who helped load the hardware onto a C-17 aircraft for SWOT's transfer from Southern, Calif. to Cannes France.
Floodplain Channel in the Amazon
Floodplain Channel in the Amazon
The Canadian Space Agency will contribute to the SWOT Mission by providing a high-power assembly component for SWOT’s Ka-band Radar Interferometer (KaRIn).
Canadian Space Agency
Amazon Fishermen
Amazon Fishermen
SWOT is being jointly developed by NASA and Centre National D’Études Spatiales (CNES).
Centre National D'Études Spatiales
SWOT Applications Lead, Margaret Srinivasan, helps young visitors match data user types - from coastal safety officers to farmers - with pictures representing SWOT applications.
SWOT Matching Card Game
An image of the original concept for the Water and Terrestrial Elevation Recovery (WATER) Mission, which later became SWOT.
WATER Mission Concept Illustration
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.
"SWOT in a Box" Reveal - Gulf of Mexico Model
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...
SWOT leaving NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California en route to March Air Reserve Base.
The SWOT Payload module consists of two primary components: the Ka-band Radar Interferometer (KaRIn) and the Nadir module.
SWOT Payload
A photograph of the Varzea Forest area of Brazil (2 of 4).
Varzea Forest, Brazil