Arctic

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

Emblem for the SWOT mission.

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

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.

A Flooded Forest in the Amazon

Disappearing lakes in Barrow, Alaska.

Crowds flock to the Earth Sciences exhibits during the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) "Open House" event, giving volunteers (red shirts) a chance to share information about their various miss...

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...

Lake Calado, Amazon

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

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

Canada is home to more than 30,000 lakes including these water bodies in Northern Alberta. The abundance of surface freshwater in Canada makes it a prime target for AirSWOT investigations.

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

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.

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...

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

SWOT is being jointly developed by NASA and Centre National D’Études Spatiales (CNES).

Siberian Lakes

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

Alaska lakes.

NASA’s Blue Marble

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...

The SWOT Payload module consists of two primary components: the Ka-band Radar Interferometer (KaRIn) and the Nadir module.

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