Disappearing Lakes in Barrow, Alaska

Lake Calado, Amazon

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

Floodplain Channel in the Amazon

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

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

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...

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

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

Emblem for the SWOT mission.

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

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

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

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...

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 ...

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

Soccer Nets on a levee in the Amazon

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

A photograph of the Amazon River Delta, captured by Landsat in 2006.

Engineers integrate separate parts of the SWOT satellite into one in a Thales Alenia Space clean room facility in Cannes, France.

NASA’s Blue Marble

Siberian Lakes

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

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