Siberian Lakes

This image shows sea surface heights off the northern California coast in August 2023 as measured by the SWOT satellite.

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

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.

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

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.

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).

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

Amazon Fishermen

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

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

Floodplain Channel in the Amazon

Emblem for the SWOT mission.

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.

Alaska lakes.

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...

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

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

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

NASA’s Blue Marble

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

Disappearing lakes in Barrow, Alaska.

SWOT's nominal coverage during its 3-year science orbit will include measurements between 78°N and 78°S collected over a period of 21 days. Maps show the coverage after 3 days (left) and the full 2...

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

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