Surface Water and Ocean Topography Fact Sheet

From northern lakes to Arctic seas ... SWOT has it covered.

Let's begin to explain how NASA's Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) satellite observatory will work by looking at a water surface being pelted by rain.

From New York to Florida ... SWOT has it covered.

SWOT will provide the very first comprehensive view of Earth's freshwater bodies from space.

From El Niño to sea level rise ... SWOT has it covered.

From the headwaters to the coast ... SWOT has it covered.

From coasts to regions where debris flows ... SWOT has it covered.

From Lake Powell to Southern California ... SWOT has it covered.

Where There's Water...There's SWOT provides an overview of the Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) mission, which will make the first global survey of Earth's surface water.

This video gallery produced by CNES highlights some of the first images from the SWOT mission, from sea ice extent to coastal sea height to river and lake measurements around the globe.

Nine months after the mission’s successful launch, the SWOT Science Team met in Toulouse, France, bringing together 300 people from 17 countries on all continents to discuss the results obtained wi...

An overview of SWOT's first data with mission engineer Curtis Chen

Watch with NASA as we launch an international mission to understand the Earth's water like never before.  

The Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) satellite deployed its solar arrays while in Earth orbit.

Highlights from the Dec. 15, 2022, launch of the Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) satellite, a mission led by NASA and the French space agency Centre National d’Études Spatiales (CNES). SW...

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.

Earth’s 370 quintillion gallons of water can be found all over the planet in lakes, rivers, glaciers, oceans, and groundwater. However, only a tiny fraction of this water is usable by humans. Under...

Cedric David is part of the science team behind the international Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) satellite, a mission led by NASA and the French space agency Centre National d’Études Spa...

Christine Gebara is part of the team building the international Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) satellite, a mission led by NASA and the French space agency Centre National d’Études Spati...

Marc Simard is part of the science team behind the international Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) mission, led by NASA and the French space agency Centre National d’Études Spatiales (CNES)...

Tahani Amer oversees several Earth science missions for NASA, including the international Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) satellite, a mission led by NASA and the French space agency Cent...

Meet some of the scientists and engineers contributing to a new Earth science mission, led by NASA and the French space agency Centre National d’Études Spatiales (CNES). The Surface Water and Ocean...

A presentation on SWOT by Dr. Nadya Vinogradova Shiffer, Director of the NASA Sea Level Change Team and the Ocean Physics program. The Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) mission will be NASA...

Source: To become operational in orbit, SWOT will need to deploy components that were stored for the launch and orbit insertion process. After the solar panels have been extended, the booms and ant...