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CNES - First SWOT Images Video Gallery

Published: October 4, 2023

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.

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SWOT will collect data across a 120 km wide swath, with a gap in the center for an altimetry track.
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This animation shows the collection of data over the state of Florida, which is rich with rivers, lakes and wetlands.
SWOT Data Collection Over Florida
The ocean is responsible for Earth's mild climate and makes life on Earth possible for all creatures. As global ocean temperatures increase, the ocean water expands causing sea level rise which can...
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Video of Planet Earth: The Water Planet
Planet Earth: The Water Planet
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.
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Animated scenes showing SWOT in orbit
Where There's Water...There's SWOT
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...
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An animated video teaching about Earth's water budget.
Earth's Water Budget
This animation features the fully deployed SWOT satellite over Earth.
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This animation features the fully deployed SWOT satellite over Earth.
SWOT Global Coverage
This video shows a snapshot of ocean turbulence in the North Atlantic Ocean from January through March of 2012.
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Video of NASA Simulation Shows Ocean Turbulence in the North Atlantic
NASA Simulation Shows Ocean Turbulence in the North Atlantic
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...
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An interview with Christine Gebara on her part in the SWOT mission.
Mission Makers: Christine Gebara, Engineer on the SWOT Water-Tracking Mission
The Surface Water and Ocean Topography mission (SWOT) will help scientists monitor Earth’s ocean, as well as the amount of freshwater in its lakes and rivers when it launches in late 2022. After e...
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A video introducing and discussing the SWOT mission, with visuals showing the mission being built in JPL's clean room.
Water-Monitoring Satellite Moves Closer to Launch
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...
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A recording of a science talk given by Dr. Nadya Vinogradova Shiffer.
Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) Science Talk
This short educational documentary was created by SWOT PI Dr. Faisal Hossain to showcase to the potential value of current and emerging water satellites for society.
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This short educational documentary was created by SWOT PI Dr. Faisal Hossain to showcase to the potential value of current and emerging water satellites for society.
Space: Come Hell or High Water
The water cycle is how atmosphere, land and ocean processes interact with each other.
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Video of Altimetry and the Water Cycle
Altimetry and the Water Cycle
Earth is our home. The SWOT mission will give us a better understanding of our world’s oceans and terrestrial surface waters while showing us why these resources are so important.
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A public talk streamed with Dr. Cedric David talking about SWOT.
SWOT: Looking at Earth's Water (Live Public Talk)
Measuring Water from Space: Tamlin Pavelsky, SWOT’s Hydrology Science Lead and Professor at UNC’s College of Arts and Sciences, explains how SWOT data is being validated from North Carolina to New ...
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A video of SWOT's Hydrology science lead explaining how SWOT data is being validated.
Measuring Water from Space
An animation of the streams, tributaries and rivers that make up the Mississippi watershed.
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An animation of the streams, tributaries and rivers that make up the Mississippi watershed.
The Rivers of the Mississippi Watershed
The deployment of SWOT's solar panels is featured in this animation.
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The deployment of SWOT's solar panels is featured in this animation.
Solar Panel Deployment
SWOT will include a Ka-band Radar Interferometer (KaRIn) that will send and receive radar pulses to antennas mounted on booms attached to the spacecraft.
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This animation shows the various stages of boom deployment for the interferometer antennas.
Deployment of Interferometer Antennas
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...
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An artist's rendition showing how the instrument on SWOT will deploy.
SWOT Interferometer Deployment
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...
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A recording off a press conference given by CNES about SWOT's first data.
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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...
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A video introducing Tahani Amer and chatting with her about her work on SWOT.
Mission Makers: Tahani Amer, NASA Program Executive for the SWOT Water-Tracking Mission
The SWOT satellite will survey rivers wider than 100 m (328 ft). Three products will be delivered to users. They will only be generated for rivers recorded in an existing database and will cover re...
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Video of SWOT River Products
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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)...
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An interview with Marc Simard about his part in the SWOT mission.
Mission Makers: Marc Simard, Scientist on the SWOT Water-Tracking Mission
This visualization shows the progression of improved data resolution from satellite altimeters in the past, present, and future.
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This visualization shows the progression of improved data resolution from satellite altimeters in the past, present, and future
Altimetry: Past, Present and Future
The Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) satellite deployed its solar arrays while in Earth orbit.
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A sped-up video showing the deployment of SWOT's solar panel array.
SWOT Deploys Solar Arrays
Watch with NASA as we launch an international mission to understand the Earth's water like never before.  
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The broadcast that was shown during SWOT's launch.
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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...
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A video recap of the SWOT launch.
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