Overview

Investigate the coverage of Earth's surface by two SWOT instruments – KaRIn Interferometer (green shading) and altimeter (red lines) – by interacting with the tool below. The map shows 21 days of tracks, after which the satellite will repeat its pattern of data acquisition.

Use the Search box to find places of interest ("Lake Tahoe") or by lat/lon coordinates. If swath data (i.e., green overlay) impacts the ability to see map details, temporarily "Hide Tracks" using the radio button. Alternatively, zoom into the place of interest by clicking the "+" button.

Note that this tool should be used for illustration purposes only (e.g., width of the altimeter's nadir track does not scale when zoomed).

Map Terms

  • Nadir - point on Earth directly below the satellite
  • Pass - SWOT retraces the same path every 21 days, during 292 orbits of the Earth. Each orbit includes an ascending (flying north) and descending (flying south) portion, or "pass". Each pass is numbered (1 to 584) and its start time is shown. For ascending passes, the time starts near the South Pole. For descending orbits, the time starts near the North Pole.
  • Swath - ground area covered by KaRIn instrument. Watch an animation of how KaRIn will collect data.

More Orbit and Coverage Information

Details on orbit characteristics and instrument coverage can be found at AVISO.
Original KML data files for instrument coverage produced by CNES.