Nearly 20 years in development, the Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) satellite promises to provide a thorough accounting of water over much of the Earth’s surface.
SWOT's measurements of fresh water and the ocean could help researchers to address climate issues and help communities prepare for a warming world.
The data will be compiled from radar sweeps of the Earth that will take place at least twice every 21 days and which could help to bolster weather and climate forecasts.
The satellite makes use of a scientific instrument called the Ka-band Radar Interferometer (KaRIn) which has been in development for years.
The instrument has been designed to capture very precise measurements of the height of water in Earth’s freshwater bodies and the ocean. KaRIn will measure the height of water in the ocean, 'seeing' features such as currents and eddies that are less than 12.5 miles (20km) across – up to 10 times smaller than those detectable with...