SWOT:Earth Science Satelite Will Help Communities Plan For a Better Future

A new Earth science mission, led by NASA and the French space agency
Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales (CNES), will help communities plan for a
better future by surveying the planet's salt and freshwater bodies. The Surface
Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) mission will measure the height of
water in lakes, rivers, reservoirs, and the oceans.

As climate change accelerates the water cycle, more communities around the
world will be inundated with water while others won’t have enough. SWOT data
will be used to improve flood forecasts and monitor drought conditions,
providing essential information to water management agencies, civil
engineers, universities, the U.S. Department of Defense, disaster
preparedness agencies, and others who need to track water in their local
areas. In this video, examples of how SWOT data will be used in these
communities are shared by a National Weather Service representative in
Oregon, an Alaska Department of Transportation engineer, researchers from
the University of Oregon and University of North Carolina, a NASA Jet
Propulsion Laboratory scientist working with the Department of Defense, and
a JPL scientist working with the Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration
Agency.

:30 - Flood Watches & Warnings - Portland, Oregon
1:08 - Water Management - Fern Ridge Lake, Oregon
2:05 - Protecting Infrastructure - Alaska

2:54 - National Security - Department of Defense
3:24 - Coastal Protection - Mississippi River Delta

SWOT is expected to launch from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California
in December 2022.

The mission is a collaboration between NASA and CNES, with contributions
from the Canadian Space Agency and UK Space Agency. JPL, which is
managed for NASA by Caltech in Pasadena, California, leads the U.S.
component of the project.

To learn more about the mission, visit: https://swot.jpl.nasa.gov/

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/CNES/Thales Alenia Space