A NASA satellite found on Friday with an unprecedented task : offer the first comprehensive view ofEarth ’s ever - changing bodies of weewee .
SpaceX ’s Falcon 9 arugula carry the Surface Water and Ocean Topography ( SWOT ) mission to revolve , rise off from Space Launch Complex-4E at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on December 16 at 6:46 a.m. ET . The mission was developed by NASA and the French space agency CNES , in partnership with the Canadian Space Agency ( CSA ) and the United Kingdom Space Agency .
The Surface Water and Ocean Topography ( SWOT ) satellite has separated from its@SpaceXFalcon 9 rocket . SWOT begins#TrackingWorldWaternow and will cover the Earth ’s surface worldwide at least twice every 21 days for at least three years.pic.twitter.com/OJfAifkl8R
Engineers integrating parts of the SWOT satellite into one in a Thales Alenia Space clean room facility in Cannes, France.Photo: NASA
— NASA ( @NASA)December 16 , 2022
“ Water is fast becoming a major geopolitical resource : with mood change have droughts and floods and globose pursuit in water temperature and flow , ” U.K. Science Minister George Freeman said in an emailed statement .
SWOT is the first global study of Earth ’s aerofoil water , measuring how oceans , lakes , reservoirs , rivers , and wetlands across the cosmos change over metre . The data will help scientist better understand the essence of climate change , and well predict orbicular flood peril , according to NASA .
SWOT is equipped with a microwave radar instrument make Ka - band Radar Interferometer , or KaRIn for unforesightful , which is design to go over at least 90 % of the Earth ’s surface and measure water height . KaRIn will use two antennas on either side of the satellite to bounce microwave radar pulses off the piss ’s airfoil and then encounter the return signal .
The satellite will manoeuvre in a non - Sun synchronic orbit , which means it will lapse over the same region of Earth at the same mean solar time . Its eye socket will be at an altitude just over 554 miles ( 891 kilometer ) , from where it will survey Earth ’s Earth’s surface water at least twice every 21 days . SWOT will send back about one tebibyte of unrefined data everyday , harmonise to NASA .
The mission is designed to engage for at least three yr . During that time , the planet will offer a plethora of data point on 1000000 of bodies of water that will hopefully aid us considerably understand our changing planet .
“ SWOT will provide lively information , given the pressing challenges posed by clime alteration and ocean level upgrade , ” Laurie Leshin , NASA ’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory director , said in the NASA command . “ That SWOT will fill gaps in our knowledge and inform future action is the direct result of commitment , creation , and collaboration going back many year . ”
“ We ’re excited to get SWOT science underway , ” she summate .
More : Shocking Photos Show Lake Mead ’s Historically Low Water Levels
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