LOS ANGELES, Dec. 14 (BNA): An international satellite mission led by NASA is set to launch from Southern California early Thursday on a major Earth science project to comprehensively survey the world’s oceans, lakes and rivers for the first time. .
The advanced radar satellite, dubbed SWOT, is designed to give scientists an unprecedented view of the life-giving fluid that covers 70% of the planet, shedding new light on the mechanics and consequences of climate change. .
The Falcon 9 rocket, which is owned and operated by billionaire Elon Musk’s SpaceX commercial company, was scheduled to launch before dawn Thursday from US Space Force Base Vandenberg, about 170 miles (275 km) northwest of Los Angeles, to carry SWOT into orbit. .
If all goes as planned, the SUV-sized satellite will be producing research data within several months.
Nearly 20 years in development, SWOT incorporates advanced microwave radar technology that scientists say will collect surface height measurements of oceans, lakes, reservoirs and rivers in high-resolution detail in more than 90% of the globe.
The data, collected from radar surveys of the planet at least twice every 21 days, will enhance ocean circulation models, support weather and climate projections, and help manage scarce freshwater supplies in drought-stricken regions, according to the researchers.
The satellite was designed and built at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory near Los Angeles. Developed by the US space agency in collaboration with counterparts in France and Canada, SWOT was one of 15 missions listed by the National Research Council as must-do projects for NASA in the next decade.
“It’s really the first mission to observe almost all of the water on the surface of the planet,” said Ben Hamlington, a JPL scientist who also leads NASA’s Sea Level Change team.
A major motivation for the mission is to explore how the oceans absorb atmospheric heat and carbon dioxide in a natural process that modulates global temperatures and climate change.
Surveying seas from orbit, SWOT is designed to measure subtle differences in surface elevations around smaller currents and eddies, where much of the ocean warming and carbon is thought to be occurring. And SWOT can do this with 10 times greater accuracy than current technologies, according to JPL.
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