High-Resolution Sea Surface Height Data | NASA’s SWOT Earth Satellite

High-Resolution Sea Surface Height Data | NASA’s SWOT Earth Satellite

Small things matter, at least when it comes to ocean features like waves and eddies. A recent NASA-led analysis using data from the Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) satellite found that ocean features as small as a mile across potentially have a larger impact on the movement of nutrients and heat in marine ecosystems than previously thought.

Too small to see well with previous satellites, but too large to see in their entirety with ship-based instruments, these relatively small ocean features fall into a category known as the submesoscale. The SWOT satellite, a joint effort between NASA and the French space agency Centre National d’Études Spatiales (CNES), can observe these features and is demonstrating just how important they are, driving much of the vertical transport of things like nutrients, carbon, energy, and heat within the ocean. They also influence the exchange of gases and energy between the ocean and atmosphere.

SWOT Mission, visit: https://swot.jpl.nasa.gov/

Credits:
Data Visualizer - Kel Elkins (USRA)
Scientist - Matt Archer (NASA/JPL)
Science Writer - Jane Lee (NASA/JPL)
Duration: 2 minutes
Release Date: May 15, 2025

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