SWOT: A New Mission to Survey Earth’s Water Resources

NASA and CNES are leading a new Earth science mission that will survey the planet’s water resources. The mission, called SWOT, will measure how high the water is in oceans, lakes, rivers, and reservoirs. This will help communities cope with the effects of climate change, such as floods and droughts. SWOT data will be useful for many groups, such as water managers, engineers, researchers, defense agencies, and disaster planners. They will use the data to improve flood forecasts, monitor drought conditions, protect infrastructure, enhance national security, and restore coastal areas. In this video, some of these groups explain how SWOT data will benefit them in different locations. :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 scheduled to launch from California in December 2022. It is a joint effort between NASA and CNES, with support from the Canadian Space Agency and UK Space Agency. JPL, which is part of Caltech and manages the U.S. part of the project for NASA, shares more details about the mission.