missions

Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT)

The Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) satellite is a joint mission of NASA, CNES, the Canadian Space Agency, and the UK Space Agency, launched on 16 December 2022 on a SpaceX Falcon 9 from Vandenberg Space Force Base.^[1] SWOT operates in a 891 km non-sun-synchronous orbit at 78-degree inclination with a 21-day exact-repeat cycle, achieving global coverage of water bodies and oceans between high-latitude limits with approximately 11-day mid-latitude revisits.^[2] The primary instrument, KaRIn (Ka-band Radar Interferometer), illuminates a 120 km dual-swath footprint and derives water surface elevation and extent at sub-kilometre resolution - the first spaceborne wide-swath radar interferometer in orbit.^[3] A nadir Poseidon-3C altimeter provides conventional along-track sea surface height continuity, and an Advanced Microwave Radiometer corrects for tropospheric path delay.^[3] SWOT addresses inland hydrology (lake and river water levels, floodplain inundation) and ocean mesoscale and sub-mesoscale circulation at resolutions previously unresolvable from space.^[4]

Full specification

All fields

current status	Operational
operator	National Aeronautics and Space Administration
launch vehicle	Spacex Falcon 9
Launched	2022-12-16
orbit type	Non-sun-synchronous drifting orbit, 891 km altitude, 78 deg inclination, 21-day repeat
swath km	120
revisit days	11
tasking supported	No
archive depth years	3
current geographic priority	global coverage of major inland water bodies and oceans between high-latitude coverage limits

Supply chain position

carries instrument Ka-band Radar Interferometer (KaRIn)

carries instrument Poseidon-3C Altimeter

carries instrument SWOT Microwave Radiometer

operated by National Aeronautics and Space Administration

launched on Spacex Falcon 9

related to Sea level and ocean dynamics

related to Inland water

related to Ocean currents

Radar altimetry - sea surface height and inland water levels → demonstrated Ka-band Radar Interferometer (KaRIn)

Radar altimetry - sea surface height and inland water levels → demonstrated Poseidon-3C Altimeter

Multi-frequency microwave imaging radiometry → demonstrated SWOT Microwave Radiometer

Sources

[1]SWOT launch page, NASA/JPLagency doc2026-06-14
[2]WMO OSCAR satellite record: SWOTagency doc2026-06-14
[3]SWOT flight systems, NASA/JPLagency doc2026-06-14
[4]SWOT mission overview, NASA/JPLagency doc2026-06-14

Cite https://eo-atlas.org/missions/swot Markdown twin → Field definitions → Suggest a correction →

How to cite this page

Plain text

Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT). EO-Atlas, SpectraWorks B.V. https://eo-atlas.org/missions/swot (CC BY 4.0)

BibTeX

@misc{eoatlas:missions:swot,
  title = {Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT)},
  author = {{EO-Atlas}},
  publisher = {SpectraWorks B.V.},
  note = {CC BY 4.0},
  url = {https://eo-atlas.org/missions/swot}
}