NASA's satellite will enable scientists to accurately map large geographic areas and collect high-definition measurements of oceans, lakes, reservoirs and rivers over 90 percent of the globe
SWOT's main radar instrument operates at the so-called Ka-band frequency of the microwave spectrum, allowing its scans to penetrate cloud cover and darkness over wide swaths of Earth's surface.
Weather forecasts have predicted favourable conditions for liftoff, which a NASA launch services team is managing. The rocket's payload, the Surface Water and Ocean Topography satellite, or SWOT, incorporates advanced microwave radar technology to collect high-definition measurements of oceans, lakes, reservoirs and rivers over 90 percent of the globe.
Nearly 20 years in development by the US space agency with contributions from its counterparts in Canada and Britain, SWOT was one of 15 missions listed by the National Research Council as projects NASA should undertake in the coming decade.One major thrust of the mission is to explore how oceans absorb atmospheric heat and carbon dioxide in a process that naturally regulates global temperatures and has helped to minimise the climate crisis.
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