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Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)<\/h1>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n![\"Data](\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/pia26188-ohio-basin-lakes-nasa-eo.jpg?w=1440\")
<\/a><\/figure>\nData from the SWOT satellite was used to calculate average water levels for lakes and reservoirs in the Ohio River Basin from July 2023 to November 2024. Yellow indicates values greater than 1,600 feet (500 meters) above sea level; dark purple represents water levels less than 330 feet (100 meters).<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nData from the U.S.-European Surface Water and Ocean Topography mission gives researchers a detailed look at lakes and reservoirs in a U.S. watershed.<\/em><\/p>\nThe Ohio River Basin stretches from Pennsylvania to Illinois and contains a system of reservoirs, lakes, and rivers that drains an area almost as large as France. Researchers with the SWOT (Surface Water and Ocean Topography) mission, a collaboration between NASA and the French space agency CNES (Centre National d\u2019\u00c9tudes Spatiales), now have a new tool for measuring water levels not only in this area, which is home to more than 25 million people, but in other watersheds around the world as well.<\/p>\n
Since early 2023, SWOT<\/a> has been measuring the height of nearly all water on Earth\u2019s surface \u2014 including oceans, lakes, reservoirs, and rivers \u2014 covering nearly the entire globe at least once every 21 days. The SWOT satellite also measures the horizontal extent of water in freshwater bodies. Earlier this year, the mission started making validated data publicly available.<\/p>\n\u201cHaving these two perspectives \u2014 water extent and levels \u2014 at the same time, along with detailed, frequent coverage over large areas, is unprecedented,\u201d said Jida Wang, a hydrologist at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and a member of the SWOT science team. \u201cThis is a groundbreaking, exciting aspect of SWOT.\u201d<\/p>\n
Researchers can use the mission\u2019s data on water level and extent to calculate how the amount of water stored in a lake or reservoir changes over time. This, in turn, can give hydrologists a more precise picture of river discharge \u2014 how much water moves through a particular stretch of river.<\/p>\n
The visualization above uses SWOT data from July 2023 to November 2024 to show the average water level above sea level in lakes and reservoirs in the Ohio River Basin, which drains into the Mississippi River. Yellow indicates values greater than 1,600 feet (500 meters), and dark purple represents water levels less than 330 feet (100 meters). Comparing how such levels change can help hydrologists measure water availability over time in a local area or across a watershed.<\/p>\n
Complementing a Patchwork of Data<\/strong><\/h3>\nHistorically, estimating freshwater availability for communities within a river basin has been challenging. Researchers gather information from gauges installed at certain lakes and reservoirs, from airborne surveys, and from other satellites that look at either water level or extent. But for ground-based and airborne instruments, the coverage can be limited in space and time. Hydrologists can piece together some of what they need from different satellites, but the data may or may not have been taken at the same time, or the researchers might still need to augment the information with measurements from ground-based sensors.<\/p>\n
Even then, calculating freshwater availability can be complicated. Much of the work relies on computer models. \u201cTraditional water models often don\u2019t work very well in highly regulated basins like the Ohio because they have trouble representing the unpredictable behavior of dam operations,\u201d said George Allen, a freshwater researcher at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg and a member of the SWOT science team.<\/p>\n
Many river basins in the United States include dams and reservoirs managed by a patchwork of entities. While the people who manage a reservoir may know how their section of water behaves, planning for water availability down the entire length of a river can be a challenge. Since SWOT looks at both rivers and lakes, its data can help provide a more unified view.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe data lets water managers really know what other people in these freshwater systems are doing,\u201d said SWOT science team member Colin Gleason, a hydrologist at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.<\/p>\n
While SWOT researchers are excited about the possibilities that the data is opening up, there is still much to be done. The satellite\u2019s high-resolution view of water levels and extent means there is a vast ocean of data that researchers must wade through, and it will take some time to process and analyze the measurements.<\/p>\n
More About SWOT<\/strong><\/h3>\n\u00a0The SWOT satellite was jointly developed by NASA and CNES, with contributions from the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) and the UK Space Agency. NASA\u2019s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, managed for the agency by Caltech in Pasadena, California, leads the U.S. component of the project. For the flight system payload, NASA provided the Ka-band radar interferometer (KaRIn) instrument, a GPS science receiver, a laser retroreflector, a two-beam microwave radiometer, and NASA instrument operations.\u00a0 The Doppler Orbitography and Radioposition Integrated by Satellite system, the dual frequency Poseidon altimeter (developed by Thales Alenia Space), the KaRIn radio-frequency subsystem (together with Thales Alenia Space and with support from the UK Space Agency), the satellite platform, and ground operations were provided by CNES. The KaRIn high-power transmitter assembly was provided by CSA.<\/p>\n
To learn more about SWOT, visit:<\/p>\n
https:\/\/swot.jpl.nasa.gov<\/a><\/p>\nNews Media Contacts<\/strong><\/h3>\nJane J. Lee \/ Andrew Wang
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
818-354-0307 \/ 626-379-6874
jane.j.lee@jpl.nasa.gov<\/a> \/ andrew.wang@jpl.nasa.gov<\/a><\/p>\n2024-176<\/p>\n
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![\"Data](\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/pia26188-ohio-basin-lakes-nasa-eo.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure>Data from the U.S.-European Surface Water and Ocean Topography mission gives researchers a detailed look at lakes and reservoirs in a U.S. watershed.<\/em><\/p>\n The Ohio River Basin stretches from Pennsylvania to Illinois and contains a system of reservoirs, lakes, and rivers that drains an area almost as large as France. Researchers with the SWOT (Surface Water and Ocean Topography) mission, a collaboration between NASA and the French space agency CNES (Centre National d\u2019\u00c9tudes Spatiales), now have a new tool for measuring water levels not only in this area, which is home to more than 25 million people, but in other watersheds around the world as well.<\/p>\n Since early 2023, SWOT<\/a> has been measuring the height of nearly all water on Earth\u2019s surface \u2014 including oceans, lakes, reservoirs, and rivers \u2014 covering nearly the entire globe at least once every 21 days. The SWOT satellite also measures the horizontal extent of water in freshwater bodies. Earlier this year, the mission started making validated data publicly available.<\/p>\n \u201cHaving these two perspectives \u2014 water extent and levels \u2014 at the same time, along with detailed, frequent coverage over large areas, is unprecedented,\u201d said Jida Wang, a hydrologist at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and a member of the SWOT science team. \u201cThis is a groundbreaking, exciting aspect of SWOT.\u201d<\/p>\n Researchers can use the mission\u2019s data on water level and extent to calculate how the amount of water stored in a lake or reservoir changes over time. This, in turn, can give hydrologists a more precise picture of river discharge \u2014 how much water moves through a particular stretch of river.<\/p>\n The visualization above uses SWOT data from July 2023 to November 2024 to show the average water level above sea level in lakes and reservoirs in the Ohio River Basin, which drains into the Mississippi River. Yellow indicates values greater than 1,600 feet (500 meters), and dark purple represents water levels less than 330 feet (100 meters). Comparing how such levels change can help hydrologists measure water availability over time in a local area or across a watershed.<\/p>\n Historically, estimating freshwater availability for communities within a river basin has been challenging. Researchers gather information from gauges installed at certain lakes and reservoirs, from airborne surveys, and from other satellites that look at either water level or extent. But for ground-based and airborne instruments, the coverage can be limited in space and time. Hydrologists can piece together some of what they need from different satellites, but the data may or may not have been taken at the same time, or the researchers might still need to augment the information with measurements from ground-based sensors.<\/p>\n Even then, calculating freshwater availability can be complicated. Much of the work relies on computer models. \u201cTraditional water models often don\u2019t work very well in highly regulated basins like the Ohio because they have trouble representing the unpredictable behavior of dam operations,\u201d said George Allen, a freshwater researcher at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg and a member of the SWOT science team.<\/p>\n Many river basins in the United States include dams and reservoirs managed by a patchwork of entities. While the people who manage a reservoir may know how their section of water behaves, planning for water availability down the entire length of a river can be a challenge. Since SWOT looks at both rivers and lakes, its data can help provide a more unified view.<\/p>\n \u201cThe data lets water managers really know what other people in these freshwater systems are doing,\u201d said SWOT science team member Colin Gleason, a hydrologist at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.<\/p>\n While SWOT researchers are excited about the possibilities that the data is opening up, there is still much to be done. The satellite\u2019s high-resolution view of water levels and extent means there is a vast ocean of data that researchers must wade through, and it will take some time to process and analyze the measurements.<\/p>\n \u00a0The SWOT satellite was jointly developed by NASA and CNES, with contributions from the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) and the UK Space Agency. NASA\u2019s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, managed for the agency by Caltech in Pasadena, California, leads the U.S. component of the project. For the flight system payload, NASA provided the Ka-band radar interferometer (KaRIn) instrument, a GPS science receiver, a laser retroreflector, a two-beam microwave radiometer, and NASA instrument operations.\u00a0 The Doppler Orbitography and Radioposition Integrated by Satellite system, the dual frequency Poseidon altimeter (developed by Thales Alenia Space), the KaRIn radio-frequency subsystem (together with Thales Alenia Space and with support from the UK Space Agency), the satellite platform, and ground operations were provided by CNES. The KaRIn high-power transmitter assembly was provided by CSA.<\/p>\n To learn more about SWOT, visit:<\/p>\n https:\/\/swot.jpl.nasa.gov<\/a><\/p>\n Jane J. Lee \/ Andrew Wang 2024-176<\/p>\nComplementing a Patchwork of Data<\/strong><\/h3>\n
More About SWOT<\/strong><\/h3>\n
News Media Contacts<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
818-354-0307 \/ 626-379-6874
jane.j.lee@jpl.nasa.gov<\/a> \/ andrew.wang@jpl.nasa.gov<\/a><\/p>\nShare<\/h2>\n<\/p><\/div>\n