About SWOT

• SWOT is being jointly developed by NASA and Centre National d’Etudes Spatial (CNES) (French Space Centre).
• This satellite’s mission is to make the first global survey of Earth’s surface water, observe the fine details of the ocean’s surface topography, and measure how water bodies change over time.
• It will be placed in Low earth orbit and will revolve around the earth to provide observations of changing water levels, slopes, and inundation extents in rivers, lakes, and floodplains.
• It will also give inputs on changes in ocean currents more accurately than existing satellites.

Why in the news?

• NASA recently announced that SWOT satellite will be launched in 2022.

References:

1. https://swot.jpl.nasa.gov/mission/overview/
2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surface_Water_and_Ocean_Topography#:~:text=The%20Surface%20Water%20and%20Ocean,UK%20Space%20Agency%20(UKSA).
3. https://www.nasa.gov/feature/jpl/international-cutting-edge-swot-satellite-to-survey-the-world-s-water