Engaging the user community for advancing societal applications of the surface water ocean topography mission ...

• Main Authors: Kaheil, Y., Blain, C.A., Gangopadhay, S., Cherchali, S., Nguy-Robertson, A., Jacobs, G., Beighley, E., Anderson, E., Shrestha, S., Mason, R., Laignel, B., Gleason, C., Birkett, C., Ricccci, S., Moigne, P.L., Le Traon, P.-Y., Picot, N., Fu, L.-L., Paris, A., Mehta, A., Jones, J., Schumann, G., Mukherjee, A., Trehubenko, E., Hausman, J., Lefèvre, F., Ghosh, S., David, C.H., Doorn, B., Pavelsky, T., Hossain, F., Srinivasan, M., Escurra, J., Amini, R., Peterson, C., Andral, A., Bjerklie, D., Gosset, M., Li, L., Frans, C., Fulton, J.
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: American Meteorological Society 2017
• Subjects: Sea ice
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.17615/0gac-0j98; https://cdr.lib.unc.edu/concern/articles/8p58pq18h

Scheduled for launch in 2021, the Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) mission will be a truly unique mission that will provide high-temporal-frequency maps of surface water extents and elevation variations of global water bodies (lakes/reservoirs, rivers, estuaries, oceans, and sea ice) at higher spatial resolution than is available with current technologies (Biancamaria et al. 2016; Alsdorf et al. 2007). The primary instrument on SWOT is based on a Ka-band radar interferometer (KaRIN), which uses radar interferometery technology. The satellite will fly two radar antennas at either end of a 10-m (33 ft) mast, allowing it to measure the elevation of the surface along a 120-km (75 mi)-wide swath below. The availability of high-frequency and high-resolution maps of elevations and extents for surface water bodies and oceans will present unique opportunities to address numerous societally relevant challenges around the globe (Srinivasan et al. 2015). These opportunities may include such diverse and ...