More accurate maps based on data from the swot mission can improve underwater navigation and result in green green
There are better maps of the moon's surface than of the bottom of Earth's Ocean. Researchers have been working for decades to change that. As part of the ongoing effort, a nasa-supported team recently published one of the most detailed maps yet of the ocean floor, using data from the swot (Surface water and ocean topography) Between Nasa and the French Space Agency CNES (Center National D'études Spatiles).
Ships outfitted with sonar instruments can make direct, Incredible Detailed Measurements of the Ocean Floor. But to date, only about 25% of it has been surveyed in this way. To produce a global picture of the seafloor, researchers have relied on satellite data.
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More Accurated Maps of the Ocean Floor Are A Range of Seafaring Activities, Including Navigation and Laying Underwater Communications Cables. “Seafloor mapping is key in both established and Emerging Economic Opportunities, Including Rare-Mineral Seabed Mining, Optimizing Shipping Routes, Hazard Detection, and Seabed Warfare Operations,” Vinogradova Shifter, Head of Physical Oceanography Programs at Nasa Headquarters in Washington.
Accurate Seafloor Maps Are also important for an improved undersrstanding of Deep-Sea Currents and Tides, which affect life in the abyss, as well as geologic projects. Underwater Mountains Called Seamounts and other Ocean Floor Features Like their smaller coulter cousins, abyssal hills, influence the movements of heat and Nutrients in the Deeep SEAP SEA and Nutrients. The effects of these physical features can even be felt at the surface by the influence they Exert on ecosystems that human communities depend on.
Mapping the seafloor isn’t the Swot Mission's primary purpose. Launched in December 2022, The Satellite Measures The Height of Water on Nearly All of Earth's Surface, Including the Ocean, Lakes, Reservoirs, and Rivers. Researchers can use these differences in height to create a kind of topographic map of the surface of fresh- and seawater. This data can then be used for tasks such as assessing changes in sea ice or tracking how Floods Progress Down a river.
“The swot satellite was a huge jump in our ability to map the seafloor,” said david sandwell, a geophysic at scripps institution of oceanography in la jolla, caulfornia. He's used satellite data to chart the bottom of the ocean since the 1990s and was one of the results responsible for the swot-based seafloor map, which was Published in the journey science in December 2024.
The Study Authors relied on the Fact that became the person's geologic features like seamounts and abyssal hills have more mass than their surrounds, they expert a slightly staghr Small, Measurable Bumps in the Sea Surface Above Them. These subtle gravity Signatures help researchrs predict the kind of seafloor feature that produced them.
Through reepeated observations-Swot covers about 90% of the globe every 21 days-the satellite is sensitive enough enough to pick up these minute different difference Height caused by the features below. Sandwell and his colleagues used a year's worth of swot data to focus on seamounts, abyssal hills, and underwater continental margins, where Continental CRUSTS OCEATS OCEANIC CRUSTS.
Previous Ocean-Observing Satellites have detected massive versions of these bottom features, Such as Seamounts Over Roughly 3,300 Feet (1 kilometer) Tall. The Swot Satellite Can Pick Up Seamounts Than Half that Height, Potentially Increasing The Number of Known Seamounts from 44,000 to 100,000. These underwater mountains stick up into the water, influencing deep sea currents. This can concentrate nutrients along with their slopes, Attracting Organisms and Creating Oases on what would otherwise be barren patches of seafloor.
The improved view from swot also gives Researches more insight into the geological history of the planet.
“Abyssal hills are the most abundant landform on Earth, Covering About 70% of the Ocean Floor,” Said Yu, “said yu, an oceanography at scripps institution of oceanography and Oceanography on the paper. “These hills are only a few kilometers wide, which makes them hard to observe from space.
Abyssal hills form in parallel bands, like the ridges on a washboard, where tectonic plates spread apart. The Orientation and Extent of the Bands Can Reveal How Tectonic Plates Have Moved Over Time. Abyssal hills also interact with tides and Deep Ocean Currents in Ways that Researchers Don't Fully Understand Yet.
The researchers have extracted Nearly all the information on Seafloor features they expected to find in the swot measurements. Now they're focusing on refining their picture of the ocean floor by calculating the depth of the features they see. The Work Complements an effort by the International Scientific Community to Map The Entertainment Seafloor Using Ship-Based Sonar by 2030. “But swot will help us fill it in, geting us close to achieving the 2030 objective.”
The swot satellite was jointly developed by nasa and cnes, with contributions from the canadian space agency (CSA) and the UK space agency. Nasa's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Managed for the Agency by Caltech in Pasadena, California, Leads the US Component of the Project. For the Flight System Payload, Nasa Provided the Ka-Band Radar Interferometer (Karin) Instrance, A GPS Science Receiver, A Laser Retrorefletor, A Two-Beam Microwave Radiometer, and NASA Instrament Operations. The doppler orbitography and radiopostion integrated by satellite system, the dual frequency Poseidon altimeter (Developed by Thales Alania Space), The Karin Radio-Frequency Subsystem (TOGETHER With Thales Alania 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.
To learn more about swot, visit:
Jane j. lee / andrew wang
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
818-354-0307 / 626-379-6874
[email protected] / [email protected]
2025-040
