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Jet Propulsion Laboratory California Institute of Technology

Ocean Surface Topography from Space

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slide 1 - This image shows a map of how sea levels have changed over the last 30 years.

Happy 30th Anniversary to TOPEX/Poseidon!

Where were you when TOPEX/Poseidon launched? A few fond memories from the altimetry community. Read More ›

International Sea Level Satellite Takes Over From Predecessor

Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich, the newest addition to a long line of ocean-monitoring satellites, becomes the reference satellite for sea level measurements. Read More ›

Sea Level to Rise up to a Foot by 2050, Interagency Report Finds

NASA, NOAA, USGS, and other U.S. government agencies project that the rise in ocean height in the next 30 years could equal the total rise seen over the past 100 years. Full Story ›

Sentinel-6 Data Becomes Publicly Available

After finishing it's year long commissioning phase and beginning normal operations, data from the Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich satellite is now available for download from PODAAC and EUMETSAT. Download Data From PODAAC ›

slide 5 - In this illustration, the Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich spacecraft, the world's latest sea-level satellite, orbits Earth with its deployable solar panels extended. Credit: NASA

Rising Tides: First Year in Space for NASA's Earth Flagship

Tune in on November 11 at 7 p.m. PDT (10 p.m. EDT; 0300 UTC) to hear what we’ve learned from the newest sea-level monitoring satellite. Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich will continue a decades-long effort to measure global ocean height from space, which started in the early 1990s. More Info ›

Latest El Niño/La Niña Watch Data

Stereographic image depicting el nino data

The latest image from NASA's Jason satellite is updated approximately every 15 days. We are currently in the process of updating these images. We hope to resume updates in October.

More to Explore

Global Mean Sea Level Time Series

Data collected from a series of satellite altimeters have measured a rise in global mean sea level (GMSL) of ∼3 ± 0.4 mm/year, resulting in more than 7 cm of total sea-level rise over the last 25 years.
Along-Track Near Real-Time Data

Sea Surface Height Anomaly: Sentinel-6 and Jason-3 Measurements from 25-Sep-2022 to 05-Oct-2022
OST Science Team

Updates on the latest research being completed by the team of international and interdisciplinary scientists.

Applications: Bringing Satellite Data Down to Earth

Since 1993 ocean altimetry data has provided researchers and operational users like NOAA’s extreme weather units with valuable data

Climate

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Climate

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News & Features

Launched on a Falcon 9 rocket Nov. 21, the U.S.-European satellite will measure the world's ocean with unprecedented accuracy.

Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich Returns First Sea Level Measurements

With NASA's Eyes on the Earth web-based app, you can tag along with the U.S.-European satellite as it orbits the globe, gathering critical measurements of our changing planet.

Follow Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich in Real Time As It Orbits Earth

To get the best measurements of Earth's atmosphere, you sometimes have to leave it. This November, the Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich spacecraft will do just that.

Sea Level Mission Will Also Act as a Precision Thermometer in Space

Scientists have gained new insights into the processes that have driven ocean level variations for over a century, helping us prepare for the rising seas of the future.

NASA-led Study Reveals the Causes of Sea Level Rise Since 1900

The Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich satellite mission will add to a long-term sea level dataset that's become the gold standard for climate studies from orbit.

Keeping a Steady Eye on Sea Level Change from Space

Observations from 11 satellite missions monitoring the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets have revealed that the regions are losing ice six times faster than they were in the 1990s.

Greenland, Antarctica melting six times faster than in the 1990s

Why Study the Ocean

Only from space can we observe the height of our vast ocean on a global scale and monitor critical changes in ocean currents and heat storage. Continuous data from satellites like TOPEX/Poseidon, Jason-1, OSTM/Jason-2, and Jason-3 help us understand and foresee the effects of the changing oceans on our climate and on catastrophic climate events such as El Niño and La Niña.

Partners

In an environment of constrained resources, U.S. and international partnerships are necessary to gain as much understanding of our planet as possible. Not only do they do they reduce costs for NASA, they also engage a larger and more diverse group of scientists.