Our World: How High is the Ocean?

For over 20 years NASA has been tracking the global surface topography of the ocean in order to understand the important role it plays in our daily lives. Climate change is causing our Ocean to war...

Sea Level Isn't Level - Why it matters

To provide scientists with essential information about global and regional changes in the seas, NASA will launch the Jason-3 satellite from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.

OSTM/Jason-2 - All instruments plus data animation

Jason-1 Spacecraft Animation

Watching Our Oceans

Watch the Jason-3 Science Briefing from Friday, Jan 15, 2016 - panelists discussed the science and research of the Jason-3 mission.

Decades of Discovery - How altimeters help us every day.

Fathoming the forces that determine global sea levels can be daunting. We present a guide to the basics of ocean surface topography.

OSTM/Jason-2 - Data/ground track animation

For NASA JPL engineer Parag Vaze, studying Earth’s rising ocean has been a career three decades in the making.

The Jason-2 satellite sees something brewing in the Pacific. Researchers say it could be a significant El Niño with implications for global weather and climate.

Ice covers 10 percent of Earth's surface and helps moderate the planet's temperature.

Sea Surface Height - Global Average from 1993 - 2011.

The ocean is responsible for Earth's mild climate and makes life on Earth possible for all creatures.

Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich Launch footage

It's hard to "see" sea level rise by just looking at the ocean, but its effects are very real.

Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich will join a long-standing family of Earth observing satellites from NASA and European partners.

Earth’s global sea levels are rising – and are doing so at an accelerating rate.

Sea level rise is an indicator that our planet is warming. When ice on land, such as mountain glaciers or the ice sheets of Greenland or Antarctica, melts, that water contributes to sea level rise.

SSH and SST - Indian Ocean

Our planet is changing. Our ocean is rising. And it affects us all. That’s why a new international satellite will continue the decades-long watch over our global ocean and help us better understand...

TOPEX/Poseidon Ground Tracks

Earth’s rising seas are some of the most visible signs of our warming planet. Over the last 23 years, NASA satellite missions have observed a steady rise in global sea levels as polar ice sheets me...

It’s not only water processes that play a role in global sea level rise – ground movements can play a significant role as well.