Watching Our Oceans

SSH and SST - Pacific Ocean

On Aug. 26, 2015 at 9:30 a.m. PT, NASA hosted a media teleconference to discuss recent insights on sea level rise and the continuing challenge of predicting how fast and how much sea level will ris...

Jason-1 Spacecraft Animation

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

The ocean-observing Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich satellite launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on Nov. 21, 2020 at 12:17 p.m. EST

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

Sea Surface Height - Global Average from 1993 - 2011.

Sea Level Isn't Level - Why it matters

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

Sea levels across the globe are rising as a result of a changing climate — and the rate at which they are rising is accelerating. NASA Science Live was recorded Tuesday, Nov. 17, 2020, and featured...

Sea Surface Height 01/2006-04/2010

Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich Launch footage

This visualization shows total sea level change between 1992 and 2019, based on data collected from the TOPEX/Poseidon, Jason-1, Jason-2, and Jason-3 satellites. Blue regions are where sea level ha...

TOPEX/Poseidon Ground Tracks

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...

Jason-3 Animation

On the left is Sea Surface Height Anomalies (SSHA) relative to the sea level mean (1993-2018). On the right is Global Mean Sea Level (GMSL) with the sea level trend as the straight line. The data a...

Our World: How High is the Ocean?

This animation illustrates the evolution of sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies (relative to the respective normal state) in the Pacific Ocean associated with the 2015-2016 El Niño.

TOPEX/Poseidon Instruments

One of the best ways to understand Earth's ocean is from the perspective of space.

The joint U.S.-European Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich is the next in a line of Earth-observing satellites that will collect the most accurate data yet on sea level and how it changes over time. With ...

After living in coastal Virginia and seeing the effects of climate change firsthand, Ben Hamlington is now researching sea level rise at NASA JPL.

Growing up in landlocked Zimbabwe, NASA JPL engineer Shailen Desai was far from the ocean but still experienced its effects on the climate. Now, he is contributing to an international effort to tra...

A look at how NASA is dealing with the threat of sea level rise to its coastal infrastructure.