Watching Our Oceans

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.

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

SSH and SST - Global

Launching aboard the joint U.S.-European Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich satellite is NASA’s next instrument that will help improve weather forecasting.

QuickTime VR of TOPEX/Poseidon

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from Space Launch Complex 4 at Vandenberg Air Force Base carrying the Jason-3 spacecraft. Liftoff was at 10:42 a.m. PST (1:42 p.m. EST).

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.

NASA Climate Watcher Waves Goodbye

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

SSH and SST - Pacific Ocean

Jason-CS/Sentinel-6 - How they will work

A key ocean observation satellite has been named after Earth scientist Michael Freilich

Here we provide side by side comparisons of Pacific Ocean sea surface height (SSH) anomalies of what is presently happening in 2015 with the Pacific Ocean signal during the famous 1997 El Niño.

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...

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

Sea Surface Height 01/2006-04/2010

NASA and its partners announced the renaming of the mission, previously known as Sentinel-6A/Jason-CS.

In many communities in the U.S., sea level rise is already a factor in people’s lives in the form of high-tide flooding.

Changing conditions in the Pacific have stirred up Earth’s largest ocean and redistributed its heat, piling up warm waters along U.S. Western shores and raising sea level in the process.

TOPEX/Poseidon Launch

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

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

El Niño/La Niña - (12/1996 - 01/2000)

Watch the Jason-3 Mission Briefing from Friday, Jan 15, 2016 - panelists gave an overview of the Jason-3 mission.

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.