Watching Our Oceans

TOPEX/Poseidon Ground Tracks

Global sea level rise is accelerating incrementally over time rather than increasing at a steady rate, as previously thought, according to a new study based on 25 years of NASA and European satelli...

Sea Surface Height 01/2006-04/2010

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

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

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...

SSH and SST - Pacific Ocean

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 ...

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...

Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich Launch footage

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).

Oceans of Climate Change

TOPEX/Poseidon Instruments

Decades of Discovery - How altimeters help us every day.

SSH and SST - Global

El Niño is characterized by unusually warm ocean temperatures in the eastern equatorial Pacific. The warmer water associated with El Niño displaces colder water in the upper layer of the ocean caus...

QuickTime VR of TOPEX/Poseidon

This video discusses the water cycle, which is the movement of water around the Earth, and its importance to life. Changes to the water cycle affect climate and vice versa.

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

TOPEX/Poseidon Launch

OSTM/Jason-2 - Data/ground track animation

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

Recorded live launch broadcast of Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich

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

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...