Watching Our Oceans

Our World: How High is the Ocean?

SSH and SST - Indian Ocean

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

SSH and SST - Global

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

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.

Oceans of Climate Change

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

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.

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...

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.

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

OSTM/Jason-2 - All instruments plus data animation

TOPEX/Poseidon Instruments

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...

Karl and Seymour learn how carbon dioxide is formed in this sketch from The Lollygaggers, a global warming sketch comedy.

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

Jason-3 Animation

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...

Jason-1 Spacecraft Animation

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

El Niño/La Niña - (12/1996 - 01/2000)

SSH and SST - Pacific Ocean

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