TOPEX/Poseidon Instruments

Watching Our Oceans

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.

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...

Decades of Discovery - How altimeters help us every day.

QuickTime VR of TOPEX/Poseidon

El Niño/La Niña - (12/1996 - 01/2000)

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 ...

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...

OSTM/Jason-2 - All instruments plus data animation

The Jason-3 satellite, launched on January 17, 2016, is allowing scientists to continue a 23-year record of crucial ocean monitoring.

Recorded live launch broadcast of Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich

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...

Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich Launch footage

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

Sea Surface Height - Global Average from 1993 - 2011.

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

Experts from NASA, ESA, EUMETSAT, and NOAA discuss the upcoming launch of Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich in a recorded live broadcast

For NASA engineer Shannon Statham, building spacecraft is all about being creative.

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.

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.

Sea Surface Height 01/2006-04/2010

SSH and SST - Global

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

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.

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