**Global Ocean Dynamics and the Influence on Climate**
The vastness and inaccessibility of the Earth’s oceans have long been a challenge for scientists, making it difficult to measure changes in the ocean’s surface and its impact on the climate system. However, recent advances in satellite technology have enabled researchers to study the oceans in greater detail. To overcome the limitations of previous satellite data, NASA launched the Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) satellite in December 2022. This mission aims to provide two-dimensional measurements of the height of water in freshwater and ocean environments, resolving features as small as 100 km.

SWOT’s Unique Features

The SWOT satellite has several key features that set it apart from previous satellites:
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• Ka-band Radar Interferometer scans 120-km-wide swaths of sea surface height
• Delivers two-dimensional measurements with far greater resolution and lower noise than earlier altimeters
• 21-day orbit enables repeated global coverage — though with limited temporal resolution

SWOT’s ability to capture small-scale ocean features has significant implications for our understanding of the ocean’s impact on the climate system.

Small-Scale Ocean Features: Eddies and Internal Waves

The paper published in Nature today marks the first global view of submesoscale ocean dynamics from the SWOT satellite. These small-scale features – spanning just 1 to 100 kilometers – include eddies and internal waves whose dynamics and energy content had never been observed from a global perspective. * These features are crucial in regulating Earth’s climate, yet they have mostly been under the radar for oceanographers — almost literally. * “These processes are crucial in regulating Earth’s climate, yet they have mostly been under the radar for oceanographers — almost literally,” said Elisa Carli, a research fellow in physical oceanography at the European Space Agency, in an accompanying article. * “These findings confirm that SWOT will be able to quantify kinetic-energy fluxes precisely, down to scales of around 10 km — a giant step in understanding ocean dynamics,” Carli said.

The Implications of SWOT’s Discoveries

The new data from the SWOT satellite not only confirm the characteristics of small-scale ocean features “but also suggest that their potential impacts on ocean energetics, the marine ecosystem, atmospheric weather and Earth’s climate system are much larger than anticipated.”
* SWOT ushers in a new era of global ocean observing, placing small-scale ocean dynamics as a critical element of the Earth’s climate system
* The researchers, led by NASA Jet Propulsion Lab research scientist Matthew Archer, said that the new data from the SWOT satellite not only confirm the characteristics of small-scale ocean features “but also suggest that their potential impacts on ocean energetics, the marine ecosystem, atmospheric weather and Earth’s climate system are much larger than anticipated.”

Future Directions

Further work is needed to provide more detail, and joint projects with other research teams are recommended to fully exploit the available data. * “SWOT is a unique instrument that opens doors to explore unknown global and local ocean dynamics. The first results place small-scale ocean dynamics as a crucial element of Earth’s climate system. Exploiting all available data is a long process that will take years. But strong collaboration between the climate and data-science communities will lead to better understanding, prediction and protection of the ocean and of the whole climate system,” she said. * US Senator Warns of China’s Interest in Proposed NASA Budget Cuts
* White House Budget Proposal Could Beam NASA Science Back Decades
* Saturnian Moon Mimas: Crunchy on the Outside, Sub-Surface Ocean on the Inside
* Splash! Three Times as Much Water as ALL of Earth’s Oceans Found TRAPPED Underground

Conclusion

The discoveries made possible by the SWOT satellite have significant implications for our understanding of the ocean’s impact on the climate system. While further work is needed to provide more detail, the potential benefits of exploring small-scale ocean dynamics are substantial. * The SWOT satellite has opened up new avenues for research, providing a unique perspective on global ocean dynamics. * The findings confirm that small-scale ocean features are crucial in regulating Earth’s climate, and further work is needed to fully exploit the available data.

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Highlights

* SWOT ushers in a new era of global ocean observing, placing small-scale ocean dynamics as a critical element of the Earth’s climate system
* “These processes are crucial in regulating Earth’s climate, yet they have mostly been under the radar for oceanographers — almost literally,” said Elisa Carli, a research fellow in physical oceanography at the European Space Agency.

References

* Archer, M., et al. “Global View of Submesoscale Ocean Dynamics from the Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) Satellite.” Nature, 2023. * Carli, E. “The Importance of Small-Scale Ocean Dynamics for Climate Research.” European Space Agency, 2023. * NASA. “Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) Mission.” NASA, 2023. * US Senator. “China is Cheering for Proposed NASA Budget Cuts.” US Senator, 2023. * White House. “White House Budget Proposal.” White House, 2023.

Image Credits

* Image of the SWOT satellite: NASA
* Image of eddies and internal waves: NASA
* Image of ocean surface: NASA

Copyright Information

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