Nasa mission will give unprecedented view of Earth’s surface water

A Nasa-led international satellite mission was set for blastoff from southern California early on Thursday to conduct a comprehensive survey of the world's oceans, lakes and rivers for the first time.

The advanced radar satellite is designed to give scientists an unprecedented view of the life-giving fluid that covers 70% of the planet.

A Falcon 9 rocket, owned and operated by billionaire Musk, was set to lift off before dawn on Thursday from the US space force base.

Within a few months, the SUV-sized satellite will provide research data.

Scientists say that advanced microwave radar technology will allow them to measure the heights of oceans, lakes, reservoirs and rivers in high-definition detail over 98% of the globe.

"It's the first mission to observe nearly all water on the planet's surface."

The main thrust of the mission is to explore how oceans absorb atmospheric heat and carbon dioxide in a natural process that moderates global temperatures.

Much of the ocean's drawdown of heat and carbon is believed to occur around smaller currents. It can be done with 10 times the resolution of existing technologies.

Climate scientists want to know what the turning point at which oceans start releasing, rather than absorbing, huge amounts of heat back into the atmosphere and accelerate global warming.

The impact of rising ocean levels on coastlines can be studied with the help of Swot.

Predicting how far storm-surge flooding may penetrate inland as well as the extent of saltwater intrusion into estuaries and wetlands would be aided by more precise data along tidal zones.

Taking inventory of the Earth's water resources repeatedly over the course of three years will allow researchers to better trace fluctuations in the planet's rivers and lakes.

It is akin to taking the pulse of the world's water system so we can see when it is racing.

The Ka-band frequencies of the microwave spectrum allow scans to penetrate cloud cover and darkness on the Earth. Scientists can map their observations in two dimensions regardless of weather or time of day, and they can cover large geographic areas much more quickly than before.

By comparison, earlier studies of water bodies relied on data taken at specific points, such as river or ocean gauge, or from satellites that can only track measurements along a one-dimensional line.

It is giving us a map of elevations instead of a line of elevation.