View Static Version
Loading

Where's Water? Great Pacific "Garbage Patch" From coasts to regions where debris flows... SWOT has it covered

The Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) mission will help us better understand our planet... pretty much anywhere!

A region nicknamed the "Great Pacific Garbage Patch" is located between Hawaii and California.
Many believe that this area is an "island of trash." But it is really made up of tiny plastic pieces...
... and bundles of lost fishing gear.

NASA set out to explore the ocean currents, waves and winds that cause debris to flow to these patches. They used a computer model to visualize where floating particles accumulate in our ocean.

So, We know where these patches are. why not go & clean them?

Cleaning up debris in the open ocean is not as easy as it sounds.
So, many programs focus on PREVENTING marine debris.

In other words, remove garbage from the coast and beaches... before it gets washed out to sea.

How will SWOT help us understand the "Great Pacific Garbage Patch" & beyond?

For the first time, SWOT will observe the sea surface height of fine-scale features... as small as 20 miles.

This is 10x better than today's technology!

SWOT will reveal details on ocean eddies, fronts, and filaments.

These swirled, curved, and linear "bumps" on the sea surface will help scientists understand upper ocean circulation.

FROM THIS, THEY CAN BETTER ESTIMATE HOW FAST MARINE DEBRIS ACCUMULATES OR DISPERSES.

TAKE THE QUIZ AGAIN!

Where There's Water... There's SWOT!

Launch Date: 2021
Launch Vehicle: SpaceX Falcon 9
Altitude in orbit: 857 km (532.5 mi)
Swath: 120 km (75 mi) wide
Coverage: 77.6°N to 77.6°S with an average revisit time of 11 days
Partners: NASA and Centre National D'Etudes Spatiales (CNES) with contributions from the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) and United Kingdom Space Agency
LEARN MORE ABOUT SWOT

Links and Other Information

Appreciate
Terms of ServicePrivacy PolicyReport Abuse
NextPrevious

Report Abuse

If you feel that this video content violates the Adobe Terms of Use, you may report this content by filling out this quick form.

To report a copyright violation, please follow the DMCA section in the Terms of Use.

Terms of ServicePrivacy PolicyReport Abuse