The Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) mission will help us better understand our planet... pretty much anywhere!
Warming lakes can thaw "permafrost," ground that stays frozen throughout the year.
Nearly one quarter of the ice-free land in the northern hemisphere has permafrost beneath it. This amounts to 23 million square miles of permafrost.
When permafrost melts, it can dump extra organic matter from decomposed plants into lakes. This can add methane – a powerful greenhouse gas – to the atmosphere.
How potent is methane? It more than 20 times better at trapping heat in the atmosphere than carbon dioxide!
However, methane remains in the atmosphere for a short time (12 years) compared to carbon dioxide.
The polar bear is adapted to the extremes of the Arctic.
Sea ice loss poses the biggest threat to polar bear populations. Climate warming has caused sea ice to retreat earlier in spring and form later in winter.
So, polar bears have less time to hunt and must go without food for longer periods of time.
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
Links and Other Information
- Lakes and Rivers Have Ice, Too [NASA Earth Observatory]
- Island in a Lake on an Island in a Lake on an Island [NASA Earth Observatory]
- Utsingi Point (East Arm) on the Eastern Edge of the Proposed Thaydene Nene National Park [Wikipedia]
- Great Slave Lake: Where the Mackenzie River Begins [NASA Earth Observatory]
- Methane Matters [NASA Earth Observatory]
- Unexpected Future Boost of Methane Possible from Arctic Permafrost [NASA Global Climate Change]
- New Arctic Lakes Could Soon Be a Major Source of Atmospheric Methane [NASA Scientific Visualization Studios]
- River Discharge Alters Arctic Sea Ice [NASA Earth Observatory]
- AMSR2 2018 Minimum Arctic Sea Ice Extent [NASA Scientific Visualization Studios]
- Polar Bear Range Map [Wikipedia]
- Sea Ice Patterns [NASA ICE flickr]
- Other image used under 123rf License Agreement [ID 64966066]