National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Unveils Detailed Ocean Floor Map Using SWOT Satellite

Key facts

• The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the Centre National d'Études Spatiales (CNES) have developed a new map of the ocean floor using data from the Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) satellite.
• Launched in December 2022, the SWOT satellite scans approximately 90 per cent of the planet every 21 days to monitor oceans, lakes, and rivers.
• The satellite employs gravity mapping to measure subtle bulges in water height caused by the gravitational pull of large underwater features like mountains and hills.
• The SWOT satellite can identify seafloor features less than half a kilometre in size, a significant improvement over previous satellites that could only detect features taller than one kilometre.
• Researchers anticipate that the mission will increase the number of known seamounts from approximately 44,000 to as many as 100,000.
• The project contributes to a broader international effort to achieve a complete map of the global seafloor by the year 2030.
• Detailed seafloor mapping is essential for improving maritime navigation, laying underwater communication cables, and studying plate tectonics and ocean ecosystems.