Image credit: NASA-JPL

A NASA and French Space Agency (CNES) spacecraft designed to pursue a prolonged survey of Earth's oceans has arrived at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, for final launch preparations. The new satellite will observe ocean circulation and the influence of oceans on weather, climate and how Earth is responding to global climate change.
The Ocean Surface Topography Mission (OSTM) will be flown on the Jason-2 spacecraft. Jason-2 was transported from France to California aboard a Boeing 747 aircraft. Following final tests, it will be integrated onto the powerful Delta II rocket in preparation for launch in June.

The launch of OSTM is expected to markedly improve the science of precisely measuring and studying the height of the sea surface across Earth's oceans. Continuous collection of these measurements began in 1992 with the NASA/CNES Topex/Poseidon mission and continued in 2001 with NASA/CNES's Jason-1 mission, which is currently providing near-real-time data to a variety of users.

The addition of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the European Organization for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT) as partners on OSTM/Jason-2 begins moving the responsibility for collecting these data to weather and climate forecasting agencies, which will use them for short-range and seasonal-to-long-range ocean forecasting.

The 15-plus-year climate data record that OSTM will continue is the only one that could address how ocean circulation is linked to climate change and how global sea level, one of the most important consequences and indicators of global climate change, is changing.

Satellite observations of Earth's oceans have revolutionized our understanding of global climate by improving ocean models and hurricane forecasts, and monitoring large ocean-atmosphere phenomena such as El Niño and La Niña. The data are crucial for diverse applications, such as routing ships, improving the safety and efficiency of offshore industry operations, managing fisheries and tracking marine mammals.

The spacecraft will be placed into a 1,336-km circular orbit, inclined at 66 degrees to Earth's equator. From this vantage orbit, the spacecraft will monitor 95% of Earth's ice-free oceans every 10 days.

Further Reading

OSTM/Jason-2
http://sealevel.jpl.nasa.gov/mission/ostm.html

Aymen Mohamed Ibrahem
Senior Astronomy Specialist