The new Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) altimetry satellite has been launched on the 16th of December 2022. After 3 monts of engineering test, the first images have surprise the entire SWOT Science Team, showing a signal-to-noise ratio way higher than expected, and a capacity of observing sea surface height variations at the resolution of few km. Operational products will be available from September 2023. At a resolution about ten times higher than conventional altimetry and unhindered by clouds or coastal topography, SWOT sea surface height maps will be a powerful tool for improving and revisiting most of our knowledge on the ocean fine-scale, on issues including energy cascade, eddy-wave interactions, horizontal and vertical transport, biogeochemical cycles, ecosystem structuring, behavior of marine megafauna, coastal dynamics, and even sea ice thickness. This seminar will be divided in two parts. In the first 20 minutes I will present some of the first examples of SWOT observations, related in particular to the recent SWOT-AdAC cruises (https://www.swot-adac.org/). I will then propose to discuss together on how to respond to the incoming CNES call for SWOT-related projects.

Date & Time: Tue Sep 12 2023 11:00:00 GMT+0200 (Central European Summer Time)
Room: salle du LOCEAN, couloir 45-55, 4ème étage, pièce 417

Lien zoom: https://cnrs.zoom.us/j/94692507132?pwd=YndSRmh4WTdyN3hFdG1Qa3l6M3RRUT09