The SWOT mission (Surface Water and Ocean Topography) will fly an Earth-observation satellite dedicated to measuring surface water levels in lakes and rivers and river discharges, and to acquiring highly precise and detailed data on ocean topography. The mission is the latest in a long line accomplished in partnership with NASA beginning in 1992 with the launch of the TOPEX/Poseidon satellite and continued through the series of Jason satellite missions. The French part of SWOT—for which CNES is to supply the spacecraft bus, the radiofrequency unit (RFU) of the U.S. KaRIN instrument (Ka-band Radar INterferometer), the DORIS instrument (Doppler Orbitography and Radiopositioning Integrated by Satellite) and the NADIR altimeter—is being funded under the government’s PIA future investment initiative. CNES will also be responsible for the satellite command and control centre, the network of data receiving stations and the French ground segment, which will archive, process and distribute the data gathered. NASA will be in charge of developing the payload—the KaRIN instrument, radiometer and GPS receiver—and responsible for the U.S. mission and data processing centre and the launch system. At the signing ceremony, Jean-Yves Le Gall stated: “CNES is particularly proud to have put SWOT firmly on track. SWOT is a very ambitious programme set to deliver key new insights into our environment. After the InSight Mars exploration mission, this is the second major agreement that CNES and NASA have signed this year. This cooperation will build on France’s more-than-50-year relationship with the United States in space, which has achieved many spectacular successes. With SWOT, CNES is confirming its world-class expertise in the field of altimetry and the high priority afforded by France to climate change research, fully justifying the choice of Paris as host city for the next UN Climate Change Conference in 2015.” For a little more insight into the project see this： http://www.cnes.fr/web/CNES-en/7134-press-releases.php?item=8569 |
