MYSEC.TV

Home   /   RESOURCES   /   MYSEC.TV   / SWOT Mission – Surface Water Ocean Topography

SWOT Mission – Surface Water Ocean Topography

Tech & Sec Weekly
SHARE:

IN THIS VIDEO

Observing System Simulation Experiments (OSSEs) are a recent innovation in ocean modelling, adapted from meteorology, that use synthetic ocean observations to inform future observational strategies, e.g. an artificial temperature record from a ‘toy’ glider or sea-surface height observations from a future satellite.

By assimilating these synthetic observations into a numerical model, this project will investigate how well the data stream improves the model estimates, thus guiding future observing strategies.

In this project, performing OSSEs is to provide valuable support for the next generation of high-res ocean observing systems, both in Australia (through IMOS) and Internationally. An international example is NASA’s Surface Water Ocean Topography (SWOT) mission, a ground-breaking future satellite to be launched in 2021. SWOT will use pioneering wide-swath radar interferometry to measure ocean features as small as 2km — more than ten times the resolution of current technologies. By comparing simulated SWOT observations with the model “truth”, we will establish a valuable baseline for calibration and validation of real SWOT data once it is launched in 2022. This project will be co-supervised by Dr Shane Keating (UNSW), Moninya Roughan (UNSW), Dr Colette Kerry (UNSW) and Dr Patrice Klein (NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory).

We speak with Dr Shane Keating (UNSW) who is interested in measuring, modelling and understanding turbulent mixing and stirring and its role in the ocean and the climate. Specifically, Shane studies:

  • Mixing and turbulence in the geophysical flows
  • Ocean state estimation and data assimilation
  • Satellite remote sensing
  • Geophysical wave interactions

For more information visit:
https://www.unsw.edu.au/research/cmsi…
https://www.unsw.edu.au/staff/shane-k…

OTHER VIDEOS IN THIS SERIES

assimh
October 2, 2025
We speak with Professor Andy Koronios, CEO and Managing Director of the Australasian Space Innovation Institute, officially launched on the sidelines of the 76th International Astronautical Congress (IAC), Sydney.Watch Now
spa8md
October 1, 2025
We speak with His Excellency Eng. Salem Butti Salem Al Qubaisi, the UAE Space Agency’s Director General.Watch Now
spimg
October 1, 2025
We speak with the Hon Judith Collins KC, MP, Attorney-General, Minister of Defence, Minister for Digitising Government, Minister for the Public Service, Minister Responsible for the GCSB, Minister Responsible for the NZSIS, Minister for Space with the New Zealand Government.Watch Now
dras1
October 1, 2025
We speak with Dr Thierry Peynot, Associate Professor – Queensland University of Technology (QUT); Chief Investigator – QUT Centre for Robotics (Space Robotics and Mining Robotics) activities who will be presenting next week in Perth at the Indo-Pacific Robotics, Autonomy, AI, Cyber Conference and Exhibition (IPRAAC), 7-8 October at the Pan Pacific Hotel.Watch Now