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SWOT Mission Unlocks a New View of Our Waterways

Explore how rivers move, change, and sustain life across the planet.

Using data from the SWOT (Surface Water and Ocean Topography) mission, jointly developed by the NASA/JPL and the Centre National d’Études Spatiales with contributions from the Canadian Space Agency and the United Kingdom Space Agency, scientists can now measure rivers continuously and across the entire globe for the first time in human history.

From the Mississippi River to the Amazon, these observations reveal how rivers flow, how they change over time, and how they support ecosystems, economies, and communities worldwide like never before.

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Last Updated

Mar 23, 2026

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Earth Science Division Editorial Team

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SWOT Mission Unlocks a New View of Our Waterways

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