NASA is funding a project to record the seafloor using the Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) satellite. One of the objectives is to photograph the ocean floor, one of the most important and least-informed locations. Ocean and seamounts exploration (and 3D maps) is essential for better understanding and managing ocean species. This is being achieved through a collaboration between NASA and the French space agency CNES, the Centre National d’Études Spatiale.
Finding the answer on the seafloor by 2030
To give you an idea, only 25% of the ocean floor is currently known, which is very little considering the century we live in, artificial intelligence, and the immense scientific advances that have been made in other fields. One of the main goals of David Sandwell, a geophysicist at Scripps Institution of Oceanography in La Jolla, California, is to map the seafloor almost completely by 2030. Of course, he wants to try and get as close as possible to uncovering secrets and determining invaluable information for sustaining life on Earth.
The number of seamounts can increased till 100,000
The SWOT satellite can detect seamounts less than 1 kilometer in diameter, which means the number of known seamounts can be increased from 44,000 to 100,000. These seamounts, being known to be lower in elevation, can conceal life and ecosystems that would otherwise be simply barren areas of the seabed. Now, this data can be accessed, or at least studied, from a closer look.
Analyzing water temperature is essential for planet Earth
The SWOT satellite was launched in 2022 as a way to measure water levels across much of the Earth’s surface. Researchers can use this data to create a topographic map and then transfer it to their field of research. This means analyzing temperature changes that can alter ocean currents and even tracking potential river flooding. This satellite, in addition to measuring the ocean, is capable of measuring lakes, reservoirs, and rivers.
Humans depend on everything that produces life
Underwater mountains, also known as seamounts, have a tremendous influence on the movement of heat and temperature, as we mentioned earlier. This is also true of everything that attracts life to the seafloor, a fundamental effect that directly affects the health of the ecosystem and planet Earth. Humans depend on everything that produces life, and the sea is a desert of countless creatures, essential for regulating the health and temperature of the planet.
For this reason, David Sandwell insists that this breakthrough is incredibly important. “The SWOT satellite was a huge leap in our ability to map the seafloor.” Understanding or attempting to resolve some of the main mysteries of the seafloor is essential for advancing policies and scientific developments that further extend human life on the planet.
The investigators used one year’s SWOT data
“Through repeated observations (SWOT covers about 90% of the globe every 21 days) the satellite is sensitive enough to pick up these minute differences, with centimeter-level accuracy, in sea surface height caused by the features below. Sandwell and his colleagues used a year’s worth of SWOT data to focus on seamounts, abyssal hills, and underwater continental margins, where continental crust meets oceanic crust”, NASA says.
The magnitude of this achievement is of gigantic proportions, as the natural phenomena occurring today are becoming natural disasters, always rooted in climate change and global warming. “Seafloor mapping is key in both established and emerging economic opportunities, including rare-mineral seabed mining, optimizing shipping routes, hazard detection, and seabed warfare operations,” said Nadya Vinogradova Shiffer, head of physical oceanography programs at NASA Headquarters in Washington.
We absolutely should keep an eye on every investigations of spacial agencies, because their results affect directly on our life.
