Jason - 1 Satellite.

Ardian Cahyo Pambudi
Oct 14, 2018
2 min read

The December 7, 2001, launch of Jason 1, NASA's newest oceanography satellite, will continue the mission started by Topex/Poseidon to monitor global climate interactions between the sea and the atmosphere. Jason 1 will monitor world ocean circulation, study interactions of the oceans and atmosphere, improve climate predictions and observe events like El Nino. Jason 1 is a joint U.S./French oceanography mission. Since the oceans are so large, remote sensing from satellites has proved to be the only way to get global information about these vast, hard-to-measure expanses. Spaceborne altimeters, such as the Poseidon 2 instrument that Jason 1 carries, can calculate ocean heights to within centimeters.

Jason 1 carries five instruments: the Poseidon 2 altimeter, the spacecraft's main instrument, to measure altitude; a microwave radiometer to measure atmospheric water vapor; and three precision location-finding instruments.

Science Objectives

The basic science goals of ocean topography missions, including Jason 1 and Topex/Poseidon, are to:

Determine general ocean circulation and to understand its role in Earth's climate.
Study the variation of ocean circulation on time scales from seasonal and annual to decadal and the effects on climate change.
Collaborate with other global ocean monitoring programs to produce routine models of the worldwide oceans for scientific and operational applications.
Study large-scale ocean tides.
Study geophysical processes from their effects on ocean surface topography.
In addition to carrying on the groundbreaking work done by Topex/Poseidon, Jason 1 is expected to:
Measure global sea-height change and provide a continuous view of changing global ocean surface topography.
Calculate the transport of heat and water mass by the oceans.
Increase understanding of ocean circulation and seasonal changes and how the general ocean circulation changes through time.
Provide estimates of significant wave height and wind speeds over the ocean.
Test how scientists compute ocean circulation caused by winds.
Improve forecasting of climatic events like El Nino and of global climate in general.
Describe the nature of ocean dynamics and develop a global view of Earth's oceans.
Monitor the variation of global mean sea level and its relation to global climate change.