oceanlove

 Research suggests submesoscale eddies, small ocean currents (10-100 km), significantly impact climate and marine ecosystems, as observed by NASA's SWOT mission.    The SWOT satellite, launched in 2022, provides high-resolution data showing these eddies have stronger effects on heat and nutrient transport than previously thought.    It seems likely that these findings will improve climate models, but more data is needed for certainty.   Overview   Small ocean eddies, known as submesoscale eddies, are crucial for climate regulation. NASA's SWOT mission, using advanced satellite technology, has revealed their significant role in moving heat, carbon, and nutrients, affecting global climate and marine life.   Key Findings   The SWOT mission, launched on December 16, 2022, captures these eddies with sea surface height anomalies up to 15 cm and radii as small as 15 km. They contribute to vertical heat transport 5–10 ti...

✨26✨ years ago today, the #Landsat 7 satellite was launched into space. Originally designed as a five-year mission, the satellite surpassed all expectations and completed over 132,000 orbits around the Earth. The Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM+) onboard added more than 3.3 million images to the USGS Landsat archive from 1999 until science data acquisitions ended in January 2024.  The Landsat 7 mission was pivotal in meeting the need of global Earth observations and propelled land-change science research into a new era. The technology of the ETM+ greatly expanded the capabilities for future Earth observing data application advancements. Landsat 7’s impact allowed more than 5,000 scientific publications in 21 languages across 143 different countries, among policy documents and news, blogs, and/or patent mentions.  #Landsat #USGS #Landsat7 #Earthobservation That's a remarkable milestone for Landsat 7! Launched 26 years ago on April 15, 1999, it far exc...