Scripps oceanographer Luc Lenain and his team at the AirSea Interaction Laboratory collected airborne observations of ocean topography the elevation of the ocean surface using their MASS instrument, or Modular Aerial Sensing System, installed aboard the NASA JSC Gulfstream V jet. The measurements were made in the swath of SWOT, a satellite launched by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and French agency CNES in 2022. The satellite makes measurements of sea surface topography with unprecedented accuracy, enabling scientists to understand the ocean dynamics that influence global climate among other phenomena.

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