The SWOT (Surface Water and Ocean Topography) satellite, a collaboration between NASA and the French space agency CNES, is transforming water monitoring across the Ohio River Basin, a region encompassing over 25 million people. Since early 2023, SWOT has provided regular measurements of water heights in lakes, reservoirs, and rivers globally, with data shared to the public starting in 2023. This innovative technology allows researchers and water managers to accurately assess and predict water availability by simultaneously tracking water levels and their lateral extents.
SWOT offers insights into how water storage levels fluctuate over time, which is particularly useful for understanding river discharge dynamics. Unlike traditional methods that rely on limited ground gauges or separate satellite data, SWOT integrates this information, giving hydrologists a unified view of water management across the basin. This capability is especially crucial for areas with complex dam systems, where coordinated planning is challenging. Despite the wealth of data available, processing and analysis are ongoing tasks for researchers. Overall, SWOT enhances our understanding of freshwater systems and aids in effective climate and resource management efforts moving forward.
