NASA Logo in the header
Sciences and Exploration Directorate
Past

Jason-1

Launched Dec. 7, 2001, and designed to last three to five years, Jason-1 helped create a revolutionary 20-plus-year climate data record of global ocean surface topography that began in 1992 with the launch of the NASA/CNES TOPEX/Poseidon satellite. For more than 53,500 orbits of our planet, Jason-1 precisely mapped sea level, wind speed and wave height for more than 95 percent of Earth's ice-free ocean every 10 days. The mission provided new insights into ocean circulation, tracked our rising seas and enabled more accurate weather, ocean and climate forecasts.

Launch Date
November 2001
Class
Flight Project
Website

Launched Dec. 7, 2001, and designed to last three to five years, Jason-1 helped create a revolutionary 20-plus-year climate data record of global ocean surface topography that began in 1992 with the launch of the NASA/CNES TOPEX/Poseidon satellite. For more than 53,500 orbits of our planet, Jason-1 precisely mapped sea level, wind speed and wave height for more than 95 percent of Earth's ice-free ocean every 10 days. The mission provided new insights into ocean circulation, tracked our rising seas and enabled more accurate weather, ocean and climate forecasts.

Related Publications

2025. "Trends in the M2 ocean tide observed by satellite altimetry in the presence of systematic errors.", Journal of Geodesy, 99 (2): 11 [10.1007/s00190-025-01935-9] [Journal Article/Letter]

2024. "A likely role for stratification in long-term changes of the global ocean tides.", Communications Earth & Environment, 5 (1): 261 [10.1038/s43247-024-01432-5] [Journal Article/Letter]

2022. "Wave setup at the Minamitorishima tide gauge.", Journal of Oceanography, 79 13-26 [10.1007/s10872-022-00659-0] [Journal Article/Letter]

2020. "Satellite-based remote sensing data set of global surface water storage change from 1992 to 2018.", Earth System Science Data, 12 (2): 1141-1151 [10.5194/essd-12-1141-2020] [Journal Article/Letter]

2022. "Enhancement of a global lake and reservoir database to aid climate studies and resource monitoring utilizing satellite radar altimetry.", Journal of Great Lakes Research, 48 (1): 37-51 [10.1016/j.jglr.2021.11.013] [Journal Article/Letter]