the.com/satellite oceanography
reading the entire ocean's mood swings from 400 miles up, without getting wet.
means the science of measuring ocean height, temperature, color, and currents using instruments orbiting the planet instead of ships crossing it.
from born in 1978 when nasa's seasat spent 105 days proving radar could bounce off waves and reveal their height, before a short circuit killed it; the technique outlived the satellite by decades.
resolution tradesees whole ocean daily, misses small eddies entirely
altimetry precisionmeasures sea height to within a few centimeters
el nino caughttopex/poseidon spotted the 1997 event forming early
color equals lifechlorophyll tint reveals plankton blooms from orbit
for instance
jason-3 — still tracking ocean height to 3.3 centimeter accuracy since 2016
seawifs — 1997 sensor mapped global ocean chlorophyll for the first time
swot mission — 2022 nasa satellite reveals ocean eddies as small as 15 miles