SWOT KaRIn Antenna Deployment (Animation)

This video animation shows antennas for the Ka-band Radar Interferometer (KaRIn) instrument deploying on the Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) satellite. KaRIn is the scientific heart of the spacecraft, which launched into Earth orbit on Friday, Dec. 16, 2022, from Vandenberg Space Force Base in central California. SWOT will measure the height of water on over 90% of Earth's surface, providing a high-definition survey of our planet's water for the first time. But before it can do that, engineers need to deploy the satellite's solar panel arrays, which power the spacecraft, and unfold the large mast and antenna panels for the KaRIn instrument. The mast and antenna deployment is a four-day process. Thirty-three feet (10 meters) apart, at either end of the mast, the two antennas are designed to capture precise measurements of the height of water in Earth's freshwater bodies and the ocean. KaRIn will see eddies, currents, and other ocean features less than 13 miles (20 kilometers) across, and it will collect data on lakes and reservoirs larger than 15 acres (62,500 square meters) and rivers wider than 330 feet (100 meters) across. KaRIn will do this by bouncing radar pulses off the surface of the water and receiving the return signals with both of those antennas, collecting data along a swath on the surface that's 30 miles (50 kilometers) wide on either side of the satellite. The data SWOT provides will help researchers and decision-makers address some of the most pressing climate questions of our time and help communities prepare for a warming world. Animation available at https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA25596