Jason-3 Auxiliary Files, 2015-present (NCEI Accession 0122597)

Jason-3 is the fourth mission in U.S.-European Joint Altimetry Satellite Oceanography Network series of satellite missions that measure the height of the ocean surface. The mission will extend the time series of ocean surface topography measurements begun by the TOPEX/Poseidon satellite mission in 1992 and continuing through the JASON-1 and OSTM/Jason-2 missions. These measurements provide scientists with critical information about circulation patterns in the ocean and about both global and regional changes in sea level and the climate implications of a warming world.

TOPEX/Poseidon and JASON-1 were cooperative missions between NASA and the French space agency, CNES. Additional partners in the OSTM/Jason-2 mission included NOAA and EUMETSAT. Jason-3 continues the international cooperation, with NOAA and Eumetsat leading the efforts, along with partners NASA and CNES.

The primary instrument on Jason-3 is a radar altimeter. The altimeter measures sea-level variations over the global ocean with very high accuracy (as 1.3 inches or 3.3 centimeters, with a goal of achieving 1 inch or 2.5 centimeters).

The Jason-3 satellite was launched on 17 January 2016 from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, on a SpaceX Falcon 9 launcher, and was placed into the same orbit as OSTM/Jason-2, at an altitude of 1,336 kilometers with an inclination of 66 degrees, to provide virtually blanket coverage of all ice-free ocean surfaces. The satellite went operational on 14 October 2016.