Determining the Accuracy of SWOT Water Elevation Data at Mono Lake, California (2024)

Undergraduates: Amogh Rao, Nayan Bala, Alisa Pokazanyeva

Faculty Advisor: Drew Coleman
Department: Earth, Marine, and Environmental Sciences

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Water is arguably the most valuable resource that our planet has. With the increasing human population, freshwater is becoming increasingly scarce, heightening the urgency to locate additional sources of freshwater. Launched in December, 2022, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory launched a satellite known as Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) to examine Earth’s surface water topography of all bodies of water in a span of 21 days, allowing for the first global survey of such data. The goal of our research was to determine the accuracy of SWOT’s data by comparing on-site elevation data through Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) imaging to SWOT’s elevation data from Mono Lake— a water body on the eastern side of the Sierra Nevada in California, part of the Great Basin Lakes. This data can provide us with insights into the accuracy and dependability of SWOT when regarding Earth’s surface water. Looking ahead, this technology holds promise for identifying freshwater sources, accurately quantifying their availability, and providing valuable intelligence about current sustainability challenges related to our planet's water resources.