JASON-3 | NESDIS | National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service
Source: https://www.nesdis.noaa.gov/current-satellite-missions/currently-flying/jason-3
Archived: 2026-04-23 17:09
JASON-3 | NESDIS | National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service
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JASON-3
Jason-3 is a satellite mission that supports scientific, commercial and practical applications related to sea level rise, ocean circulation, and climate change. Jason-3 follows the current operational altimeter satellite, Jason-2, in maintaining satellite altimetry observations of global sea surface height. Jason-3 is an international cooperative mission in which NOAA is partnering with the Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales (CNES, France’s governmental space agency), European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT), and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).
Jason-3 will make highly detailed measurements of sea surface height, which is a measure used to study sea level rise—a critical factor in understanding Earth’s dynamic climate. Sea surface height data from altimetry satellites like Jason-3 are also used to study hurricane intensity, tsunami dynamics, El Niño Southern Oscillation, eddy dynamics, ocean boundary currents, coastal and shallow water tides, as well as weather and climate forecasting.
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Skip to main content
Official websites use .gov
A
.gov
website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.
Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A
lock
(
) or
https://
means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.
JASON-3
Jason-3 is a satellite mission that supports scientific, commercial and practical applications related to sea level rise, ocean circulation, and climate change. Jason-3 follows the current operational altimeter satellite, Jason-2, in maintaining satellite altimetry observations of global sea surface height. Jason-3 is an international cooperative mission in which NOAA is partnering with the Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales (CNES, France’s governmental space agency), European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT), and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).
Jason-3 will make highly detailed measurements of sea surface height, which is a measure used to study sea level rise—a critical factor in understanding Earth’s dynamic climate. Sea surface height data from altimetry satellites like Jason-3 are also used to study hurricane intensity, tsunami dynamics, El Niño Southern Oscillation, eddy dynamics, ocean boundary currents, coastal and shallow water tides, as well as weather and climate forecasting.
Explore
Spacecraft & Instruments
Spacecraft & Instruments
Spacecraft & Instruments
Mission
MIssion
Mission
Team Members
Team Members
Team Members
Press Kits
Press Kits
Press Kits
Related News
image
Feature Story
A Decade of Global Sea Level Measurements: Jason-2 Marks Tenth Year in Orbit
Jason-2, the oceanography satellite that has helped us map the ocean floor and measure global sea…
September 20, 2019
image
Feature Story
We May Be Past The Peak, But Hurricane Season Is Far From Over
We’ve seen tropical cyclone activity in the Atlantic basin heat up quite a bit—most notably with…
October 3, 2018
image
Feature Story
NOAA to Enter Third Decade of Monitoring Sea Level with Jason-3
NOAA began monitoring sea level more than 20 years ago, with the TOPEX/Poseidon satellite in 1992.…
July 5, 2018
image
Feature Story
Celebrating the One-Year Anniversary of the Launch of Jason-3
A year has passed since the Jason-3 satellite rocketed into space. NOAA's Laboratory of…
July 5, 2018
All Feature Stories
Feature Story