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Jason-3 is a follow-on altimetric mission to the TOPEX/Poseidon missionJason-1, and Ocean Surface Topography Mission (OSTM)/Jason-2. It is a joint mission between NASA and the Centre national d'études spatiales (CNES), the French space agency.

It launched January 17, 2016, and began data collection on February 12, 2016. Jason-3 is capable of measuring significant wave height, sigma naught (sigma0), and dry and wet troposphere and ionosphere, which can be used to calculate sea surface height, sea surface height anomalies, and total electron content.

Type

Earth Observation Satellite

Data Center

PO.DAAC

Launch

January 17, 2016

Objective

Measure the height of the ocean surface
Semi-Major Axis7,714.43 km
Eccentricity0.000095
Inclination66.04°
Argument of Periapsis90.0°
Inertial longitude of the ascending node116.56°
Mean Anomaly253.13°
Reference Altitude1,336 km
Nodal Period6,745.72 sec
Repeat Period9.9156 days
Number of revolutions within a cycle127
Number of passes within a cycle254
Equatorial cross track separation315 km
Ground track control band+1 km
Acute angle at Equator crossings39.5°
Longitude of Equator crossing of pass 1, cycles 1-36599.9249°
Longitude of Equator crossing of pass 1, cycles 369-onward98.5°
Inertial nodal rate-2.08°/day
Orbital speed7.2 km/s
Ground track speed5.8 km/s

The following resources provide additional information about Jason-3.

Instruments Aboard Jason-3

Instrument Name Operational Date(s) Spectral Resolution Type of Instrument
Advanced Microwave Radiometer-2 (AMR-2) February 12, 2016 - present

3 Bands: 18.7, 23.8, 34 GHz

Spectrometer/Radiometer

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