Modern technologies enable scientists to acquire information about the ocean relatively rapidly. How ...

In 1958, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) was organized. Its satellites have contributed greatly to our understanding of the ocean and ocean processes. The first oceanographic satellite, SEASAT, was launched in 1978 sending information about the ocean such as temperature, wave height, and variation in sea surface contours. Modern satellites such as the TOPEX/Poseidon, the Jason-3,and the AQUA are capable of sending large amount of scientific date back to Earth very quickly. The type of information that is gathered includes data about the water cycle, evaporation, temperature, phytoplankton, and dissolved organic matter at the surface of the ocean. In terms of navigation, the U.S. Department of Defense has developed a Global Positioning System (GPS) composed of 24 satellites equipped with a computer, an atomic clock, and a radio transmitter. Any GPS receiver on the ground can calculate its own geographic location. Longitude and latitude are accurate with 1 meter. Overall, the use of satellites for studying the ocean has allowed scientists to see the big picture and watch how it changes over time-satellites can collect immense quantities of data, spanning the entire ocean, in a very short period of time. This was virtually impossible when we were limited strictly to shipboard methods. Conquering the spatial and temporal challenges of studying the ocean is one of the biggest accomplishments in oceanography to date.