Orbit
Swot orbit is a non sun-synchronous 21-days orbit, at 890.6 km with an inclination of 77.6°, starting from July 21st, 2023. During the first six months of the mission, the orbit was a "calval" orbit with a one-day repeat (up to July 11th, 2023).
Ground track and Swath files (kml & shapefiles)
| Fast-sampling ("calval") orbit (1 day) | Scienfic orbit (21 days) | |
|---|---|---|
| Land waters and coastal (higher resolution "HR") Swot data | ||
| Open Ocean (lower resolution "LR") Swot data |
|
|
| Nadir-only orbit | ||
| See the CalVal orbit dedicated page | See the Science orbit dedicated page |
Characteristics of the orbits
| Fast-sampling orbit (1 day calval orbit) | Science orbit (21 day orbit) | |
| Repeat orbit parameters (N+P/Q) | 14+0/1 | 13+19/21 |
| Mean semi-major axis (m) | 7235379.8 | 7268718.9 |
| Altitude (km)(mean sma minus equ. radius) | 857.244 | 890.582 |
| Inclination (deg) | 77.6 | 77.6 |
| Mean Eccentricity | 0.00105 | 0.00105 |
| Number of orbits per cycle | 14 | 292 |
| Nodal period (sec) | 6131.25 | 6173.62 |
| Exact repeat cycle duration (days) | 0.99349 | 20.86455 |
| Longitude gap between 2 consecutive ground tracks (deg) | 25.714 | 25.890 |
| Longitude gap between 2 adjacent ground tracks (deg) | 25.714 | 1.233 |
| Drift of RAAN = Right Ascension of Ascending Nodelocal time(minutes/day) | -9.44 | -9.35 |
| Duration for 24h RAAN = Right Ascension of Ascending Nodelocal time change (days) | 152.6 | 154.0 |
Past missions 
