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Jason-1, the beginning of operational oceanography
Jason-1 was launched on December 7th, 2001, twenty years ago. It was the first follow-on to Topex/Poseidon, and the first of an operational series, renewed one year ago with Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich.
The goals of this mission, as detailed in one of the leaflets made for its launch have been largely fulfilled: Operational oceanography and ocean forecasting are now routinely delivering near-real time data, Mean sea level is now monitored more than ever, altimetry-derived significant wave heights are assimilated in wave forecasting models, with recently a new instrument onboard CFOSat, and improvements on geoid and mean sea surface are relentlessly pursued.
The cooperation has broadened, with other organizations, and also Europe joining in, in the frame of the Copernicus Sentinel program.
Jason-3 is still up and functionning and should be shifted on a new orbit next year, to complement the coverage of Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich (also called "Jason-CS") and deliver data for some more years.
Image of the month 
