The SWOT mission will provide for the first time from space two-dimensional high-resolution maps of surface water levels globally over ocean and inland waters.

It will represent a major milestone in our ability to observe, study and understand the nature and evolution of the Earth’s marine and land surface water systems, globally.

The Bristol Channel

The SWOT-UK is centred on the Bristol Channel and River Severn region as the UK contribution to the international effort.

Objectives

  • A dataset of quality-controlled ground and satellite data of water level, slope and river discharge.
  • Airborne and shipborne surveys during the SWOT 90-days daily mission phase to complement existing observations.
  • Use SWOT data for 2D ocean, wave and hydrodynamic models, and their ability to resolve marine-fluvial interactions and water level spatial variability.
  • To represent the UK within the international SWOT Science Team, with key flood forecasting and water management.

World-class science

The SWOT-UK consortium comprises world-class scientists and early career researchers from the National Oceanography Centre, University of Bristol and Bangor University. They each have excellent scientific reputations, and networks across a wide range of scientific disciplines. The project will produce new datasets and scientific investigations of value and interest in many areas including:

  • coastal ocean processes
  • coastal modelling
  • tides
  • estuarine physics
  • river dynamics
  • river discharge estimation
  • coastal sea level variability and change
  • coastal wind and waves
  • storm surges
  • flooding and sea level
  • observing in situ water levels
  • coastal engineering and coastal defences
  • coastal and estuarine ecology and habitat protection
  • airborne LiDAR, satellite altimetry
  • innovative Earth Observation technology.

Outputs and impacts

SWOT-UK will use existing and new datasets and models to examine challenging environmental questions about processes and interactions at coastal/estuarine/land interfaces and their influence on coastal hazards and inland flooding. Data collated will tackle the fundamental research problem of how fluvial and marine extremes combine in estuaries. The research is of high societal relevance since coastal/estuarine environments host many large cities of the world and, in the UK, are home to over 20 million people.

The way flood hazard drivers combine is still poorly understood and poorly represented in probabilistic methods used to assess risk and exposure, e.g., impact of changing extreme conditions from sea-level rise and predicted changes to UK storm patterns.

The important focus in SWOT-UK on engagement and dissemination will also strengthen collaborations with national and local stakeholders in flood warning and forecasting (e.g., Flood Forecasting Centre and UK MetOffice) and water resources monitoring and management (e.g., Channel Coastal Observatory, Environment Agency).