Today, the Jason-3 Mission successfully launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base. Jason-3 is the extension of an international partnership between the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and the Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales (CNES) and the European Organization for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT). Jason-3 will continue observations of global sea surface height that began in 1992.
Ranking Member Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX) made the following statement:
“I’d like to congratulate all of the people involved in the successful launch of Jason-3. This mission will maintain data critical to understanding, mitigating, and adapting to the effects of climate change on global sea level rise. This valuable data will also improve our ability to forecast hurricane intensity and the impacts of El Nino. Additionally, Jason-3 will keep our commercial shippers and fishermen as well as all Americans safe through improved tide and current forecasting and greater coastal forecasting for environmental response to oil spills and harmful algal blooms.”
