The pioneering campaign drops probes from a plane into the sea to track how seawater is melting glaciers and lend insight into the future of sea level rise.

In the mid-2030s, every U.S. coast will experience rapidly increasing high-tide floods, when a lunar cycle will amplify rising sea levels caused by climate change.

Set for launch next year, the Surface Water and Ocean Topography mission will help scientists monitor Earth’s ocean, as well as the amount of fresh water in its lakes and rivers.

Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich, the latest spacecraft to monitor sea surface height, releases its first science measurements to users.

NASA scientists have studied 17 years of gravity observations of our planet to understand how the global water cycle is changing.

The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) is honoring Jet Propulsion Laboratory Director Watkins and Autonomous Systems Manager Gross, plus two European partners, for work on the GRACE missions.