About Jason-1

Jason-1 was the successor to TOPEX/Poseidon, inheriting its main characteristics (e.g. orbit, instruments, measurement accuracy). It was the result of a close collaboration between CNES and NASA as part of the Jason satellite series, which consisted of 3 satellites (Jason-1, Jason-2 and Jason-3) to measure large scale sea level variations, wave height and wind speed in near-real time. Jason-1 was launched on 7 December 2001 from Vandenberg Air Force Base (California, USA) and was decommissioned on 1 July 2013.
Poseidon-2, the main instrument of the mission, was a 13.6 (Ku-band) and 5.3 GHz (C-band) radar altimeter provided by CNES. The transit time of the signal was estimated very precisely in order to calculate the range (i.e. the height above sea level) after applying the necessary corrections.
For more information on the Jason-1 mission, you can visit the AVISO website.

Jason-1 applications

• The first satellite in the Jason series, Jason-1, has made it possible to monitor the ocean in near-real time, including global sea level changes, provide marine weather forecasts and produce nautical charts. These measurements have also allowed climate experts to improve their knowledge of the workings of the climate machine, which is known to be strongly influenced by the oceans.

Disclaimer

To access Jason-1 data, please use your AVISO credentials. If you don't have a "MY AVISO" account, please register [here]. AVISO credentials (login = email address and password) will be sent by email.