Jason-1 was launched in 2001 as a joint effort between NASA and France's CNES. The next planned ocean topography satellite, the Ocean Surface Topography Mission (OSTM, Jason-2), is planned for a 2006 launch and is a joint effort between NASA, CNES, and EUMETSAT. Jason-1 has a 1340-km orbit and carries several radar altimeters and other instruments to correct and calibrate the altimeters. The DORIS instrument provides wave height, wind speed, and water vapor data as well. The altimeters are not imaging sensors, but the satellite's data are used to generate global ocean topography coverage between 66 deg N and 66 deg S.
Jason-1 data can be found through the following:
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