All posts tagged: Dickson

SWOT Satellite Observes Seismic Tsunami Event in Greenland’s Dickson Fjord

SWOT Satellite Observes Seismic Tsunami Event in Greenland’s Dickson Fjord

An unprecedented nine-day tsunami following a significant rockslide in Greenland’s Dickson Fjord was recently recorded by the international Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) satellite, a collaborative mission by NASA and France’s Centre National d’Études Spatiales (CNES). The event, which took place in September 2023, saw a unique pattern of seismic waves resonate around the world, marking one of the rare instances where satellite data captured a prolonged natural phenomenon with such clarity. Satellite’s Breakthrough Detection in Remote Fjord As per a report by NASA, the rockslide unleashed over 25 million cubic meters of rock and ice into the fjord, displacing the water and creating a massive wave that moved rhythmically between the fjord walls every 90 seconds for nine consecutive days. NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory scientist Josh Willis highlighted this as a first, saying, “SWOT’s technology allowed us to see the wave contours, something we couldn’t achieve before.” The water levels on the northern side of Dickson Fjord rose as high as 1.2 metres in contrast to the southern side, emphasising the powerful impact …