How two satellites are studying hurricanes during El Niño
In November 2025, NASA and its European partners launched the Sentinel-6B satellite to improve hurricane forecasts, help protect infrastructure and benefit commercial industries, including shipping. The satellite is now flying 30 seconds behind its predecessor, Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich. Both satellites are providing precise sea level height measurements during what oceanographers expect to be…
In November 2025, NASA and its European partners launched the Sentinel-6B satellite to enhance hurricane forecasts and aid infrastructure protection. Both Sentinel-6B and its predecessor, Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich, are part of the Copernicus Sentinel-6/Jason-CS mission, which has been monitoring Earth's changing seas since the early 1990s.
These satellites are aiding scientists in understanding this year's late-season El Niño, which is significantly impacting global weather patterns, including hurricane activity. El Niño weakens trade winds along the equator, causing heat to redistribute eastward towards South America, shifting hurricane activity from the Atlantic to the Pacific.
Data from these satellites, including ocean height, wave size, and atmospheric properties, help forecast hurricane growth and intensification, providing crucial information for disaster response and evacuation decisions. Sentinel-6B is also extending a precise sea level dataset that traces back to the 1992 TOPEX/Poseidon mission.
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