The Gravity and Ocean Circulation Explorer (GOCE) mapping satellite of the European Space Agency (ESA) has been indispensable in drawing the most accurate ocean maps yet made.

GOCE burned-up in 2013 after four years and eight months in orbit. It helped scientists make the most accurate maps of global ocean currents.

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The satellite didn't detect and observe ocean currents directly, but its precision instruments measured the Earth's gravity. It allowed scientists to devise a computer model of what the oceans of the planet would look like if they were still.

GOCE also showed how gravity affects the ocean currents. It's difficult to isolate how currents and gravity interact in practical terms due to other forces that interact with ocean currents. This interaction sends ocean currents off from gravity-established patterns.

The gravitational pull of the Earth changes from one region of the planet to the other because of the uneven distribution of mass beneath the planet's crust and in its core.

The new precise model is important to help better understand the planet's climate. The oceans move about 30 percent of the Earth's heat.

The ocean waters' circulation has a vital role in climate regulation by transferring heat from low to high latitudes in surface waters, while currents cooled at high latitudes stream in deeper waters back toward the equator.

"GOCE has really made a breakthrough for the estimation of ocean currents," said Marie-Helene Rio from the Italian National Research Council's Institute of Atmospheric Sciences and Climate.

One of the best examples is the Gulf Stream, which brings warm surface waters northward from the Gulf of Mexico. This current makes coastal waters off Europe slightly warmer than waters at equivalent latitudes in the North Pacific.

TagsESA, Ocean map, accurate ocean map, Gravity and Ocean Circulation Explorer, GOCE, space exploration, mapping, map, ocean current, Gulf Stream