NASA SVS Image Server

Wildfire Growth around Yellowstone National Park in 1988 (1024x1024 Animation) (2909_17518)

During the summer of 1988, wildfires burned about 1.4 million acres in and around Yellowstone National Park. Spurred by the driest summer in park history, the fires started in early July and lasted until early October. The worst day was August 20, when tremendous winds pushed the fires to burn over 150,000 acres. Although the scars from these fires are still visible in Landsat imagery from space over ten years later, the patchwork nature of the fire footprint left many unburned areas from which plant species have regenerated very successfully. This animation shows how the fires progressed in the period from June 30 though October 2, 1988, by which time the fall rain and snow had stopped the fire growth. These maps are based on daily ground observations by fire lookouts in the park and by infrared imaging cameras flown over the park at night. These observations are considered accurate to within about 100 meters. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

African Fires During 2002 (1024x1024 Animation) (2890_17402)

This animation shows fire activity in Africa from January 1, 2002 to December 31, 2002. The fires are shown as tiny particles with each particle depicting the geographic region in which fire was detected. The color of a particle represents the number of days since a sizable amount of fire was detected in that region, with red representing less than 20 days, orange representing 20 to 40 days, yellow representing 40 to 60 days, and gray to black representing more than 60 days. This data was measured by the MODIS instrument on the Terra satellite. MODIS detects fires by measuring the brightness temperature of a region in several frequency bands and looking for hot spots where this temperature is greater than the surrounding region. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

Tropospheric Ozone Impacts Global Climate Warming (644x289 Animation) (3338_24550)

In the first global assessment of the impact of ozone on climate warming, scientists at the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS), New York, evaluated how ozone in the lowest part of the atmosphere (the troposphere) changed temperatures over the past 100 years. Using the best available estimates of global emissions of gases that create ozone, the GISS computer model study reveals how much this single air pollutant and greenhouse gas has contributed to warming in specific regions of the world. Ozone was responsible for one-third to half of the observed warming trend in the Arctic during winter and spring, according to the new research. Ozone is transported from the industrialized countries in the Northern Hemisphere to the Arctic quite efficiently during these seasons. The findings will be published soon in the American Geophysical Union's Journal of Geophysical Research-Atmospheres. The impact of ozone air pollution on climate warming is difficult to pinpoint because, unlike other greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide, ozone does not last long enough in the lower atmosphere to spread uniformly around the globe. Its warming impact is much more closely tied to the region it originated from. To capture this complex picture, the GISS scientists used a suite of three-dimensional computer models that starts with data on ozone sources and then tracks how ozone chemically evolved and moved around the world over the past century. The research was supported by NASA's Atmospheric Chemistry Modeling and Analysis Program. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

Aqua MODIS Imagery of Hurricane Katrina (1024x1024 Animation) (3255_22652)

Low earth-orbiting satellites, such as Aqua, usually see any place on Earth no more than once a day. This daily sequence of color images from the MODIS instrument on Aqua shows the Gulf of Mexico during the period of Hurricane Katrina, from August 23 to August 30, 2005. The gaps in the MODIS imagery occur between successive orbits, about 90 minutes apart, and are filled in in this animation using high-resolution visible imagery from GOES-12. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

TRMM Microwave Measurements during Hurricane Katrina: Horizontal Polarization (512x512 Animation) (3250_22668)

The TMI instrument on the TRMM satellite measures microwaves emitted from the Earth's land and water. By comparing emission from different microwave frequencies, the characteristics of ice and water in the atmosphere can be determined. For example, 85 GHz microwaves are scattered by ice crystals in tropical cyclones, making cyclone rain bands appear 'colder' than the surrounding areas. By comparing 85 GHz temperatures in different polarizations with other frequency band measurements, accurate measurements of rainfall in the atmosphere can be made. This animation shows eight days of global TMI 85 GHz measurements in the Gulf of Mexico during Hurricane Katrina. The hurricane Katrina rainbands clearly show up in these images. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

TRMM Microwave Measurements during Hurricane Katrina: Vertical Polarization (512x512 Animation) (3249_22662)

The TMI instrument on the TRMM satellite measures microwaves emitted from the Earth's land and water. By comparing emission from different microwave frequencies, the characteristics of ice and water in the atmosphere can be determined. For example, 85 GHz microwaves are scattered by ice crystals in tropical cyclones, making cyclone rain bands appear 'colder' than the surrounding areas. By comparing 85 GHz temperatures in different polarizations with other frequency band measurements, accurate measurements of rainfall in the atmosphere can be made. This animation shows eight days of global TMI 85 GHz measurements in the Gulf of Mexico during Hurricane Katrina. The hurricane Katrina rainbands clearly show up in these images. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

TRMM Microwave Brightness Temperature Progression During Hurricane Katrina: Horizontal Polarization (1024x256 Animation) (3248_22701)

The TMI instrument on the TRMM satellite measures microwaves emitted from the Earth's land and water. By comparing emission from different microwave frequencies, the characteristics of ice and water in the atmosphere can be determined. For example, 85 GHz microwaves are scattered by ice crystals in tropical cyclones, making cyclone rain bands appear 'colder' than the surrounding areas. By comparing 85 GHz temperatures in different polarizations with other frequency band measurements, accurate measurements of rainfall in the atmosphere can be made. This animation builds up four days of global TMI 85 GHz measurements. Hurricane Katrina was in the Gulf of Mexico at the time and clearly shows up in the measurements. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

TRMM Microwave Brightness Temperature Progression during Hurricane Katrina: Vertical Polarization (1024x256 Animation) (3247_22695)

The TMI instrument on the TRMM satellite measures microwaves emitted from the Earth's land and water. By comparing emission from different microwave frequencies, the characteristics of ice and water in the atmosphere can be determined. For example, 85 GHz microwaves are scattered by ice crystals in tropical cyclones, making cyclone rain bands appear 'colder' than the surrounding areas. By comparing 85 GHz temperatures in different polarizations with other frequency band measurements, accurate measurements of rainfall in the atmosphere can be made. This animation builds up four days of global TMI 85 GHz measurements. Hurricane Katrina was in the Gulf of Mexico at the time and clearly shows up in the measurements. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

TRMM Microwave Brightness Temperature Swath during Hurricane Katrina: Horizontal Polarization (1024x256 Animation) (3243_22680)

The TMI instrument on the TRMM satellite measures microwaves emitted from the Earth's land and water. By comparing emission from different microwave frequencies, the characteristics of ice and water in the atmosphere can be determined. For example, 85 GHz microwaves are scattered by ice crystals in tropical cyclones, making cyclone rain bands appear 'colder' than the surrounding areas. By comparing 85 GHz temperatures in different polarizations with other frequency band measurements, accurate measurements of rainfall in the atmosphere can be made. This animation shows four days of TMI 85 GHz measurements, one orbit at a time. Hurricane Katrina was in the Gulf of Mexico at the time and clearly shows up in the measurements. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

TRMM Microwave Brightness Temperature Swath during Hurricane Katrina: Vertical Polarization (1024x256 Animation) (3242_22674)

The TMI instrument on the TRMM satellite measures microwaves emitted from the Earth's land and water. By comparing emission from different microwave frequencies, the characteristics of ice and water in the atmosphere can be determined. For example, 85 GHz microwaves are scattered by ice crystals in tropical cyclones, making cyclone rain bands appear 'colder' than the surrounding areas. By comparing 85 GHz temperatures in different polarizations with other frequency band measurements, accurate measurements of rainfall in the atmosphere can be made. This animation shows four days of TMI 85 GHz measurements, one orbit at a time. Hurricane Katrina was in the Gulf of Mexico at the time and clearly shows up in the measurements. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

Hurricane Katrina Sea Surface Temperature (1024x1024 Animation) (3240_24673)

This visualization shows the cold water trail left by Hurricane Katrina. The data is from August 23 through 30, 2005. The colors on the ocean represent the sea surface temperatures, and satellite images of the hurricane clouds are laid over the temperatures to clearly show the hurricane positions. Orange and red depict regions that are 82 degrees F and higher, where the ocean is warm enough for hurricanes to form. Hurricane winds are sustained by the heat energy of the ocean, so the ocean is cooled as the hurricane passes and the energy is extracted to power the winds. The sea surface temperatures are 3-day moving averages based on the AMSR-E instrument on the Aqua satellite, while the cloud images were taken by the Imager on the GOES-12 satellite. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

Hurricane Katrina Overview (1024x1024 Image) (3238_23161)

Low earth-orbiting satellites, such as Aqua and Terra, usually see any place on Earth no more than once a day. This sequence of color images from the MODIS instruments on Aqua and Terra shows the progression of Hurricane Katrina, from August 24 to August 31, 2005, whenever one of the two instruments captured the hurricane. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

2005-08-24 15:50 (3238_22718_705010)

Low earth-orbiting satellites, such as Aqua and Terra, usually see any place on Earth no more than once a day. This sequence of color images from the MODIS instruments on Aqua and Terra shows the progression of Hurricane Katrina, from August 24 to August 31, 2005, whenever one of the two instruments captured the hurricane. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

2005-08-26 18:45 (3238_22718_705012)

Low earth-orbiting satellites, such as Aqua and Terra, usually see any place on Earth no more than once a day. This sequence of color images from the MODIS instruments on Aqua and Terra shows the progression of Hurricane Katrina, from August 24 to August 31, 2005, whenever one of the two instruments captured the hurricane. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

2005-08-28 17:00 (3238_22718_705014)

Low earth-orbiting satellites, such as Aqua and Terra, usually see any place on Earth no more than once a day. This sequence of color images from the MODIS instruments on Aqua and Terra shows the progression of Hurricane Katrina, from August 24 to August 31, 2005, whenever one of the two instruments captured the hurricane. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

2005-08-30 16:45 (3238_22718_705016)

Low earth-orbiting satellites, such as Aqua and Terra, usually see any place on Earth no more than once a day. This sequence of color images from the MODIS instruments on Aqua and Terra shows the progression of Hurricane Katrina, from August 24 to August 31, 2005, whenever one of the two instruments captured the hurricane. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

GOES-12 Imagery of Hurricane Katrina: Longwave Infrared Progression (512x512 Animation) (3237_22569)

The GOES-12 satellite sits at 75 degrees west longitude at an altitude of 36,000 kilometers over the equator, in geosynchronous orbit. At this position its Imager instrument takes pictures of cloud patterns in several wavelengths for all of North and South America, a primary measurement used in weather forecasting. The Imager takes a pattern of pictures of parts of the Earth in several wavelengths all day, measurements that are vital in weather forecasting. This animation shows a four-day sequence of GOES-12 images in the longwave infrared wavelengths, from 10.2 to 11.2 microns, during the period that Hurricane Katrina passed through the Gulf of Mexico. This wavelength band is the most common one for observing cloud motions and severe storms throughout the day and night. Note that most of the images are taken over the United States (about every 5 minutes) with full disk images every 3 hours and several specific images over South America every day. In this animation, new images are placed over old images rather than replacing them, so different parts of the image update at different times as measurements are taken. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

GOES-10 Imagery of Hurricane Katrina: Full Disk Longwave Infrared (1024x1024 Animation) (3235_22556)

The GOES-10 satellite sits at 135 degrees west longitude at an altitude of 36,000 kilometers over the equator, in geosynchronous orbit. At this position its Imager instrument takes pictures of cloud patterns in several wavelengths for the Pacific Ocean, a primary measurement used in weather forecasting. Every three hours the Imager takes a picture of the full disk of the Earth. This animation shows a sequence of these full disk images in the longwave infrared wavelengths, from 10.2 to 11.2 microns, during the period that Hurricane Katrina passed through the Gulf of Mexico. This wavelength band is the most common one for observing cloud motions and severe storms throughout the day and night. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

GOES-12 Imagery of Hurricane Katrina: Full Disk Longwave Infrared (1024x1024 Animation) (3233_22537)

The GOES-12 satellite sits at 75 degrees west longitude at an altitude of 36,000 kilometers over the equator, in geosynchronous orbit. At this position its Imager instrument takes pictures of cloud patterns in several wavelengths for all of North and South America, a primary measurement used in weather forecasting. Every three hours the Imager takes a picture of the full disk of the Earth. This animation shows a sequence of these full disk images in the longwave infrared wavelengths, from 10.2 to 11.2 microns, during the period that Hurricane Katrina passed through the Gulf of Mexico. This wavelength band is the most common one for observing cloud motions and severe storms throughout the day and night. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

GOES-12 Imagery of Hurricane Katrina: Full Disk Shortwave Infrared (1024x1024 Animation) (3231_22527)

The GOES-12 satellite sits at 75 degrees west longitude at an altitude of 36,000 kilometers over the equator, in geosynchronous orbit. At this position its Imager instrument takes pictures of cloud patterns in several wavelengths for all of North and South America, a primary measurement used in weather forecasting. Every three hours the Imager takes a picture of the full disk of the Earth. This animation shows a sequence of these full disk images in the shortwave infrared wavelengths, 3.78 to 4.03 microns, during the period that Hurricane Katrina passed through the Gulf of Mexico. This wavelength band shows the day-night cycle, and is useful for identifying fog at night and discriminating between water clouds and snow or ice clouds during the daytime. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

GOES-12 Imagery of Hurricane Katrina: Longwave Infrared Close-up (1024x1024 Animation) (3216_22510)

The GOES-12 satellite sits at 75 degrees west longitude at an altitude of 36,000 kilometers over the equator, in geosynchronous orbit. At this position its Imager instrument takes pictures of cloud patterns in several wavelengths for all of North and South America, a primary measurement used in weather forecasting. The Imager takes a pattern of pictures of parts of the Earth in several wavelengths all day, measurements that are vital in weather forecasting. This animation shows a four-day sequence of GOES-12 images in the longwave infrared wavelengths, from 10.2 to 11.2 microns, during the period that Hurricane Katrina passed through the Gulf of Mexico. This wavelength band is the most common one for observing cloud motions and severe storms throughout the day and night. Since GOES-12 takes images most often over the United States (every 5 to 10 minutes), the motion of the clouds in this close-up of the southeast US is very smooth. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

Global Convective Precipitation during Hurricane Frances (1000x721 Animation) (3209_22204)

Water vapor is a small but significant constituent of the atmosphere, warming the planet due to the greenhouse effect and condensing to form clouds. As moisture-laden air rises, the relative humidity increases until it saturates the air, at which time precipitation occurs. If the uplift of air is due to strong updrafts and unstable air systems, as in thunderstorms, then the precipitation is called convective. This animation shows the convective precipitation for the whole globe from September 1, 2004, through September 5, 2004, during the period of Hurricane Frances in the western Atlantic Ocean and Typhoon Songda in the western Pacific Ocean. Convective precipitation is more intense but less long-lasting than large-scale precipitation. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

Global 300 hPa Geopotential Height during Hurricane Frances (1000x721 Animation) (3207_22192)

The Earth's atmosphere exerts pressure based on the weight of the air above, so the pressure reduces with rising altitude. This rate of pressure reduction with altitude is based on the temperature of the air, with the pressure of colder air reducing faster with altitude than warmer air. Therefore, a surface of constant pressure has a lower altitude at the poles than the equator. This animation shows the altitude above sea level (the geopotential height) of the 300 hectopascal (hPa) pressure surface for the whole globe from September 1, 2004, through September 5, 2004, during the period of Hurricane Frances in the western Atlantic Ocean and Typhoon Songda in the western Pacific Ocean. This pressure is about one-third of the normal pressure at sea level. The largest downward slope of this surface occurs in the mid-latitudes and is shown in yellow in the animation. At this region, air is trying to flow from the equator towards the poles to reduce the slope, but the rotation of the Earth forces the flow to divert to the east, forming the strong west-to-east jet stream flows in these regions. Frances and Songda can be seen as sharp yellow dots of reduced height in their respective locations. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

Global Atmospheric Water Vapor during Hurricane Frances (1000x721 Animation) (3202_22146)

Water vapor is a small but significant constituent of the atmosphere, warming the planet due to the greenhouse effect and condensing to form clouds which both warm and cool the Earth in different circumstances. Warm, moisture-laden air moving out from the tropics brings rainfall to the temperate zones. This animation shows the atmospheric water vapor for the whole globe from September 1, 2004, through September 5, 2004, during the period of Hurricane Frances in the western Atlantic Ocean and Typhoon Songda in the western Pacific Ocean. The band of water vapor over the tropics is the intertropical convergence zone, where converging trade winds and high temperatures force large amounts of water high into the atmosphere. Both Hurricane Frances and Typhoon Songda exhibit significant spiral bands of high water vapor. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

Hurricane Emily Overview (1024x1024 Image) (3200_22107)

Emily was a record-setting storm for many reasons. When it formed on July 11, Emily became the earliest fifth named storm on record. As it moved through the Caribbean, Emily intensified into a powerful Category 4 storm with winds over 250 kilometers per hour (150 mph) and gusts as high as 300 kilometers per hour (184 mph), making it the most powerful storm to form before August. The previous record was set by Hurricane Dennis, which ripped through the Caribbean during the first week of July 2005. Emily's Category 4 status also made 2005 the only year to produce two Category 4 storms before the end of July. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

2005-07-16 15:45 (3200_22108_648221)

Emily was a record-setting storm for many reasons. When it formed on July 11, Emily became the earliest fifth named storm on record. As it moved through the Caribbean, Emily intensified into a powerful Category 4 storm with winds over 250 kilometers per hour (150 mph) and gusts as high as 300 kilometers per hour (184 mph), making it the most powerful storm to form before August. The previous record was set by Hurricane Dennis, which ripped through the Caribbean during the first week of July 2005. Emily's Category 4 status also made 2005 the only year to produce two Category 4 storms before the end of July. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

2005-07-18 17:10 (3200_22108_648223)

Emily was a record-setting storm for many reasons. When it formed on July 11, Emily became the earliest fifth named storm on record. As it moved through the Caribbean, Emily intensified into a powerful Category 4 storm with winds over 250 kilometers per hour (150 mph) and gusts as high as 300 kilometers per hour (184 mph), making it the most powerful storm to form before August. The previous record was set by Hurricane Dennis, which ripped through the Caribbean during the first week of July 2005. Emily's Category 4 status also made 2005 the only year to produce two Category 4 storms before the end of July. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

2005-07-20 20:05 (3200_22108_648225)

Emily was a record-setting storm for many reasons. When it formed on July 11, Emily became the earliest fifth named storm on record. As it moved through the Caribbean, Emily intensified into a powerful Category 4 storm with winds over 250 kilometers per hour (150 mph) and gusts as high as 300 kilometers per hour (184 mph), making it the most powerful storm to form before August. The previous record was set by Hurricane Dennis, which ripped through the Caribbean during the first week of July 2005. Emily's Category 4 status also made 2005 the only year to produce two Category 4 storms before the end of July. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

Global Surface Air Temperature during Hurricane Frances (1000x721 Animation) (3198_22136)

As the Sun's energy reaches the Earth, it is either reflected, absorbed by the clouds, or absorbed by the Earth's surface. The part absorbed by the Earth's surface heats the Earth, which then heats the air just above the surface. This process occurs rapidly in the case of dry land and slowly in the case of the oceans. This animation shows the surface air temperature at an altitude of 2 meters for the whole globe from September 1, 2004, through September 5, 2004, during the period of Hurricane Frances in the western Atlantic Ocean and Typhoon Songda in the western Pacific Ocean. The animation clearly shows the air over land reacting rapidly to solar heating during the day and cooling at night, while the daily solar cycle is not visible in the temperature of the air over the ocean. A very dynamic region of changing air temperature is visible in the interaction between the cold air over Antarctica and the warmer mid-latitude air over the southern oceans during this region of polar night. Hurricane Frances and Typhhon Songda are just barely visible as circulating temperature patterns in the western Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

Hurricane Dennis Overview (1024x1024 Image) (3194_22037)

The formation of Hurricane Dennis on July 5 made that the earliest date on record that four named storms formed in the Atlantic basin. Dennis proved to be a powerful and destructive storm in the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico. It crossed over Cuba on July 8 and 9, leaving at least 10 dead, and caused additional deaths in Haiti. After re-emerging over open water, Dennis re-strengthened into a dangerous Category 4 hurricane with top wind speeds of 233 kilometers per hour (145 mph). The storm passed within 90 kilometers (55 miles) of Pensacola, Florida, and hit land about 80 kilometers (50 miles) east of where Hurricane Ivan struck in September, 2004. A large storm surge of more than 10 feet was created in certain areas, and many homes and businesses in low-lying areas were flooded. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

2005-07-06 15:05 (3194_22032_645548)

The formation of Hurricane Dennis on July 5 made that the earliest date on record that four named storms formed in the Atlantic basin. Dennis proved to be a powerful and destructive storm in the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico. It crossed over Cuba on July 8 and 9, leaving at least 10 dead, and caused additional deaths in Haiti. After re-emerging over open water, Dennis re-strengthened into a dangerous Category 4 hurricane with top wind speeds of 233 kilometers per hour (145 mph). The storm passed within 90 kilometers (55 miles) of Pensacola, Florida, and hit land about 80 kilometers (50 miles) east of where Hurricane Ivan struck in September, 2004. A large storm surge of more than 10 feet was created in certain areas, and many homes and businesses in low-lying areas were flooded. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

2005-07-09 18:45 (3194_22032_645550)

The formation of Hurricane Dennis on July 5 made that the earliest date on record that four named storms formed in the Atlantic basin. Dennis proved to be a powerful and destructive storm in the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico. It crossed over Cuba on July 8 and 9, leaving at least 10 dead, and caused additional deaths in Haiti. After re-emerging over open water, Dennis re-strengthened into a dangerous Category 4 hurricane with top wind speeds of 233 kilometers per hour (145 mph). The storm passed within 90 kilometers (55 miles) of Pensacola, Florida, and hit land about 80 kilometers (50 miles) east of where Hurricane Ivan struck in September, 2004. A large storm surge of more than 10 feet was created in certain areas, and many homes and businesses in low-lying areas were flooded. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

Monthly Snow Climatology, 1979-2002 (600x200 Animation) (3185_21913)

The extent of snow and ice that covers the earth's surface in the northern hemisphere grows and shrinks with the seasons. This animations shows the average snow and ice cover for a given month over a 24-year period, 1979 - 2002. It shows how often a particular point is covered with snow in a given month. The SVS Image Server gives each particular image in the animation the last date for which the data was used in creating that image, even though each of the images covers a span of years for a particular month. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

Global Atmospheric Sea Level Pressure during Hurricane Frances (1000x721 Animation) (3182_22152)

The weight of the Earth's atmosphere exerts pressure on the surface of the Earth. This pressure varies from place-to-place due the variations in the Earth's surface since higher altitudes have less atmosphere above them than lower altitudes. Atmospheric pressure also varies from time-to-time due to the uneven heating of the atmosphere by the sun and the rotation of the Earth, causing weather. In order to see the changes in pressure which affect the weather, the variation due to altitude is removed from the surface pressure, creating a quantity called sea level pressure. This animation shows the atmospheric sea level pressure for the whole globe from September 1, 2004, through September 5, 2004, during the period of Hurricane Frances in the western Atlantic Ocean and Typhoon Songda in the western Pacific Ocean. The sharp, moving low pressures areas for Frances and Songda can be clearly seen in the oceans. Even with the direct effect of altitude removed, cold high-altitude regions such as the South Pole and the Himalayan Plateau still exhibit lower-than-normal pressures, probably due to the interaction of cold air over those regions with the warmer air in the surrounding regions. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

Incoming Solar Flux Compared to Clouds (1024x512 Animation) (3178_21767)

The Earth's climate is determined by energy transfer from the sun to the Earth's land, oceans, and atmosphere. As the Earth rotates, the sun lights up only part of the Earth at a time, and some of that incoming solar energy is reflected and some is absorbed, depending on type of area it lights. The amount of reflection and absorption is critical to the climate. An instrument named CERES orbits the Earth every 99 minutes and measures the reflected solar energy. This animation shows the incoming solar radiation within view of CERES during 29 orbits on June 20 and 21 of 2003. Because this is incoming solar flux, its magnitude only depends on the position of the sun, and, because the orbit is synchronized with the sun, the orbit crosses the equator in the daylight at about 1:30 PM local time on every orbit. This data is not actually measured from CERES, but is calculated to compare with the outgoing radiation that CERES does measure. Note that the infrared cloud image shown under the solar data shows high infrared as dark (land) and low infrared as light (clouds). Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

Outgoing Longwave Flux Compared to Clouds (1024x512 Animation) (3176_21754)

The Earth's climate is determined by energy transfer from the sun to the Earth's land, oceans, and atmosphere. As the Earth rotates, the sun lights up only part of the Earth at a time, and some of that incoming solar energy is reflected and some is absorbed, depending on type of area it lights. The amount of reflection and absorption is critical to the climate. An instrument named CERES orbits the Earth every 99 minutes and measures the reflected solar energy. This animation shows the outgoing thermal radiation measured by CERES during 29 orbits on June 20 and 21 of 2003 over global infrared cloud images. Thermal radiation is longwave radiation and depends on the temperature of the earth, with the most intense radiation coming from the warmest regions and the least from cold clouds in the atmosphere. Although cold clouds and the cold Antarctic night regions can be seen in this data, the Earth radiates pretty uniformly in the longwave bands because the atmosphere distributes the heat of the sun to the whole planet. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

Wind Anomalies During El Nino/La Nina Event of 1997-1998 (2040x504 Animation) (3171_21745)

The El Nino/La Nina event in 1997-1999 was particularly intense, but was also very well observed by satellites and buoys. Deviations from normal winds speeds and directions were computed using data from the Special Sensor Microwave/Imager (SSMI) on the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

Background Image for X-Ray Images of the North Polar Region (WMS) (3170_21483_bg)

Here are X-rays images (shown on the same brightness scale) of the north polar region obtained by Chandra HRC-I on different days, showing large variability in soft (0.1-10.0 keV) X-ray emissions from Earth s aurora. Note that the images are not snap shots, but are approximately 20-min scans of the northern auroral region in the HRC-I field-of-view. The brightness scale in Rayleighs (R) assumes an average effective area of 40 cm2. The day-night terminator at an altitude of 0 km is displayed with lighting. The day-night terminator at an altitude of 100 km is shown by the blue line. This image can be composited with the previous animation.

Hurricane Fabian Overview (1024x1024 Image) (3158_21476)

Hurricane Fabian threatened the Eastern Coast of the United States before it turned northward and hit the island of Bermuda instead. Fabian came within 50 miles to the west of Bermuda on September 5th, 2003, with sustained winds of 117 miles per hour and with gusts of up to 130 miles per hour. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

2003-09-02 14:20 (3158_21378_526232)

Hurricane Fabian threatened the Eastern Coast of the United States before it turned northward and hit the island of Bermuda instead. Fabian came within 50 miles to the west of Bermuda on September 5th, 2003, with sustained winds of 117 miles per hour and with gusts of up to 130 miles per hour. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

2003-09-04 17:15 (3158_21378_526234)

Hurricane Fabian threatened the Eastern Coast of the United States before it turned northward and hit the island of Bermuda instead. Fabian came within 50 miles to the west of Bermuda on September 5th, 2003, with sustained winds of 117 miles per hour and with gusts of up to 130 miles per hour. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

2003-09-06 17:05 (3158_21378_526236)

Hurricane Fabian threatened the Eastern Coast of the United States before it turned northward and hit the island of Bermuda instead. Fabian came within 50 miles to the west of Bermuda on September 5th, 2003, with sustained winds of 117 miles per hour and with gusts of up to 130 miles per hour. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

Urban Signatures: Latent Heat Flux (1000x1000 Image) (3156_21370)

Big cities influence the environment around them. For example, urban areas are typically warmer than their surroundings. Cities are strikingly visible in computer models that simulate the Earth's land surface. This visualization shows latent heat flux predicted by the Land Information System (LIS) for a day in June 2001. (Latent heat flux refers to the transfer of energy from the Earth's surface to the air above by evaporation of water on the surface; for a more detailed explanation see http://www.uwsp.edu/geo/faculty/ritter/geog101/textbook/energy/energy_balance.html). Latent heat flux is lower in the cities because there is less evaporation there. Only part of the global computation is shown, focusing on the highly urbanized northeast corridor in the United States, including the cities of Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Washington. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

Urban Signatures: Evaporation (1000x1000 Image) (3154_21362)

Big cities influence the environment around them. For example, urban areas are typically warmer than their surroundings. Cities are strikingly visible in computer models that simulate the Earth's land surface. This visualization shows evaporation rates predicted by the Land Information System (LIS) for a day in June 2001. Evaporation is lower in the cities because water tends to run off pavement and into drains, rather than being absorbed by soil and plants from which it later evaporates. Only part of the global computation is shown, focusing on the highly urbanized northeast corridor in the United States, including the cities of Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Washington. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to: . NASA GSFC Land Information System (http://lis.gsfc.nasa.gov/)

Hurricane Charley (Sequence) (3153_21359)

Hurricane Charley was the first of four hurricanes to hit the United States in 2004. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

2004-08-12 15:55 (3153_21352_526230)

Hurricane Charley was the first of four hurricanes to hit the United States in 2004. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

Hurricane Ivan Overview (1024x1024 Image) (3151_21311)

Hurricane Ivan was the third hurricane to hit Florida during the 2004 hurricane season. This set of images shows the progression of the hurricane as it approached the Gulf Coast across the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

2004-09-05 13:30 (3151_21289_522947)

Hurricane Ivan was the third hurricane to hit Florida during the 2004 hurricane season. This set of images shows the progression of the hurricane as it approached the Gulf Coast across the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

2004-09-10 15:25 (3151_21289_522949)

Hurricane Ivan was the third hurricane to hit Florida during the 2004 hurricane season. This set of images shows the progression of the hurricane as it approached the Gulf Coast across the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

2004-09-11 16:10 (3151_21289_522951)

Hurricane Ivan was the third hurricane to hit Florida during the 2004 hurricane season. This set of images shows the progression of the hurricane as it approached the Gulf Coast across the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

2004-09-13 19:00 (3151_21289_522953)

Hurricane Ivan was the third hurricane to hit Florida during the 2004 hurricane season. This set of images shows the progression of the hurricane as it approached the Gulf Coast across the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

2004-09-15 18:50 (3151_21289_522955)

Hurricane Ivan was the third hurricane to hit Florida during the 2004 hurricane season. This set of images shows the progression of the hurricane as it approached the Gulf Coast across the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

Heavy Rainfall Leads to Southern California Mudslides (80x80 Animation) (3148_21284)

In January 2005, heavy rains in southern California caused flooding and mudslides. A flow of moisture known as a 'Pineapple Express' because it originates in the Pacific subtropics near Hawaii can cause severe winter storms in California when conditions are right. NASA's Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) observered heavy rainfall near San Diego during a five-day period in January 2005. This visualization shows accumulation of rainfall--each frame shows the total amount of rain since the start of the measurement period. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

Hurricane Frances (Sequence) (3147_21282)

Hurricane Frances was the second hurricane to hit Florida during the 2004 hurricane season. This set of images shows the progression of the hurricane as it approached Florida from the Atlantic Ocean. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to: , MODIS Rapid Response Team, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov)

2004-08-28 14:15 (3147_21260_522890)

Hurricane Frances was the second hurricane to hit Florida during the 2004 hurricane season. This set of images shows the progression of the hurricane as it approached Florida from the Atlantic Ocean. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to: , MODIS Rapid Response Team, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov)

2004-08-31 14:45 (3147_21260_522892)

Hurricane Frances was the second hurricane to hit Florida during the 2004 hurricane season. This set of images shows the progression of the hurricane as it approached Florida from the Atlantic Ocean. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to: , MODIS Rapid Response Team, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov)

2004-09-01 15:30 (3147_21260_522894)

Hurricane Frances was the second hurricane to hit Florida during the 2004 hurricane season. This set of images shows the progression of the hurricane as it approached Florida from the Atlantic Ocean. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to: , MODIS Rapid Response Team, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov)

2004-09-04 16:00 (3147_21260_522896)

Hurricane Frances was the second hurricane to hit Florida during the 2004 hurricane season. This set of images shows the progression of the hurricane as it approached Florida from the Atlantic Ocean. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to: , MODIS Rapid Response Team, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov)

2004-09-06 19:00 (3147_21260_522898)

Hurricane Frances was the second hurricane to hit Florida during the 2004 hurricane season. This set of images shows the progression of the hurricane as it approached Florida from the Atlantic Ocean. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to: , MODIS Rapid Response Team, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov)

Global Lightning Flash Rate Density (720x360 Image) (3144_21247)

Lightning is a brief but intense electrical discharge between positive and negative regions of a thunderstorm.The Lightning Imaging Sensor (LIS) on the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite was designed to study the distribution and variability of total lightning on a global basis. The Optical Transient Detector (OTD) was an earlier lightning detector flying aboard the Microlab-1 spacecraft. The data shown here are compiled from LIS (1998-2002) and OTD (1995-1999) observations. Because each satellite saw only a part of the Earth at any one time, these data use complex algorithms to estimate total flash rate density (number of flashes per square kilometer per year) based on the flashes observed and the amount of time the satellite views each area. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

Background Image for Global Lightning Accumulation (WMS) (3143_21313_bg)

Lightning is a brief but intense electrical discharge between positive and negative regions of a thunderstorm. The Lightning Imaging Sensor (LIS) on the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite was designed to study the distribution and variability of total lightning on a global basis. The Optical Transient Detector (OTD) was an earlier lightning detector flying aboard the Microlab-1 spacecraft. The data shown here are compiled from LIS (1998-2002) and OTD (1995-1999) observations. Because each satellite saw only a part of the Earth at any one time, these data use complex algorithms to estimate total flash rate based on the flashes observed and the amount of time the satellite views each area.NOTE: This animation is primarily designed to be used through the Web Mapping Services (WMS) protocol. Each frame in the animation actually represents an accumulation of a number of years of data up through a particular day of the year. Because of a limitation in the WMS protocol, each frame is marked only with a single date representing the last date for which the data was accumulated. This image can be composited with the previous animation.

Background Image for Global Lightning Accumulation (WMS) (3143_21314_bg)

Lightning is a brief but intense electrical discharge between positive and negative regions of a thunderstorm. The Lightning Imaging Sensor (LIS) on the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite was designed to study the distribution and variability of total lightning on a global basis. The Optical Transient Detector (OTD) was an earlier lightning detector flying aboard the Microlab-1 spacecraft. The data shown here are compiled from LIS (1998-2002) and OTD (1995-1999) observations. Because each satellite saw only a part of the Earth at any one time, these data use complex algorithms to estimate total flash rate based on the flashes observed and the amount of time the satellite views each area.NOTE: This animation is primarily designed to be used through the Web Mapping Services (WMS) protocol. Each frame in the animation actually represents an accumulation of a number of years of data up through a particular day of the year. Because of a limitation in the WMS protocol, each frame is marked only with a single date representing the last date for which the data was accumulated. This image can be composited with the previous animation.

Aerosols from 2003 Southern California Fires (640x384 Animation) (3132_21145)

A devastating series of fires occurred in Southern California during October 2003. The effects of these fires were detectable from space. The Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS) instrument measures aerosol particles (microscopic airborne dust and smoke). TOMS was able to detect aerosols from these fires moving West over the Pacific Ocean and East over the continental United States. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

Daily Erythemal Index (UV exposure) for 2000-2001 (288x180 Animation) (3126_21087)

The Erythemal Index is a measure of ultraviolet (UV) radiation at ground level on the Earth. (The word 'erythema' means an abnormal redness of the skin, such as is caused by spending too much time in the sun--a sunburn is damage to your skin cells caused by UV radiation.) Atmospheric ozone shields life at the surface from most of the harmful components of solar radiation. Chemical processes in the atmosphere can affect the level of protection provided by the ozone in the upper atmosphere. This thinning of the atmospheric ozone in the stratosphere leads to elevated levels of UV at ground level and increases the risks of DNA damage in living organisms. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

Daily Erythemal Index (UV exposure) Measurements for 2000-2001 (288x180 Animation) (3114_21621)

The Erythemal Index is a measure of ultraviolet (UV) radiation at ground level on the Earth. (The word 'erythema' means an abnormal redness of the skin, such as is caused by spending too much time in the sun--a sunburn is damage to your skin cells caused by UV radiation.) Atmospheric ozone shields life at the surface from most of the harmful components of solar radiation. Chemical processes in the atmosphere can affect the level of protection provided by the ozone in the upper atmosphere. This thinning of the atmospheric ozone in the stratosphere leads to elevated levels of UV at ground level and increases the risks of DNA damage in living organisms. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

Solar Irradiance (512x256 Animation) (3109_20950)

The Earth's climate is determined by energy transfer from the sun to the Earth's land, oceans, and atmosphere. As the Earth moves around the sun, the fact that the Earth's axis is tilted means that the sun's overhead position moves from the Northern Hemisphere to the Southern Hemisphere and back from one summer to the next. This effect causes winters to be cold and summers warm in the Northern Hemisphere and the opposite in the Southern Hemisphere. This animation shows the incoming solar irradiance on the Earth at noon on the Greenwich meridian during an entire year, illustrating this movement. The magnitude of this irradiance comes from measurements by the TIM instrument on SORCE. Since the Earth's orbit is elliptical, the magnitude of the solar irradiance at the Earth is least when the Earth is farthest from the sun and greatest when the earth is closest. This 6 or 7 percent change can be seen in the animation by watching the dark bands move. When the bands expand from the bright spot, the Earth is getting closer to the sun, from July through December, and when they contract the Earth is moving away, from January through June. The sun's irradiance is also variable from day to day, but that effect is about ten times smaller than the effect of the earth's orbit. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

Instantaneous Outgoing Longwave Flux (1024x512 Animation) (3107_21484)

The Earth's climate is determined by energy transfer from the sun to the Earth's land, oceans, and atmosphere. As the Earth rotates, the sun lights up only part of the Earth at a time, and some of that incoming solar energy is reflected and some is absorbed, depending on type of area it lights. The amount of reflection and absorption is critical to the climate. An instrument named CERES orbits the Earth every 99 minutes and measures the reflected solar energy. This animation shows the outgoing thermal radiation measured by CERES during 29 orbits on June 20 and 21 of 2003. Thermal radiation is longwave radiation and depends on the temperature of the earth, with the most intense radiation coming from the warmest regions and the least from cold clouds in the atmosphere. Although cold clouds and the cold Antarctic night regions can be seen in this data, the Earth radiates pretty uniformly in the longwave bands because the atmosphere distributes the heat of the sun to the whole planet. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

Instantaneous Incoming Solar Flux (1024x512 Animation) (3105_20926)

The Earth's climate is determined by energy transfer from the sun to the Earth's land, oceans, and atmosphere. As the Earth rotates, the sun lights up only part of the Earth at a time, and some of that incoming solar energy is reflected and some is absorbed, depending on type of area it lights. The amount of reflection and absorption is critical to the climate. An instrument named CERES orbits the Earth every 99 minutes and measures the reflected solar energy. This animation shows the incoming solar radiation within view of CERES during 29 orbits on June 20 and 21 of 2003. Because this is incoming solar flux, its magnitude only depends on the position of the sun, and, because the orbit is synchronized with the sun, the orbit crosses the equator in the daylight at about 1:30 PM local time on every orbit. This data is not actually measured from CERES, but is calculated to compare with the outgoing radiation that CERES does measure. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

Temperature from new Microwave Limb Sounder on Aura (72x89 Animation) (3102_20904)

Nitric acid from new Microwave Limb Sounder on Aura (72x89 Animation) (3100_20890)

Nitric Acid (HNO3) in the atmosphere as measured by the Microwave Limb Sounder (MLS) instrument on NASA's Aura satellite. MLS can simultaneously measure several trace gases and ozone-destroying chemicals in the upper troposphere and photosphere. In this series of animations we present chlorine monoxide (ClO), hydrogen chloride (HCl), nitric acid (HNO3), ozone (O3), water vapor (H2O) and temperature measurements. These are 'first light' data taken when the MLS was operated for the first time. Nitric acid is created from the nitrogen oxide emitted by automobiles. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

Polar Vortex (1024x512 Animation) (3098_20877)

The polar vortex is an atmospheric regional event that isolates polar air from the air at temperate latitudes, producing conditions favorable for wintertime polar ozone depletion and other chemical perturbations. The location, size, and shape of the polar vortex is derived from potential vorticity (PV) data. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

Average Total-sky Outgoing Shortwave Flux (144x72 Animation) (3097_20871)

The Earth's climate is determined by energy transfer from the sun to the Earth's land, oceans, and atmosphere. As the Earth rotates, the sun lights up only part of the Earth at a time, and some of that incoming solar energy is reflected and some is absorbed, depending on type of area it lights. The average amount of reflection and absorption is critical to the climate, because the absorbed energy heats up the Earth until it is radiated away as thermal radiation. This animation shows the monthly average outgoing shortwave radiation from July, 2002 through June, 2004 as measured by the CERES instrument. This is the sunlight that is directly reflected back into space by clouds, ice, desert, and other physical areas on the Earth. Although clouds are very reflective, they come and going during the month, so more reflection is seen on average from ice sheets, which change very little during a monthly period. Note that the cloud-free parts of the ocean are relatively dark, indicating that oceans absorb more sunlight than they reflect. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

Average Total-sky Incoming Solar Flux (144x72 Animation) (3095_20859)

The Earth's climate is determined by energy transfer from the sun to the Earth's land, oceans, and atmosphere. As the Earth rotates, the sun lights up only part of the Earth at a time, and some of that incoming solar energy is reflected and some is absorbed, depending on type of area it lights. The average amount of reflection and absorption is critical to the climate, because the absorbed energy heats up the Earth until it is radiated away as thermal radiation. This animation shows the monthly average incoming solar radiation from July, 2002 through June, 2004 as measured by the CERES instrument. This average data set is constant in longitude because of the Earth's rotation, but clearly shows the seasonal cycle as the sun heats the Northern Hemisphere more in summer than in winter. Note that the polar regions are abnormally bright in the local summer and dark in the local winter because whole day is either light or dark in those seasons. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

Average Clear-sky Net Radiant Flux (144x72 Animation) (3093_20847)

The Earth's climate is determined by energy transfer from the sun to the Earth's land, oceans, and atmosphere. As the Earth rotates, the sun lights up only part of the Earth at a time, and some of that incoming solar energy is reflected and some is absorbed, depending on type of area it lights. The average amount of reflection and absorption is critical to the climate, because the absorbed energy heats up the Earth until it is radiated away as thermal radiation. This animation shows the monthly clear-sky average net radiant flux from July, 2002 through June, 2004 as measured by the CERES instrument. This is the incoming radiation minus the outgoing reflected or thermal energy given off by areas of the Earth when the sky is cloud-free. Regions in red and yellow have a net incoming flux and are being heated. Regions in blue have a net outgoing flux and are being cooled. Regions in black are in rough equilibrium. Summertime oceans are heated the most, while high latitude winter regions are cooled the most, probably because of the longer winter nights. Note that the Earth's ice sheets are almost always regions of cooling. On average, the heating and cooling amounts must balance, or the Earth will change temperature and the climate will change. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

Average Clear-sky Outgoing Longwave Flux (144x72 Animation) (3091_20835)

The Earth's climate is determined by energy transfer from the sun to the Earth's land, oceans, and atmosphere. As the Earth rotates, the sun lights up only part of the Earth at a time, and some of that incoming solar energy is reflected and some is absorbed, depending on type of area it lights. The average amount of reflection and absorption is critical to the climate, because the absorbed energy heats up the Earth until it is radiated away as thermal radiation. This animation shows the monthly average clear-sky outgoing longwave radiation from July, 2002 through June, 2004 as measured by the CERES instrument. This is the thermal radiation given off by the warm Earth when the sky is cloud free. The Earth's rotation and the movement of warm air from the equator to the poles make the Earth roughly uniformin temperature. The most visible features are the cold poles in winter and the significant regions of snow coverage in the northern hemisphere, also in winter. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

Average Clear-sky Albedo (144x72 Animation) (3089_20823)

The Earth's climate is determined by energy transfer from the sun to the Earth's land, oceans, and atmosphere. As the Earth rotates, the sun lights up only part of the Earth at a time, and some of that incoming solar energy is reflected and some is absorbed, depending on type of area it lights. The average amount of reflection and absorption is critical to the climate, because the absorbed energy heats up the Earth until it is radiated away as thermal radiation. This animation shows the monthly average clear-sky albedo from July, 2002 through June, 2004 as measured by the CERES instrument. This is the fraction of the incoming solar radiation that is reflected back into space by regions of the Earth on cloud-free days. The regions of highest albedo are regions of snow and ice, followed by desert regions. Oceans have the lowest albedo, and reflect very little of the incoming solar radiation. It is not possible to measure the albedo during the winter months at the poles, since there is no incoming solar radiation during these times. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

Ozone from new Microwave Limb Sounder on Aura (72x89 Animation) (3082_20583)

Ozone (O3) in the lower stratosphere and upper troposphere as measured by the Microwave Limb Sounder (MLS) instrument on NASA's Aura satellite. MLS can simultaneously measure several trace gases and ozone-destroying chemicals in the upper troposphere and photosphere. In this series of animations we present chlorine monoxide (ClO), hydrogen chloride (HCl), nitric acid (HNO3), ozone (O3), water vapor (H2O) and temperature measurements. These are 'first light' data taken when the MLS was operated for the first time. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

Hurricane Jeanne (Sequence) (3035_21240)

Hurricane Jeanne was the fourth hurricane to hit Florida during the 2004 hurricane season. This set of images shows the progression of the hurricane as it approached Florida from the Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea. When it hit the Florida coast on September 26, Jeanne was a Category 3 storm with sustained winds near 115 miles per hour. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

2004-09-22 15:46 (3035_19349_446869)

Hurricane Jeanne was the fourth hurricane to hit Florida during the 2004 hurricane season. This set of images shows the progression of the hurricane as it approached Florida from the Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea. When it hit the Florida coast on September 26, Jeanne was a Category 3 storm with sustained winds near 115 miles per hour. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

2004-09-24 15:35 (3035_19349_446871)

Hurricane Jeanne was the fourth hurricane to hit Florida during the 2004 hurricane season. This set of images shows the progression of the hurricane as it approached Florida from the Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea. When it hit the Florida coast on September 26, Jeanne was a Category 3 storm with sustained winds near 115 miles per hour. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

2004-09-26 18:35 (3035_19349_446873)

Hurricane Jeanne was the fourth hurricane to hit Florida during the 2004 hurricane season. This set of images shows the progression of the hurricane as it approached Florida from the Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea. When it hit the Florida coast on September 26, Jeanne was a Category 3 storm with sustained winds near 115 miles per hour. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

Background Image for Accumulated Rainfall during Hurricanes Frances, Ivan, and Jeanne, 2004 (WMS) (3034_19343_bg)

During the hurricane season of 2004, an unprecedented four hurricanes hit Florida. This animation shows the accumulated rainfall produced by three of those hurricanes during the month of September. The animation also shows the rainfall from the typhoons in the Pacific Ocean during the same period. This image can be composited with the previous animation.

Background Image for Model of Precipitable Water during Hurricane Isabel, 2003 (WMS) (3033_19337_bg)

The NASA finite-volume General Circulation Model (fvGCM) is used to produce a high-resolution weather prediction system. This model has an increased accuracy of predicting the strength and location of hurricanes over other prediction methods. Several variables are predicted, including cloud cover and precipitable water in the atmosphere. Data from Hurricane Isabel was used to validate the fvGCM model. This image can be composited with the previous animation.

Background Image for Model of Clouds during Hurricane Isabel, 2003 (WMS) (3032_19332_bg)

The NASA finite-volume General Circulation Model (fvGCM) is used to produce a high-resolution weather prediction system. This model has an increased accuracy of predicting the strength and location of hurricanes over other prediction methods. Several variables are predicted, including cloud cover and precipitable water in the atmosphere. Data from Hurricane Isabel was used to validate the fvGCM model. This image can be composited with the previous animation.

Background Image for China Dust Storm during April 2001 (WMS) (2956_18181_bg)

A major dust storm occurred in April 2001 over parts of China and Mongolia. Dust from this storm was transported all the way to the coast of the United States. Although dust from the Sahara Desert is routinely transported across the Atlantic to the east coast of the United States, Asian dust rarely makes the distance across the Pacific to the west coast. These airborne microscopic dust and smoke particles, or aerosols, were measured by the TOMS instrument on the Earth Probe satellite. For governments struggling to meet national air quality standards, knowing more about the sources and movement of pollution across national borders has become an important issue. This image can be composited with the previous animation.

Hurricane Isabel Overview (1024x1024 Image) (2919_21239)

This sequence of images was used to create an animation of the progression of Hurricane Isabel as seen by MODIS. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to: , MODIS Rapid Response Team, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov)

2003-09-08 13:45 (2919_17589_347556)

This sequence of images was used to create an animation of the progression of Hurricane Isabel as seen by MODIS. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to: , MODIS Rapid Response Team, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov)

2003-09-11 14:15 (2919_17589_347558)

This sequence of images was used to create an animation of the progression of Hurricane Isabel as seen by MODIS. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to: , MODIS Rapid Response Team, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov)

2003-09-14 14:45 (2919_17589_347560)

This sequence of images was used to create an animation of the progression of Hurricane Isabel as seen by MODIS. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to: , MODIS Rapid Response Team, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov)

2003-09-15 15:30 (2919_17589_347562)

This sequence of images was used to create an animation of the progression of Hurricane Isabel as seen by MODIS. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to: , MODIS Rapid Response Team, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov)

2003-09-17 15:09 (2919_17589_347564)

This sequence of images was used to create an animation of the progression of Hurricane Isabel as seen by MODIS. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to: , MODIS Rapid Response Team, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov)

2003-09-18 15:55 (2919_17589_347566)

This sequence of images was used to create an animation of the progression of Hurricane Isabel as seen by MODIS. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to: , MODIS Rapid Response Team, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov)

Background Image for Global TRMM Rainmap, August - September 2003 (WMS) (2910_17525_bg)

This is a three-hour global rainmap from August 27 through September 8, 2003, as observed by the TRMM satellite. This image can be composited with the previous animation.

Background Image for Hurricane Regions Indicated by Sea Surface Temperature from June 2002 to September 2003 (WMS) (2907_17506_bg)

The temperature of the world's ocean surface provides a clear indication of the regions where hurricanes and typhoons form, since they can only form when the sea surface temperature exceeds 82 degrees F (27.8 degrees C). The AMSR-E instrument on the Aqua satellite measures the temperature of the top 1 millimeter of the ocean every day, even through the clouds. In this visualization of AMSR-E data covering the period from June, 2002, to September, 2003, areas with surface temperatures greater than 82 degrees F are shown in yellow and orange, while sea surface temperatures below 82 degrees F are shown in blue. The region in the Atlantic from the Caribbean to the equator only exceeds the critical temperature during late summer and early fall in the Northern Hemisphere, the period known as Hurricane Season. It is also possible to see the Gulf Stream, the warm river of water that parallels the east coast of the United States before heading towards northern Europe, in this data. Around January 1, 2003, a cooler than normal region of the ocean appears just to the west of Peru as part of an La Nina and flows westward, driven by the trade winds. The waves that appear on the edges of this cooler area are called tropical instability waves and can also be seen in the equatorial Atlantic Ocean about the same time. This image can be composited with the previous animation.

Background Image for Global Ozone from 2000 through 2003 (WMS) (2904_17486_bg)

This visualization shows the total ozone concentrations for the Earth from January 1, 2000 through December 31, 2003. Low ozone (less than 200 Dobson units) is depicted as regions of dark blue, with high ozone (greater than 330 Dobson units) depicted as yellow and red. The most visible and dynamic feature of the ozone distribution is the ozone hole that forms over Antarctica during September of each year. The amount of ozone in the stratosphere over Antarctica is reduced during this period due to unique atmospheric conditions which chemically reduce the amount of ozone in the region and prevent that ozone from mixing with the higher ozone concentrations just outside the hole. Ozone blocks harmful ultraviolet 'B' rays, and loss of statospheric ozone has been linked to skin cancer in humans and other adverse biological effects in plants and animals. The 2000 Antarctic ozone hole reached 11.5 million square miles on September 10, 2000, the largest hole ever recorded, slightly larger than the North American continent. The 2002 ozone hole was much smaller than normal, dividing into two parts on September 24 before dissipating completely, while the 2003 hole was the second largest observed, reaching 10.9 million square miles on September 11. This data was measured by the TOMS instrument on the Earth Probe satellite. TOMS experienced some days during this period for which data was not measured due to instrument problems. This image can be composited with the previous animation.

Background Image for Ozone Measurements from 2000 through 2003 (WMS) (2903_17480_bg)

This visualization shows the total ozone concentrations for the Earth from January 1, 2000 through December 31, 2003, as measured by theTOMS instrument on the Earth Probe satellite. Low ozone (less than 200 Dobson units) is depicted as regions of dark blue, with high ozone (greater that 330 Dobson units) depicted as yellow and red. The most visible and dynamic feature of the ozone distribution is the ozone hole that forms over Antarctica during September of each year. The amount of ozone in the stratosphere over Antarctica is reduced during this period due to unique atmospheric conditions which chemically reduce the amount of ozone in the region and prevent that ozone from mixing with the higher ozone concentrations just outside the hole. Ozone blocks harmful ultraviolet 'B' rays, and loss of statospheric ozone has been linked to skin cancer in humans and other adverse biological effects in plants and animals. This visualization explicitly shows the TOM ozone data coverage and does not interpolate data into regions of the Earth that the instrument did not observe. Since TOMS measures ozone by observing the characteristics of sunlight reflected from the Earth's surface, no measurements are available for the poles during the polar winter, i.e., around January for the North Pole and July for the South Pole. Also, there is an unobserved region between successive satellite orbits around the equator. Finally, the instrument has periods where technical issues make measurement impossible for a matter of hours or days. This visualization shows that the dynamics of the ozone layer remain visible despite these measurement issues. This image can be composited with the previous animation.

Background Image for Atmospheric Water Vapor during the 1997-1998 El Niño (WMS) (2902_17473_bg)

Water vapor is a small but significant constituent of the atmosphere, warming the planet due to the greenhouse effect and condensing to form clouds which both warm and cool the Earth in different circumstances. A key feature of global atmospheric water vapor convection is the Intertropical Convergence Zone, the low pressure region within five degrees of the equator where the trade winds converge and solar heating of the atmosphere forces the water-laden air to rise in altitude, form clouds, and then precipitate as rain in the afternoon. This visualization shows the global water vapor distribution in gray and white and the global precipitation in yellow every hour from December 20, 1997 to January 14, 1998. The afternoon thunderstorms in the tropics are seen as a flashing yellow region that moves from east to west, following the sun. This is an El Niño period, when the water to the west of South America is warmer than normal, allowing the atmosphere there to heat up and hold more water. This region feeds a high band of water vapor reaching to the southeastern United States and causes increased humidity and rainfall in that region. This data is from the Goddard Earth Modeling System, a coupled land-ocean-atmosphere model which uses earth and satellite-based observations to simulate the Earth's physical system during events such as El Niño. This image can be composited with the previous animation.

Background Image for Atmospheric Water Vapor during the 1998 La Niña (WMS) (2901_17466_bg)

Water vapor is a small but significant constituent of the atmosphere, warming the planet due to the greenhouse effect and condensing to form clouds which both warm and cool the Earth in different circumstances. A key feature of global atmospheric water vapor convection is the Intertropical Convergence Zone, the low pressure region within five degrees of the equator where the trade winds converge and solar heating of the atmosphere forces the water-laden air to rise in altitude, form clouds, and then precipitate as rain in the afternoon. This visualization shows the global water vapor distribution in gray and white and the global precipitation in yellow every hour from August 30, 1998 to September 20, 1998. The afternoon thunderstorms in the tropics are seen as a flashing yellow region that moves from east to west, following the sun. This is a La Niña period, when the water to the west of South America is cooler than normal, forcing the atmosphere there to cool down and hold less water. Strong east-to-west winds can be seen in this region, contributing to the high water vapor region that forms further to the west over southeast Asia, the Philippines, and Indonesia, causing increased humidity and rainfall in that region. This data is from the Goddard Earth Modeling System, a coupled land-ocean-atmosphere model which uses earth and satellite-based observations to simulate the Earth's physical system during events such as La Niña. This image can be composited with the previous animation.

GOES Imagery of Hurricane Luis (993x684 Animation) (2898_17449)

On September 6, 1995, Hurricane Luis was a Category 4 hurricane located about 250 kilometers northeast of Puerto Rico. GOES-9, a new weather satellite in geostationary orbit, was undergoing a check-out period and tested a new, rapid scanning capability by taking high-resolution visible images of Luis at 22 images per hour, much more rapid than the normal rate of one image every 15 minutes. These images clearly show a number of hurricane features that had been hard to observe before, including the evolution of the eyewall structures and small-scale vortex features within the eye. It is also possible to see the formation of the new hurricane arm to the southeast of the eye. This arm is marked by the formation of clouds in the bubbling regions that indicate intense updrafts. The island of Puerto Rico can only be seen as a stationary disturbance under the bright white cloudbank to the southwest of the eye of the hurricane. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

Wind Vectors for Hurricane Erin (1024x1024 Animation) (2896_17437)

This visualization shows wind vectors for Hurricane Erin on September 10, 2001. Wind direction and speed are represented by the direction and speed of moving arrows, respectively. This animation represents a single measurement taken by the SeaWinds instrument on the QuikSCAT satellite, taken at 14:27:00 UTC on September 10, 2001. The WMS version of this animation which is available through the SVS Image Server (http://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/documents/index.html) presents this animation with a different timestamp for each frame in order to more easily present the images as an animation. It should be noted that each frame really has a time stamp of 2001-09-10 14:27:00 UTC. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

Infrared Cloud Cover over the Atlantic Ocean, September 2001 (1024x1009 Animation) (2895_17432)

This animation is a mosaic of cloud cover data taken by several different satellites in the infrared band. Instead of showing a global composite, it is cropped to highlight the Atlantic Ocean. One of the most prominent cloud features during this time was Hurricane Erin. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

Global Infrared Cloud Cover, September 2001 (2852x1009 Animation) (2894_17427)

This animation is a mosaic of cloud cover data taken by several different satellites in the infrared band. One of the most prominent cloud features during this time was Hurricane Erin near the Atlantic coast of the United States. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

Satellite Imagery of Hurricane Dennis (512x512 Animation) (2892_17415)

Hurricane Dennis started as a tropical depression on August 23, 1999, became a tropical storm on August 24, and was classified as a hurricane early on August 26, near the Bahamas. From August 26 through August 31, Dennis proceeded up the coast of the United States until it stalled off the coast of North Carolina for four days because the pressure trough that was pushing it out to sea left it behind. This animation shows images of Dennis during its hurricane period from August 26 through August 31, 1999, when the stall began. The images were taken by the GOES-8 satellite, a weather satellite in geostationary orbit above the western hemisphere. The continuous white cloud progression came from infrared images from GOES, and the yellowish clouds that come and go with the daylight came from data taken in the visible spectrum, also from GOES. The GOES images were not taken at regular times, so the hurricane appears to slow down when the time between images gets small and speed up when the time between images gets large. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

Medium Resolution (1024x512 Animation) (3388_26170)

A recent study indicates there is a correlation between ocean nutrients and changes in sea surface temperature (SST). The results show that when ocean water warms, marine plant life in the form of microscopic phytoplankton tend to decline. When water cools, plant life flourishes. Changes in phytoplankton growth influence fishery yields and the amount of carbon dioxide the oceans remove from the atmosphere. This could have major implications on the future of our ocean's food web and how it relates to climate change. The temperature data in this visualization comes from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) onboard NASA's Terra and Aqua spacecraft. In order to see the correlation between SST and SeaWiFS data, this animation can be compared to the latter part of the animation called 'SeaWiFS Biosphere from 1997 to 2006'. Please click here to see this other animation. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to: Data provided by: Norman Kuring (NASA/GSFC)

Medium Resolution (1024x512 Animation) (3387_26145)

The SeaWiFS instrument aboard the Seastar satellite has been collecting ocean data since 1997. By monitoring the color of reflected light via satellite, scientists can determine how successfully plant life is photosynthesizing. A measurement of photosynthesis is essentially a measurement of successful growth, and growth means successful use of ambient carbon. This animation represents nearly a decade's worth of data taken by the SeaWiFS instrument, showing the abundance of life in the sea. Dark blue represents warmer areas where there is little life due to lack of nutrients, and greens and reds represent cooler nutrient-rich areas. The nutrient-rich areas include coastal regions where cold water rises from the sea floor bringing nutrients along and areas at the mouths of rivers where the rivers have brought nutrients into the ocean from the land. A recent study indicates there is a correlation between this ocean nutrients and changes in sea surface temperature (SST). The results show that when SSTs warm, marine plant life in the form of microscopic phytoplankton declines. When SSTs cool, marine plant life flourishes. Changes in phytoplankton growth influence fishery yields and the amount of carbon dioxide the oceans remove from the atmosphere. This could have major implications on the future of our ocean's food web and how it relates to climate change. Once the animation pulls out to a full global view, the remaining animation can be compared to the animation titled 'MODIS Sea Surface Temperature from 2002 to 2006'. Please click here to view the corresponding animation. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to: Data provided by: Norman Kuring (NASA/GSFC)

Urban Signatures: Sensible Heat Flux (1000x1000 Image) (3157_21374)

Big cities influence the environment around them. For example, urban areas are typically warmer than their surroundings. Cities are strikingly visible in computer models that simulate the Earth's land surface. This visualization shows sensible heat flux predicted by the Land Information System (LIS) for a day in June 2001. (Sensible heat flux refers to transfer of heat from the earth's surface to the air above; for further explanation see http://www.uwsp.edu/geo/faculty/ritter/geog101/textbook/energy/energy_balance.html). Sensible heat flux is higher in the cities--that is, they transfer more heat to the atmosphere--because the surface there is warmer than in the surroundings. Only part of the global computation is shown, focusing on the highly urbanized northeast corridor in the United States, including the cities of Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Washington. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

Urban Signatures: Thermal Radiation (1000x1000 Image) (3155_21366)

Big cities influence the environment around them. For example, urban areas are typically warmer than their surroundings. Cities are strikingly visible in computer models that simulate the Earth's land surface. This visualization shows outgoing thermal radiation predicted by the Land Information System (LIS) for a day in June 2001. Cities are warmer, so they emit more longwave (infrared) radiation. Only part of the global computation is shown, focusing on the highly urbanized northeast corridor in the United States, including the cities of Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Washington. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to: . NASA GSFC Land Information System (http://lis.gsfc.nasa.gov/)

Urban Signatures: Temperature (1000x1000 Image) (3152_21348)

Big cities influence the environment around them. For example, urban areas are typically warmer than their surroundings. Cities are strikingly visible in computer models that simulate the Earth's land surface. This visualization shows average surface temperature predicted by the Land Information System (LIS) for a day in June 2001. Only part of the global computation is shown, focusing on the highly urbanized northeast corridor in the United States, including the cities of Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Washington. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to: , NASA GSFC Land Information System (http://lis.gsfc.nasa.gov/)

Rondonia Deforestation (1024x1024 Animation) (3113_20990)

Throughout much of the 1980s, deforestation in Brazil eliminated more than 15,000 square kilometers (9000 square miles) of forest per year. Data gathered by several satellites in the Landsat series of spacecraft shows enormous tracts of forest disappearing in Rondonia, Brazil from 1975 through 2001. The human phenomenon of deforestation starts, especially in the dense tropical forests of Brazil, when systematic cutting of a road opens new territory to potential deforestation by penetrating into new areas. Clearing of vegetation along the sides of those roads then tends to fan out to create a pattern akin to a fish skeleton. As new paths appear in the woods, more areas become vulnerable. Finally, the spaces between the 'skeletal bones' fall to defoliation. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

Vegetation Images Show Drought in Western US (369x491 Animation) (3110_20956)

Satellite data can gauge the health of plants, which is a good indicator of drought. The Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) measures how dense and green plant leaves are. NDVI images are useful as a measure of drought when compared to 'normal' plant health. Scientists calculate average NDVI values for an area to find out what is normal at a particular time of year. This animation uses satellite imagery to show changes in vegetation between 1999 and 2003. In 2002, drought had settled across the Midwest. Large dark brown sections of eastern Colorado show where vegetation was less lush and healthy than normal. This version of the visualization is a wide view showing the western United States. The data were measured by the vegetation instrument on Europe's SPOT-4 satellite, and were provided by DigitalGlobe/SPOT under agreement with the U.S. Department of Agriculture Foreign Agricultural Service (USDA/FAS). Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

Medium Resolution (1024x512 Animation) (2914_21657)

By monitoring the color of reflected light via satellite, scientists can determine how successfully plant life is photosynthesizing. A measurement of photosynthesis is essentially a measurement of successful growth, and growth means successful use of ambient carbon. This animation represents the first six years' worth of data taken by the SeaWiFS instrument, showing the abundance of life both on land and in the sea. In the ocean, dark blue represents warmer areas where there is little life due to lack of nutrients, and greens and reds represent cooler nutrient-rich areas. The nutrient-rich areas include coastal regions where cold water rises from the sea floor bringing nutrients along and areas at the mouths of rivers where the rivers have brought nutrients into the ocean from the land. On land, green represents areas of abundant plant life, such as forests and grasslands, while tan and white represent areas where plant life is sparse or non-existent, such as the deserts in Africa and the Middle East and snow-cover and ice at the poles. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to: NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center, The SeaWiFS Project and GeoEye, Scientific Visualization Studio. NOTE: All SeaWiFS images and data presented on this web site are for research and educational use only. All commercial use of SeaWiFS data must be coordinated with GeoEye (http://www.geoeye.com).

Wildfire Growth around Yellowstone National Park in 1988 (1024x1024 Animation) (2909_17518)

During the summer of 1988, wildfires burned about 1.4 million acres in and around Yellowstone National Park. Spurred by the driest summer in park history, the fires started in early July and lasted until early October. The worst day was August 20, when tremendous winds pushed the fires to burn over 150,000 acres. Although the scars from these fires are still visible in Landsat imagery from space over ten years later, the patchwork nature of the fire footprint left many unburned areas from which plant species have regenerated very successfully. This animation shows how the fires progressed in the period from June 30 though October 2, 1988, by which time the fall rain and snow had stopped the fire growth. These maps are based on daily ground observations by fire lookouts in the park and by infrared imaging cameras flown over the park at night. These observations are considered accurate to within about 100 meters. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

African Fires During 2002 (1024x1024 Animation) (2890_17402)

This animation shows fire activity in Africa from January 1, 2002 to December 31, 2002. The fires are shown as tiny particles with each particle depicting the geographic region in which fire was detected. The color of a particle represents the number of days since a sizable amount of fire was detected in that region, with red representing less than 20 days, orange representing 20 to 40 days, yellow representing 40 to 60 days, and gray to black representing more than 60 days. This data was measured by the MODIS instrument on the Terra satellite. MODIS detects fires by measuring the brightness temperature of a region in several frequency bands and looking for hot spots where this temperature is greater than the surrounding region. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

Medium Resolution (1024x512 Animation) (3388_26170)

A recent study indicates there is a correlation between ocean nutrients and changes in sea surface temperature (SST). The results show that when ocean water warms, marine plant life in the form of microscopic phytoplankton tend to decline. When water cools, plant life flourishes. Changes in phytoplankton growth influence fishery yields and the amount of carbon dioxide the oceans remove from the atmosphere. This could have major implications on the future of our ocean's food web and how it relates to climate change. The temperature data in this visualization comes from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) onboard NASA's Terra and Aqua spacecraft. In order to see the correlation between SST and SeaWiFS data, this animation can be compared to the latter part of the animation called 'SeaWiFS Biosphere from 1997 to 2006'. Please click here to see this other animation. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to: Data provided by: Norman Kuring (NASA/GSFC)

Medium Resolution (1024x512 Animation) (3387_26145)

The SeaWiFS instrument aboard the Seastar satellite has been collecting ocean data since 1997. By monitoring the color of reflected light via satellite, scientists can determine how successfully plant life is photosynthesizing. A measurement of photosynthesis is essentially a measurement of successful growth, and growth means successful use of ambient carbon. This animation represents nearly a decade's worth of data taken by the SeaWiFS instrument, showing the abundance of life in the sea. Dark blue represents warmer areas where there is little life due to lack of nutrients, and greens and reds represent cooler nutrient-rich areas. The nutrient-rich areas include coastal regions where cold water rises from the sea floor bringing nutrients along and areas at the mouths of rivers where the rivers have brought nutrients into the ocean from the land. A recent study indicates there is a correlation between this ocean nutrients and changes in sea surface temperature (SST). The results show that when SSTs warm, marine plant life in the form of microscopic phytoplankton declines. When SSTs cool, marine plant life flourishes. Changes in phytoplankton growth influence fishery yields and the amount of carbon dioxide the oceans remove from the atmosphere. This could have major implications on the future of our ocean's food web and how it relates to climate change. Once the animation pulls out to a full global view, the remaining animation can be compared to the animation titled 'MODIS Sea Surface Temperature from 2002 to 2006'. Please click here to view the corresponding animation. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to: Data provided by: Norman Kuring (NASA/GSFC)

Tropospheric Ozone Impacts Global Climate Warming (644x289 Animation) (3338_24550)

In the first global assessment of the impact of ozone on climate warming, scientists at the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS), New York, evaluated how ozone in the lowest part of the atmosphere (the troposphere) changed temperatures over the past 100 years. Using the best available estimates of global emissions of gases that create ozone, the GISS computer model study reveals how much this single air pollutant and greenhouse gas has contributed to warming in specific regions of the world. Ozone was responsible for one-third to half of the observed warming trend in the Arctic during winter and spring, according to the new research. Ozone is transported from the industrialized countries in the Northern Hemisphere to the Arctic quite efficiently during these seasons. The findings will be published soon in the American Geophysical Union's Journal of Geophysical Research-Atmospheres. The impact of ozone air pollution on climate warming is difficult to pinpoint because, unlike other greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide, ozone does not last long enough in the lower atmosphere to spread uniformly around the globe. Its warming impact is much more closely tied to the region it originated from. To capture this complex picture, the GISS scientists used a suite of three-dimensional computer models that starts with data on ozone sources and then tracks how ozone chemically evolved and moved around the world over the past century. The research was supported by NASA's Atmospheric Chemistry Modeling and Analysis Program. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

Background Image for Sea Surface Height Anomaly, 2003-2005 (WMS) (3193_21991_bg)

Changes in the normal height of the ocean's surface were observed by the TOPEX/Poseidon altimeter. This image can be composited with the previous animation.

Background Image for Sea Surface Temperature Anomaly, 2005 (WMS) (3192_21988_bg)

The temperature of the surface of the world's oceans provides a clear indication of the state of the Earth's climate and weather. The sea surface temperature anomaly, or difference from the mean, can show climate indicators such as the El Nino oscillation, which manifests as a warmer-than-normal sea surface temperature in the Pacific Ocean west of Ecuador and Peru. This sequence shows a slight La Nina effect, or cooler-than-normal sea surface temperature in the eastern Pacific. This image can be composited with the previous animation.

Background Image for Sea Surface Temperature Anomaly, 2005 (WMS) (3192_21989_bg)

The temperature of the surface of the world's oceans provides a clear indication of the state of the Earth's climate and weather. The sea surface temperature anomaly, or difference from the mean, can show climate indicators such as the El Nino oscillation, which manifests as a warmer-than-normal sea surface temperature in the Pacific Ocean west of Ecuador and Peru. This sequence shows a slight La Nina effect, or cooler-than-normal sea surface temperature in the eastern Pacific. This image can be composited with the previous animation.

Background Image for Sea Surface Temperature, 2005 (WMS) (3191_21982_bg)

The temperature of the surface of the world's oceans provides a clear indication of the state of the Earth's climate and weather. In this visualization sequence covering the period from January to June, 2005, the most obvious effects are the north-south movement of warm regions across the equator due to the seasonal movement of the sun and the seasonal advance and retreat of the sea ice near the North and South poles. It is also possible to see the Gulf Stream, the warm river of water that parallels the east coast of the United States before heading towards northern Europe, in this data. This image can be composited with the previous animation.

Background Image for Sea Surface Temperature, 2005 (WMS) (3191_21983_bg)

The temperature of the surface of the world's oceans provides a clear indication of the state of the Earth's climate and weather. In this visualization sequence covering the period from January to June, 2005, the most obvious effects are the north-south movement of warm regions across the equator due to the seasonal movement of the sun and the seasonal advance and retreat of the sea ice near the North and South poles. It is also possible to see the Gulf Stream, the warm river of water that parallels the east coast of the United States before heading towards northern Europe, in this data. This image can be composited with the previous animation.

Sea Surface Height Anomalies during El Nino/La Nina Event of 1997-1998 (1020x252 Animation) (3142_21213)

The El Nino/La Nina event in 1997-1999 was particularly intense, but was also very well observed by satellites and buoys. Changes in the normal height of the ocean's surface were observed by the TOPEX/Poseidon altimeter. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

Sea Surface Temperature Anomalies during El Nino/La Nina Event of 1997-1998 (1020x252 Animation) (3135_21167)

The El Nino/La Nina event in 1997-1999 was particularly intense, but was also very well observed by satellites and buoys. A strong upwelling of unusually warm water was observed in the Pacific Ocean during the El Nino phase, followed by unusually cold water in the La Nina phase. The Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) instrument on the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's NOAA-14 spacecraft observed the changes in sea surface temperature shown here. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

Life Returns to the Galapagos after El Nino (640x480 Animation) (2913_17544)

During the El Nino in 1997 and 1998, the surface water in the eastern equatorial Pacific off the coast of South America was warmer than normal. This warm water trapped the ocean nutrients that normally come to the surface in the upwelling cold water, leading to a drastic decrease in phytonplankton and other ocean life in the region. The unique Galapagos ecosystem was severely affected and many species, including sea lions, seabirds, and barracudas, suffered a very high mortality level. During the second week of May, 1998, the ocean temperatures plummeted 10 degrees in one day, and the ocean productivity exploded with large phytoplankton blooms. After this time, many species recovered very rapidly and the land species started to reproduce immediately. The SeaWiFS instrument, which monitors global phytoplankton in the oceans by measuring the color of reflected light, caught this dramatic recovery. This visualization shws images from SeaWiFS starting on May 10, 1998 and ending on May 31, 1998, where ocean colors of blue or purple represents little or no ocean life and colors or yellow and red indicate significant ocean productivity. White and gray denote areas occluded by clouds in these images, and a relief image of the Galapagos Islands has been superimposed on the images to clarify the location of the islands. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to: NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center, The SeaWiFS Project and GeoEye, Scientific Visualization Studio. NOTE: All SeaWiFS images and data presented on this web site are for research and educational use only. All commercial use of SeaWiFS data must be coordinated with GeoEye (http://www.geoeye.com).

Background Image for Atmospheric Water Vapor during the 1997-1998 El Niño (WMS) (2902_17473_bg)

Water vapor is a small but significant constituent of the atmosphere, warming the planet due to the greenhouse effect and condensing to form clouds which both warm and cool the Earth in different circumstances. A key feature of global atmospheric water vapor convection is the Intertropical Convergence Zone, the low pressure region within five degrees of the equator where the trade winds converge and solar heating of the atmosphere forces the water-laden air to rise in altitude, form clouds, and then precipitate as rain in the afternoon. This visualization shows the global water vapor distribution in gray and white and the global precipitation in yellow every hour from December 20, 1997 to January 14, 1998. The afternoon thunderstorms in the tropics are seen as a flashing yellow region that moves from east to west, following the sun. This is an El Niño period, when the water to the west of South America is warmer than normal, allowing the atmosphere there to heat up and hold more water. This region feeds a high band of water vapor reaching to the southeastern United States and causes increased humidity and rainfall in that region. This data is from the Goddard Earth Modeling System, a coupled land-ocean-atmosphere model which uses earth and satellite-based observations to simulate the Earth's physical system during events such as El Niño. This image can be composited with the previous animation.

Background Image for Atmospheric Water Vapor during the 1998 La Niña (WMS) (2901_17466_bg)

Water vapor is a small but significant constituent of the atmosphere, warming the planet due to the greenhouse effect and condensing to form clouds which both warm and cool the Earth in different circumstances. A key feature of global atmospheric water vapor convection is the Intertropical Convergence Zone, the low pressure region within five degrees of the equator where the trade winds converge and solar heating of the atmosphere forces the water-laden air to rise in altitude, form clouds, and then precipitate as rain in the afternoon. This visualization shows the global water vapor distribution in gray and white and the global precipitation in yellow every hour from August 30, 1998 to September 20, 1998. The afternoon thunderstorms in the tropics are seen as a flashing yellow region that moves from east to west, following the sun. This is a La Niña period, when the water to the west of South America is cooler than normal, forcing the atmosphere there to cool down and hold less water. Strong east-to-west winds can be seen in this region, contributing to the high water vapor region that forms further to the west over southeast Asia, the Philippines, and Indonesia, causing increased humidity and rainfall in that region. This data is from the Goddard Earth Modeling System, a coupled land-ocean-atmosphere model which uses earth and satellite-based observations to simulate the Earth's physical system during events such as La Niña. This image can be composited with the previous animation.

Terra/Aqua MODIS: Snow Cover and Sea Ice Surface Temperature (2048x512 Animation) (3353_24832)

This animation shows MODIS daily measurements of both snow cover and sea ice surface temperature in the Northern Hemisphere for the winter of 2002-2003. MODIS can only take measurements in daylight, so measurements during the polar winter night are taken from the last valid measurement. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

2005 Sea Ice over the Arctic derived from AMSR-E (1500x250 Animation) (3333_24670)

This animation shows the Spring retreat and subsequent Autumn advance of sea ice over the Arctic from 1/1/2005 through 12/31/2005. The false color of the sea ice, derived from the AMSR-E 6.25 km brightness temperature, was designed to highlight the fissures in the sea ice. Moving 3-day minimum brightness temperatures provide a background for smooth ice movement over which the actual daily brightness temperatures were mapped for definition of the ice structures. The sea ice extent was defined by a 3-day moving average of the AMSR-E 12.5 km sea ice concentration, showing as ice all areas having a sea ice concentration greater than 15%. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

Minimum Sea Ice Extent (1200x400 Image) (3186_21918)

Each year, the ice covering the Arctic Ocean grows during the northern hemisphere winter and shrinks with the northern hemisphere summer. The ice extent is usually greatest during the month of March and is the least during the month of September. This image shows the average minimum extent of sea ice over the northern hemisphere during the month of September over 24 seasons, from 1979 - 2002. The red line shows the area where the average sea ice concentration is 15%. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

Monthly Snow Climatology, 1979-2002 (600x200 Animation) (3185_21913)

The extent of snow and ice that covers the earth's surface in the northern hemisphere grows and shrinks with the seasons. This animations shows the average snow and ice cover for a given month over a 24-year period, 1979 - 2002. It shows how often a particular point is covered with snow in a given month. The SVS Image Server gives each particular image in the animation the last date for which the data was used in creating that image, even though each of the images covers a span of years for a particular month. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

Scene Identification Compared to Clouds (1024x512 Animation) (3179_21773)

The Earth's climate is determined by energy transfer from the sun to the Earth's land, oceans, and atmosphere. As the Earth rotates, the sun lights up only part of the Earth at a time, and some of that incoming solar energy is reflected and some is absorbed, depending on type of area it lights. The amount of reflection and absorption is critical to the climate. An instrument named CERES orbits the Earth every 99 minutes and measures the reflected solar energy. This animation shows the scene identification as measured by CERES during 29 orbits on June 20 and 21 of 2003. By comparing the incoming solar radiation with the outgoing reflected and thermal radiation, it is possible to identify the type of area being viewed, whether it be land, clouds, ocean, or ice. This scene identification is used together with the radiation flux measurements to build up a complete picture of the Earth's energy budget over time. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

Background Image for Daily 89 MHz Brightness Temperature, 2002-2003 (WMS) (3168_21471_bg)

Sea ice is frozen seawater floating on the surface of the ocean. Some sea ice is permanent, persisting from year to year, and some is seasonal, melting and refreezing from season to season. Sea ice is almost always in motion, reacting to ocean currents and to winds. The AMSR-E instrument on the Aqua satellite acquires high resolution measurements of the 89 GHz brightness temperature near the poles. Because this is a passive microwave sensor and independent of atmospheric effects, this sensor is able to observe the entire polar region every day, even through clouds and snowfalls . This animation of AMSR-E 89 GHz brightness temperature in the northern hemisphere during late 2002 and early 2003 clearly shows the dynamic motion of the ice as well as its seasonal expansion and contraction. This image can be composited with the previous animation.

Background Image for September Minimum Sea Ice Concentration, 1979-2004 (WMS) (3167_21466_bg)

Sea ice is frozen seawater floating on the surface of the ocean. Some sea ice is permanent, persisting from year to year, and some is seasonal, melting and refreezing from season to season. Because the extent of the sea ice is important both for the Arctic marine ecology and for the role it plays in the Earth's climate, understanding the variation of this extent during the year and from year-to-year is vital. Each year, the minimum sea ice extent in the northern hemisphere occurs at the end of summer, in September. By comparing the extent of the sea ice in September over many successive years, long term trends in the polar climate can be assessed. This animation shows the minimum sea ice concentration in the northern hemisphere in September between 1979 and 2004. Since 1999, this minimum has shown an ice extent that is consistently 10% to 15% smaller than the average extent over the past 20 years. This image can be composited with the previous animation.

Background Image for Monthly Sea Ice Climatology, 1979-2002 (WMS) (3166_21461_bg)

Sea ice is frozen seawater floating on the surface of the ocean. Some sea ice is permanent, persisting from year to year, and some is seasonal, melting and refreezing from season to season. Because the extent of the sea ice is important both for the Arctic marine ecology and for the role it plays in the Earth's climate, understanding the variation of this extent during the year and from year-to-year is vital. The first step in understanding the behavior of the sea ice is to calculate the average behavior of the sea ice over a single year. This behavior, called the climatology, is calculated by averaging the sea ice concentration over each month of a long period, in this case from October 1978 through September 2002. This animation shows the 23-year average sea ice concentration in the northern hemisphere for each particular month of the year. Generally, the minimum extent of sea ice occurs in September, and the maximum occurs in March. This image can be composited with the previous animation.

Jakobshavn Glacier Retreat (2048x512 Animation) (3140_21200)

Since measurements of Jakobshavn Isbrae were first taken in 1850, the glacier has gradually receded, finally coming to rest at a certain point for the past 5 decades. However, from 1997 to 2003, the glacier has begun to recede again, this time almost doubling in speed. The finding is important for many reasons. For starters, as more ice moves from glaciers on land into the ocean, it raises sea levels. Jakobshavn Isbrae is Greenland's largest outlet glacier, draining 6.5 percent of Greenland's ice sheet area. The ice stream's speed-up and near-doubling of ice flow from land into the ocean has increased the rate of sea level rise by about .06 millimeters (about .002 inches) per year, or roughly 4 percent of the 20th century rate of sea level increase. This animation shows the recession for three years, from 2001 through 2003. The line of recession shows the place where the glacier meets the ocean and where pieces calve off and flow away from land toward open water. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

Pine Island Glacier Calving (512x512 Animation) (3127_21092)

The Pine Island Glacier is the largest discharger of ice in Antarctica and the continent's fastest moving glacier. Even so, when a large crack formed across the glacier in mid 2000, it was surprising how fast the crack expanded, 15 meters per day, and how soon the resulting iceberg broke off, mid-November, 2001. This iceberg, called B-21, is 42 kilometers by 17 kilometers and contains seven years of glacier outflow released to the sea in a single event. This series of images from the MISR instrument on the Terra satellite not only shows the crack expanding and the iceberg breaking off, but the seaward moving glacial flow in the parts of the Pine Island Glacier upstream of the crack. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

Larsen Ice Shelf Collapse (636x676 Animation) (3123_21049)

The Larsen ice shelf at the northern end of the Antarctic Peninsula experienced a dramatic collapse between January 31 and March 7, 2002. First, melt ponds appeared on the ice shelf during these summer months (seen in blue on the shelf), then a minor collapse of about 800 square kilometers occurred. Finally, a 2600 square kilometer collapse took place, leaving thousands of sliver icebergs and berg fragments where the shelf formerly lay. Brownish streaks within the floating chunks mark areas where rocks and morainal debris are exposed from the former underside and interior of the shelf. These images were acquired by the MODIS instrument on the Terra satellite. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

Average Total-sky Albedo (144x72 Animation) (3090_20829)

The Earth's climate is determined by energy transfer from the sun to the Earth's land, oceans, and atmosphere. As the Earth rotates, the sun lights up only part of the Earth at a time, and some of that incoming solar energy is reflected and some is absorbed, depending on type of area it lights. The average amount of reflection and absorption is critical to the climate, because the absorbed energy heats up the Earth until it is radiated away as thermal radiation. This animation shows the monthly average albedo from July, 2002 through June, 2004 as measured by the CERES instrument. This is the fraction of the incoming solar radiation that is reflected back into space by regions of the Earth. The regions of highest albedo are regions of snow and ice, followed by desert regions and regions where there is significant cloud cover during the year. Oceans have the lowest albedo. It is not possible to measure the albedo during the winter months at the poles, since there is no incoming solar radiation during these times. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

Giant Iceberg in McMurdo Sound (1024x1024 Animation) (3081_21495)

Iceberg B-15A, in Antarctica's McMurdo Sound, is as large as Long Island, NY (3,000 square kilometers or 1,200 square miles) and is the largest fragment of a much larger iceberg that broke away from the Ross Ice Shelf in March 2000. Iceberg B-15A has trapped sea ice in McMurdo Sound, and the ice build-up presents significant problems for Antarctic penguins, which must now swim great distances to reach open waters and food. These images were taken by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) instrument on NASA's Aqua and Terra satellites between 2004-11-09 and 2005-01-17. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

Background Image for Sea Ice Surface Temperature with Regions of No Data Indicated (WMS) (3037_19372_bg)

This animation shows the daily sea ice surface temperature over the northern hemisphere from September 2002 through May 2003. The sea ice surface temperature was measured by the MODIS instrument on the Aqua satellite. Since this instrument cannot take measurements through clouds, in cloud-covered regions or areas with suspect data quality, the prior day's value is retained until a valid data reading is obtained. The satellite instruments are also unable to collect data in the dark, so the region around the pole is shown here with a gray cap that grows and shrinks, indicating the region in polar darkness. The color of the sea ice indicates the sea ice surface temperature. This image can be composited with the previous animation.

Background Image for Daily Sea Ice Surface Temperature 2002-2003 (WMS) (3036_19363_bg)

This animation shows the daily sea ice surface temperature over the northern hemisphere from September 2002 through May 2003. The sea ice surface temperature was measured by the MODIS instrument on the Aqua satellite. Since this instrument cannot take measurements through clouds or in the dark, in dark or cloud-covered regions or areas with suspect data quality, the prior day's value is retained until a valid data reading is obtained. The color of the sea ice indicates the sea ice surface temperature. This image can be composited with the previous animation.

Background Image for Snow Cover over North America during the Winter of 2001-2002 (WMS) (3027_21479_bg)

The amount of snow covering the land has both short and long term effects on the environment. From season to season, snow coverage and depth affect soil moisture and water availability, which directly influence agriculture, wildfire occurrences, and drought. In the long term, the part of the Earth's surface covered by snow reflects up to 80 or 90 percent of the incoming solar radiation as opposed to the 10 or 20 percent that uncovered land reflects, and this has important consequences for the Earth's climate. Satellites identify the snow cover precisely by looking at the difference between light reflected off snow in the visible and the infrared wavelengths. This visualization shows the snow cover over North America from October, 2001, through April, 2002, as measured by the MODIS instrument on the Terra satellite. Since this instrument cannot measure snow cover through clouds, this visualization designates an area as covered by snow when the instrument takes a valid measurement showing greater than 50% snow coverage in that area. This area is assumed to be covered in snow until the instrument takes a valid measurement showing less than 40% coverage in that same area. In this animation, snow coverage is measured every 8 days. This image can be composited with the previous animation.

Background Image for Snow Cover over the Northern Hemisphere During the Winter of 2002-2003 (WMS) (2899_17454_bg)

The amount of snow covering the land has both short and long term effects on the environment. From season to season, snow coverage and depth affect soil moisture and water availability, which directly influence agriculture, wildfire occurrences, and drought. In the long term, the part of the Earth's surface covered by snow reflects up to 80 or 90 percent of the incoming solar radiation as opposed to the 10 or 20 percent that uncovered land reflects, and this has important consequences for the Earth's climate. Satellites identify the snow cover precisely by looking at the difference between light reflected off snow in the visible and the infrared wavelengths. This visualization shows the snow cover in the Northern Hemisphere from September, 2002, through June, 2003, as measured by the MODIS instrument on the Terra satellite. Since this instrument cannot measure snow cover through clouds, this visualization designates an area as covered by snow when the instrument takes a valid measurement showing greater than 50% snow coverage in that area. This area is assumed to be snow covered until the instrument takes a valid measurement showing less than 40% snow coverage in that same area. It is possible to see topographic features in the snow cover such as the Rocky Mountains and the Himalayas, and large snow coverage paths from storms that cross the plains of the United States and Russia can also be seen. This image can be composited with the previous animation.

(2048x2048 Animation) (3352_24736)

During the first half of 1993, heavy rains in the Midwest United States caused the greatest flood ever recorded on the Upper Mississippi. The Mississippi River remained above flood stage from April through September of that year, and many of the dykes and water control systems along the rivers in this region were overwhelmed. These images from the Landsat-5 Thematic Mapper clearly show the flooded regions near St. Louis. The pink areas near the flooded regions show the scoured land from which the flood waters have receded. A comparison of the image during the flood with an image from a year before clearly shows the preponderance of cultivated fields in the lowland flooded region, evidence that floods and river meanderings have deposited rich soil in these regions in the past. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

(3390x3390 Image) (3352_24738)

During the first half of 1993, heavy rains in the Midwest United States caused the greatest flood ever recorded on the Upper Mississippi. The Mississippi River remained above flood stage from April through September of that year, and many of the dykes and water control systems along the rivers in this region were overwhelmed. These images from the Landsat-5 Thematic Mapper clearly show the flooded regions near St. Louis. The pink areas near the flooded regions show the scoured land from which the flood waters have receded. A comparison of the image during the flood with an image from a year before clearly shows the preponderance of cultivated fields in the lowland flooded region, evidence that floods and river meanderings have deposited rich soil in these regions in the past. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

GOES-12 Imagery of Hurricane Katrina: Visible Close-up (1024x1024 Animation) (3254_22657)

The GOES-12 satellite sits at 75 degrees west longitude at an altitude of 36,000 kilometers over the equator, in geosynchronous orbit. At this position its Imager instrument takes pictures of cloud patterns in several wavelengths for all of North and South America, a primary measurement used in weather forecasting. The Imager takes a pattern of pictures of parts of the Earth in several wavelengths all day, measurements that are vital in weather forecasting. This animation shows a daily sequence of GOES-12 images in the visible wavelengths, from 0.52 to 0.72 microns, during the period that Hurricane Katrina passed through the Gulf of Mexico. At one kilometer resolution, the visible band measurement is the highest resolution data from the Imager, which accounts for the very high level of detail in these images. For this animation, the cloud data was extracted from GOES image and laid over a background color image of the southeast United States. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

Background Image for TRMM Microwave Measurements during Hurricane Katrina: Horizontal Polarization (3250_22668_bg)

The TMI instrument on the TRMM satellite measures microwaves emitted from the Earth's land and water. By comparing emission from different microwave frequencies, the characteristics of ice and water in the atmosphere can be determined. For example, 85 GHz microwaves are scattered by ice crystals in tropical cyclones, making cyclone rain bands appear 'colder' than the surrounding areas. By comparing 85 GHz temperatures in different polarizations with other frequency band measurements, accurate measurements of rainfall in the atmosphere can be made. This animation shows eight days of global TMI 85 GHz measurements in the Gulf of Mexico during Hurricane Katrina. The hurricane Katrina rainbands clearly show up in these images. This image can be composited with the previous animation.

Background Image for TRMM Microwave Measurements during Hurricane Katrina: Vertical Polarization (3249_22662_bg)

The TMI instrument on the TRMM satellite measures microwaves emitted from the Earth's land and water. By comparing emission from different microwave frequencies, the characteristics of ice and water in the atmosphere can be determined. For example, 85 GHz microwaves are scattered by ice crystals in tropical cyclones, making cyclone rain bands appear 'colder' than the surrounding areas. By comparing 85 GHz temperatures in different polarizations with other frequency band measurements, accurate measurements of rainfall in the atmosphere can be made. This animation shows eight days of global TMI 85 GHz measurements in the Gulf of Mexico during Hurricane Katrina. The hurricane Katrina rainbands clearly show up in these images. This image can be composited with the previous animation.

Background Image for TRMM Microwave Brightness Temperature Progression During Hurricane Katrina: Horizontal Polarization (3248_22701_bg)

The TMI instrument on the TRMM satellite measures microwaves emitted from the Earth's land and water. By comparing emission from different microwave frequencies, the characteristics of ice and water in the atmosphere can be determined. For example, 85 GHz microwaves are scattered by ice crystals in tropical cyclones, making cyclone rain bands appear 'colder' than the surrounding areas. By comparing 85 GHz temperatures in different polarizations with other frequency band measurements, accurate measurements of rainfall in the atmosphere can be made. This animation builds up four days of global TMI 85 GHz measurements. Hurricane Katrina was in the Gulf of Mexico at the time and clearly shows up in the measurements. This image can be composited with the previous animation.

Background Image for TRMM Microwave Brightness Temperature Progression during Hurricane Katrina: Vertical Polarization (3247_22695_bg)

The TMI instrument on the TRMM satellite measures microwaves emitted from the Earth's land and water. By comparing emission from different microwave frequencies, the characteristics of ice and water in the atmosphere can be determined. For example, 85 GHz microwaves are scattered by ice crystals in tropical cyclones, making cyclone rain bands appear 'colder' than the surrounding areas. By comparing 85 GHz temperatures in different polarizations with other frequency band measurements, accurate measurements of rainfall in the atmosphere can be made. This animation builds up four days of global TMI 85 GHz measurements. Hurricane Katrina was in the Gulf of Mexico at the time and clearly shows up in the measurements. This image can be composited with the previous animation.

Background Image for TRMM Microwave Brightness Temperature Swath during Hurricane Katrina: Horizontal Polarization (3243_22680_bg)

The TMI instrument on the TRMM satellite measures microwaves emitted from the Earth's land and water. By comparing emission from different microwave frequencies, the characteristics of ice and water in the atmosphere can be determined. For example, 85 GHz microwaves are scattered by ice crystals in tropical cyclones, making cyclone rain bands appear 'colder' than the surrounding areas. By comparing 85 GHz temperatures in different polarizations with other frequency band measurements, accurate measurements of rainfall in the atmosphere can be made. This animation shows four days of TMI 85 GHz measurements, one orbit at a time. Hurricane Katrina was in the Gulf of Mexico at the time and clearly shows up in the measurements. This image can be composited with the previous animation.

Background Image for TRMM Microwave Brightness Temperature Swath during Hurricane Katrina: Vertical Polarization (3242_22674_bg)

The TMI instrument on the TRMM satellite measures microwaves emitted from the Earth's land and water. By comparing emission from different microwave frequencies, the characteristics of ice and water in the atmosphere can be determined. For example, 85 GHz microwaves are scattered by ice crystals in tropical cyclones, making cyclone rain bands appear 'colder' than the surrounding areas. By comparing 85 GHz temperatures in different polarizations with other frequency band measurements, accurate measurements of rainfall in the atmosphere can be made. This animation shows four days of TMI 85 GHz measurements, one orbit at a time. Hurricane Katrina was in the Gulf of Mexico at the time and clearly shows up in the measurements. This image can be composited with the previous animation.

Hurricane Katrina Rain Accumulation (1024x1024 Animation) (3239_24672)

This animation shows rain accumulation from Hurricane Katrina from August 23 through 30, 2005 based on data from the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) Multisatellite Precipitation Analysis. Satellite cloud data from NOAA/GOES is overlaid for context. The accumulation is shown in colors ranging from green (less than 30 mm of rain) through red (80 mm or more). The TRMM satellite, using the world's only spaceborne rain radar and other microwave instruments, measures rainfall over the ocean. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

Hurricane Katrina (Sequence) (3238_23161)

Low earth-orbiting satellites, such as Aqua and Terra, usually see any place on Earth no more than once a day. This sequence of color images from the MODIS instruments on Aqua and Terra shows the progression of Hurricane Katrina, from August 24 to August 31, 2005, whenever one of the two instruments captured the hurricane. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

2005-08-25 16:30 (3238_22718_705011)

Low earth-orbiting satellites, such as Aqua and Terra, usually see any place on Earth no more than once a day. This sequence of color images from the MODIS instruments on Aqua and Terra shows the progression of Hurricane Katrina, from August 24 to August 31, 2005, whenever one of the two instruments captured the hurricane. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

2005-08-27 16:20 (3238_22718_705013)

Low earth-orbiting satellites, such as Aqua and Terra, usually see any place on Earth no more than once a day. This sequence of color images from the MODIS instruments on Aqua and Terra shows the progression of Hurricane Katrina, from August 24 to August 31, 2005, whenever one of the two instruments captured the hurricane. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

2005-08-29 19:15 (3238_22718_705015)

Low earth-orbiting satellites, such as Aqua and Terra, usually see any place on Earth no more than once a day. This sequence of color images from the MODIS instruments on Aqua and Terra shows the progression of Hurricane Katrina, from August 24 to August 31, 2005, whenever one of the two instruments captured the hurricane. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

2005-08-31 15:50 (3238_22718_705017)

Low earth-orbiting satellites, such as Aqua and Terra, usually see any place on Earth no more than once a day. This sequence of color images from the MODIS instruments on Aqua and Terra shows the progression of Hurricane Katrina, from August 24 to August 31, 2005, whenever one of the two instruments captured the hurricane. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

GOES-12 Imagery of Hurricane Katrina: Longwave Infrared Overview (512x512 Animation) (3236_22547)

The GOES-12 satellite sits at 75 degrees west longitude at an altitude of 36,000 kilometers over the equator, in geosynchronous orbit. At this position its Imager instrument takes pictures of cloud patterns in several wavelengths for all of North and South America, a primary measurement used in weather forecasting. The Imager takes a pattern of pictures of parts of the Earth in several wavelengths all day, measurements that are vital in weather forecasting. This animation shows a four-day sequence of GOES-12 images in the longwave infrared wavelengths, from 10.2 to 11.2 microns, during the period that Hurricane Katrina passed through the Gulf of Mexico. This wavelength band is the most common one for observing cloud motions and severe storms throughout the day and night. Note that most of the images are taken over the United States (about every 5 minutes) with full disk images every 3 hours and several specific images over South America every day. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

GOES-12 Imagery of Hurricane Katrina: Full Disk Lower Level Temperature (1024x1024 Animation) (3234_22542)

The GOES-12 satellite sits at 75 degrees west longitude at an altitude of 36,000 kilometers over the equator, in geosynchronous orbit. At this position its Imager instrument takes pictures of cloud patterns in several wavelengths for all of North and South America, a primary measurement used in weather forecasting. Every three hours the Imager takes a picture of the full disk of the Earth. This animation shows a sequence of these full disk images in the wavelength band from 12.9 to 13.8 microns, during the period that Hurricane Katrina passed through the Gulf of Mexico. This wavelength band is useful for determining cloud characteristics such as cloud top pressure. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

GOES-12 Imagery of Hurricane Katrina: Full Disk Water Vapor (1024x1024 Animation) (3232_22532)

The GOES-12 satellite sits at 75 degrees west longitude at an altitude of 36,000 kilometers over the equator, in geosynchronous orbit. At this position its Imager instrument takes pictures of cloud patterns in several wavelengths for all of North and South America, a primary measurement used in weather forecasting. Every three hours the Imager takes a picture of the full disk of the Earth. This animation shows a sequence of these full disk images in the 6.47 to 7.02 micron wavelength band, during the period that Hurricane Katrina passed through the Gulf of Mexico. This wavelength band is useful for estimating mid-level water vapor content and for observing atmospheric motion in that level. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

GOES-12 Imagery of Hurricane Katrina: Full Disk Visible (1024x1024 Animation) (3230_22515)

The GOES-12 satellite sits at 75 degrees west longitude at an altitude of 36,000 kilometers over the equator, in geosynchronous orbit. At this position its Imager instrument takes pictures of cloud patterns in several wavelengths for all of North and South America, a primary measurement used in weather forecasting. Every three hours the Imager takes a picture of the full disk of the Earth. This animation shows a sequence of these full disk images in the visible wavelengths, 0.52 to 0.72 microns, during the period that Hurricane Katrina passed through the Gulf of Mexico. This wavelength band clearly shows the day-night cycle since the Earth is dark at night in the visible wavelengths. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

Global Large-scale Precipitation during Hurricane Frances (1000x721 Animation) (3210_22210)

Water vapor is a small but significant constituent of the atmosphere, warming the planet due to the greenhouse effect and condensing to form clouds. As moisture-laden air rises, the relative humidity increases until it saturates the air, at which time precipitation occurs. If the uplift of air is due to large-scale atmospheric motion, then the precipitation is called large-scale, or dynamic. This animation shows the large-scale precipitation for the whole globe from September 1, 2004, through September 5, 2004, during the period of Hurricane Frances in the western Atlantic Ocean and Typhoon Songda in the western Pacific Ocean. Large-scale precipitation tends to be continuous and to come from decks of stratus clouds rather than from thunderstorms. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

Global Cloud Cover during Hurricane Frances (1000x721 Animation) (3208_22198)

Water vapor is a small but significant constituent of the atmosphere, warming the planet due to the greenhouse effect and condensing to form clouds which both warm and cool the Earth in different circumstances. Warm, moisture-laden air moving out from the tropics brings clouds and rainfall to the temperate zones. This animation shows the cloud cover for the whole globe from September 1, 2004, through September 5, 2004, during the period of Hurricane Frances in the western Atlantic Ocean and Typhoon Songda in the western Pacific Ocean. The cloud cover in any region significantly affects the energy balance since sunlight reflected from the clouds is not available to heat the surface. The motion of clouds in this animation clearly indicates the speed and direction of winds around the globe. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

Global High Altitude Wind Speed during Hurricane Frances (1000x721 Animation) (3203_22161)

The Earth's atmosphere exerts pressure based on the weight of the air above. Differences in pressure from place-to-place cause winds to try to flow from high pressure to low pressure regions to even out the differences, but the Earth's rotation and wind friction with the surface act to slow or divert the winds. This animation shows the high altitude wind speeds for the whole globe from September 1, 2004, through September 5, 2004, during the period of Hurricane Frances in the western Atlantic Ocean and Typhoon Songda in the western Pacific Ocean. At high altitudes, the difference between between high pressures from warm tropical air and low pressures from cold polar air try to force air from the tropics toward the poles, but the Earth's rotation diverts this flow to the east, resulting in the high velocity west-to-east jet stream flows at mid-latitudes. The circular flows from Frances and Songda can barely be seen at this altitude. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

Global Surface Wind Speed during Hurricane Frances (1000x721 Animation) (3201_22141)

The weight of the Earth's atmosphere exerts pressure on the surface of the Earth. This pressure varies from place-to-place and from time-to-time due to surface irregularities, uneven heating of the atmosphere by the sun, and the Earth's rotation. Differences in pressure from place-to-place cause winds to try to flow from high pressure to low pressure regions to even out the differences, but the Earth's rotation and wind friction with the surface act to slow or divert the winds. This animation shows the surface wind speeds for the whole globe from September 1, 2004, through September 5, 2004, during the period of Hurricane Frances in the western Atlantic Ocean and Typhoon Songda in the western Pacific Ocean. The highest, smoothest winds occur over the oceans where there are no surface irregularities to break up the flow, while flows over land tend to be irregular and highly variable. The highest winds occur in Hurricane Frances and Typhoon Songda, but note that the hurricane's wind speeds reduce dramatically when crossing Florida. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

Hurricane Emily (Sequence) (3200_22107)

Emily was a record-setting storm for many reasons. When it formed on July 11, Emily became the earliest fifth named storm on record. As it moved through the Caribbean, Emily intensified into a powerful Category 4 storm with winds over 250 kilometers per hour (150 mph) and gusts as high as 300 kilometers per hour (184 mph), making it the most powerful storm to form before August. The previous record was set by Hurricane Dennis, which ripped through the Caribbean during the first week of July 2005. Emily's Category 4 status also made 2005 the only year to produce two Category 4 storms before the end of July. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

2005-07-17 16:25 (3200_22108_648222)

Emily was a record-setting storm for many reasons. When it formed on July 11, Emily became the earliest fifth named storm on record. As it moved through the Caribbean, Emily intensified into a powerful Category 4 storm with winds over 250 kilometers per hour (150 mph) and gusts as high as 300 kilometers per hour (184 mph), making it the most powerful storm to form before August. The previous record was set by Hurricane Dennis, which ripped through the Caribbean during the first week of July 2005. Emily's Category 4 status also made 2005 the only year to produce two Category 4 storms before the end of July. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

2005-07-19 19:20 (3200_22108_648224)

Emily was a record-setting storm for many reasons. When it formed on July 11, Emily became the earliest fifth named storm on record. As it moved through the Caribbean, Emily intensified into a powerful Category 4 storm with winds over 250 kilometers per hour (150 mph) and gusts as high as 300 kilometers per hour (184 mph), making it the most powerful storm to form before August. The previous record was set by Hurricane Dennis, which ripped through the Caribbean during the first week of July 2005. Emily's Category 4 status also made 2005 the only year to produce two Category 4 storms before the end of July. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

Global Surface Latent Heat Flux during Hurricane Frances (1000x721 Animation) (3199_22125)

As the Sun's energy reaches the Earth, it is either reflected, absorbed by the clouds, or absorbed by the Earth's surface. The part absorbed by the surface heats the Earth, which causes surface water to evaporate to the air, particularly over oceans or moist land. Similarly, a cold surface causes water to condense from the air onto the land or ocean. Latent heat flux is the amount of energy moving from the surface to the air due to evaporation (positive values) or from the air to the land due to condensation (negative values). This animation shows the latent heat flux for the whole globe from September 1, 2004, through September 5, 2004, during the period of Hurricane Frances in the western Atlantic Ocean and Typhoon Songda in the western Pacific Ocean. The animation clearly shows the evaporation over land only during the heat of the day, while the evaporation over the ocean is continuous throughout the day. The highest positive latent heat flux occurs during hurricanes and typhoons, as these events are powered by the movement of heat energy from the warm ocean to the atmosphere, seen here in Hurricane Frances and Typhoon Songda. Significant negative latent heat flux is somewhat rare and occurs over the ocean only during certain configurations of air and surface conditions. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

Global Atmospheric Surface Pressure during Hurricane Frances (1000x721 Animation) (3197_22130)

The weight of the Earth's atmosphere exerts pressure on the surface of the Earth. This pressure varies from place-to-place due the variations in the Earth's surface since higher altitudes have less atmosphere above them than lower altitudes. Atmospheric pressure also varies from time-to-time due to the uneven heating of the atmosphere by the sun and the rotation of the Earth, causing weather. This animation shows the atmospheric surface pressure for the whole globe from September 1, 2004, through September 5, 2004, during the period of Hurricane Frances in the western Atlantic Ocean and Typhoon Songda in the western Pacific Ocean. The major changes in pressure occur over land where the surface altitude varies, but the sharp, moving low pressures areas for Frances and Songda can be clearly seen in the oceans. Since changing surface pressure areas over land are hard to see in these images due to the strong altitude variations, plots of the atmospheric surface pressure are almost never used to study the weather. A different plot, of sea-level pressure, is used instead. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

Hurricane Dennis (Sequence) (3194_22037)

The formation of Hurricane Dennis on July 5 made that the earliest date on record that four named storms formed in the Atlantic basin. Dennis proved to be a powerful and destructive storm in the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico. It crossed over Cuba on July 8 and 9, leaving at least 10 dead, and caused additional deaths in Haiti. After re-emerging over open water, Dennis re-strengthened into a dangerous Category 4 hurricane with top wind speeds of 233 kilometers per hour (145 mph). The storm passed within 90 kilometers (55 miles) of Pensacola, Florida, and hit land about 80 kilometers (50 miles) east of where Hurricane Ivan struck in September, 2004. A large storm surge of more than 10 feet was created in certain areas, and many homes and businesses in low-lying areas were flooded. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

2005-07-07 15:50 (3194_22032_645549)

The formation of Hurricane Dennis on July 5 made that the earliest date on record that four named storms formed in the Atlantic basin. Dennis proved to be a powerful and destructive storm in the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico. It crossed over Cuba on July 8 and 9, leaving at least 10 dead, and caused additional deaths in Haiti. After re-emerging over open water, Dennis re-strengthened into a dangerous Category 4 hurricane with top wind speeds of 233 kilometers per hour (145 mph). The storm passed within 90 kilometers (55 miles) of Pensacola, Florida, and hit land about 80 kilometers (50 miles) east of where Hurricane Ivan struck in September, 2004. A large storm surge of more than 10 feet was created in certain areas, and many homes and businesses in low-lying areas were flooded. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

2005-07-10 16:15 (3194_22032_645551)

The formation of Hurricane Dennis on July 5 made that the earliest date on record that four named storms formed in the Atlantic basin. Dennis proved to be a powerful and destructive storm in the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico. It crossed over Cuba on July 8 and 9, leaving at least 10 dead, and caused additional deaths in Haiti. After re-emerging over open water, Dennis re-strengthened into a dangerous Category 4 hurricane with top wind speeds of 233 kilometers per hour (145 mph). The storm passed within 90 kilometers (55 miles) of Pensacola, Florida, and hit land about 80 kilometers (50 miles) east of where Hurricane Ivan struck in September, 2004. A large storm surge of more than 10 feet was created in certain areas, and many homes and businesses in low-lying areas were flooded. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

Sulfur Dioxide from the Mount Pinatubo Volcanic Eruption, 1991 (1024x256 Animation) (3169_21478)

Background Image for United States Median Center of Population, 1880-2000 (WMS) (3164_21402_bg)

The median center of population is calculated from the intersection of two median lines. The first median line is the geographic line running north and south that divides the population into two equal halves, east and west. The second median line is the geographic line running east and west that divides the population into two equal halves, north and south. For the 2000 United States Census, the median center of population was located in Van Buren township, Daviess County, Indiana. For a complete list of the median center of population for each census since 1880, and for a more detailed description of how these values are calculated, see (http://www.census.gov/geo/www/cenpop/calculate2k.pdf). This image can be composited with the previous animation.

Background Image for United States Mean Population Center, 1790-2000 (WMS) (3163_21398_bg)

The mean center of population, traditionally referred to as the center of population, is provided for each census in the United States since 1790. The mean center of population is the point at which an imaginary, flat, weightless, and rigid map of the United States would balance if weights of identical value were placed on it so that each weight represented the location of one person. The mean center of population based on the 2000 census results is located in Phelps County, Missouri. For a complete list of the mean center of population for each census since 1790, and for a more detailed description of how these values are calculated, see http://www.census.gov/geo/www/cenpop/calculate2k.pdf. This image can be composited with the previous animation.

Hurricane Fabian (Sequence) (3158_21476)

Hurricane Fabian threatened the Eastern Coast of the United States before it turned northward and hit the island of Bermuda instead. Fabian came within 50 miles to the west of Bermuda on September 5th, 2003, with sustained winds of 117 miles per hour and with gusts of up to 130 miles per hour. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

2003-09-03 15:05 (3158_21378_526233)

Hurricane Fabian threatened the Eastern Coast of the United States before it turned northward and hit the island of Bermuda instead. Fabian came within 50 miles to the west of Bermuda on September 5th, 2003, with sustained winds of 117 miles per hour and with gusts of up to 130 miles per hour. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

2003-09-05 14:50 (3158_21378_526235)

Hurricane Fabian threatened the Eastern Coast of the United States before it turned northward and hit the island of Bermuda instead. Fabian came within 50 miles to the west of Bermuda on September 5th, 2003, with sustained winds of 117 miles per hour and with gusts of up to 130 miles per hour. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

Urban Signatures: Sensible Heat Flux (1000x1000 Image) (3157_21374)

Big cities influence the environment around them. For example, urban areas are typically warmer than their surroundings. Cities are strikingly visible in computer models that simulate the Earth's land surface. This visualization shows sensible heat flux predicted by the Land Information System (LIS) for a day in June 2001. (Sensible heat flux refers to transfer of heat from the earth's surface to the air above; for further explanation see http://www.uwsp.edu/geo/faculty/ritter/geog101/textbook/energy/energy_balance.html). Sensible heat flux is higher in the cities--that is, they transfer more heat to the atmosphere--because the surface there is warmer than in the surroundings. Only part of the global computation is shown, focusing on the highly urbanized northeast corridor in the United States, including the cities of Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Washington. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

Urban Signatures: Thermal Radiation (1000x1000 Image) (3155_21366)

Big cities influence the environment around them. For example, urban areas are typically warmer than their surroundings. Cities are strikingly visible in computer models that simulate the Earth's land surface. This visualization shows outgoing thermal radiation predicted by the Land Information System (LIS) for a day in June 2001. Cities are warmer, so they emit more longwave (infrared) radiation. Only part of the global computation is shown, focusing on the highly urbanized northeast corridor in the United States, including the cities of Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Washington. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to: . NASA GSFC Land Information System (http://lis.gsfc.nasa.gov/)

Hurricane Charley Overview (1024x1024 Image) (3153_21359)

Hurricane Charley was the first of four hurricanes to hit the United States in 2004. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

2004-08-11 18:15 (3153_21352_526229)

Hurricane Charley was the first of four hurricanes to hit the United States in 2004. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

2004-08-13 16:35 (3153_21352_526231)

Hurricane Charley was the first of four hurricanes to hit the United States in 2004. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

Hurricane Ivan Overview (1024x1024 Image) (3151_21311)

Hurricane Ivan was the third hurricane to hit Florida during the 2004 hurricane season. This set of images shows the progression of the hurricane as it approached the Gulf Coast across the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

2004-09-05 13:30 (3151_21289_522947)

Hurricane Ivan was the third hurricane to hit Florida during the 2004 hurricane season. This set of images shows the progression of the hurricane as it approached the Gulf Coast across the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

2004-09-10 15:25 (3151_21289_522949)

Hurricane Ivan was the third hurricane to hit Florida during the 2004 hurricane season. This set of images shows the progression of the hurricane as it approached the Gulf Coast across the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

2004-09-11 16:10 (3151_21289_522951)

Hurricane Ivan was the third hurricane to hit Florida during the 2004 hurricane season. This set of images shows the progression of the hurricane as it approached the Gulf Coast across the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

2004-09-13 19:00 (3151_21289_522953)

Hurricane Ivan was the third hurricane to hit Florida during the 2004 hurricane season. This set of images shows the progression of the hurricane as it approached the Gulf Coast across the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

2004-09-15 18:50 (3151_21289_522955)

Hurricane Ivan was the third hurricane to hit Florida during the 2004 hurricane season. This set of images shows the progression of the hurricane as it approached the Gulf Coast across the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

Hurricane Frances Overview (1024x1024 Image) (3147_21282)

Hurricane Frances was the second hurricane to hit Florida during the 2004 hurricane season. This set of images shows the progression of the hurricane as it approached Florida from the Atlantic Ocean. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to: , MODIS Rapid Response Team, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov)

2004-08-27 16:40 (3147_21260_522889)

Hurricane Frances was the second hurricane to hit Florida during the 2004 hurricane season. This set of images shows the progression of the hurricane as it approached Florida from the Atlantic Ocean. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to: , MODIS Rapid Response Team, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov)

2004-08-30 17:10 (3147_21260_522891)

Hurricane Frances was the second hurricane to hit Florida during the 2004 hurricane season. This set of images shows the progression of the hurricane as it approached Florida from the Atlantic Ocean. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to: , MODIS Rapid Response Team, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov)

2004-08-31 17:55 (3147_21260_522893)

Hurricane Frances was the second hurricane to hit Florida during the 2004 hurricane season. This set of images shows the progression of the hurricane as it approached Florida from the Atlantic Ocean. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to: , MODIS Rapid Response Team, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov)

2004-09-03 18:24 (3147_21260_522895)

Hurricane Frances was the second hurricane to hit Florida during the 2004 hurricane season. This set of images shows the progression of the hurricane as it approached Florida from the Atlantic Ocean. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to: , MODIS Rapid Response Team, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov)

2004-09-05 18:15 (3147_21260_522897)

Hurricane Frances was the second hurricane to hit Florida during the 2004 hurricane season. This set of images shows the progression of the hurricane as it approached Florida from the Atlantic Ocean. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to: , MODIS Rapid Response Team, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov)

Mount St. Helens Before, During, and After (1024x1024 Animation) (3116_21024)

Mount St. Helens erupted on May 18, 1980, devastating more than 150 square miles of forest in southwestern Washington state. This animation shows Landsat images of the Mount St. Helens area in 1973, 1983, and 2000, illustrating the destruction and regrowth of the forest. The 1983 image clearly shows the new crater on the northern slope where the eruption occurred, the rivers and lakes covered with ash, and the regions of deforestation. The 2000 image, taken twenty years after the eruption, still shows the changed crater, but much of the devastated area is covered by new vegetation growth. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

Aral Sea Evaporation (1024x1024 Animation) (3112_20979)

The Aral Sea is actually not a sea at all, but an immense fresh water lake. In the last thirty years, more than sixty percent of the lake has disappeared because much of the river flow feeding the lake was diverted to irrigate cotton fields and rice paddies. Concentrations of salts and minerals began to rise in the shrinking body of water, leading to staggering alterations in the lake's ecology and precipitous drops in the Aral's fish population. Powerful winds that blow across this part of Asia routinely pick up and deposit the now exposed lake bed soil. This has contributed to a significant reduction in breathable air quality, and crop yields have been appreciably affected due to heavily salt laden particles falling on arable land. This series of Landsat images taken in 1973, 1987 and 2000 show the profound reduction in overall area at the north end of the Aral, and a commensurate increase in land area as the floor of the sea now lies exposed. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

Hurricane Jeanne (Sequence) (3035_21240)

Hurricane Jeanne was the fourth hurricane to hit Florida during the 2004 hurricane season. This set of images shows the progression of the hurricane as it approached Florida from the Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea. When it hit the Florida coast on September 26, Jeanne was a Category 3 storm with sustained winds near 115 miles per hour. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

2004-09-22 15:46 (3035_19349_446869)

Hurricane Jeanne was the fourth hurricane to hit Florida during the 2004 hurricane season. This set of images shows the progression of the hurricane as it approached Florida from the Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea. When it hit the Florida coast on September 26, Jeanne was a Category 3 storm with sustained winds near 115 miles per hour. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

2004-09-24 15:35 (3035_19349_446871)

Hurricane Jeanne was the fourth hurricane to hit Florida during the 2004 hurricane season. This set of images shows the progression of the hurricane as it approached Florida from the Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea. When it hit the Florida coast on September 26, Jeanne was a Category 3 storm with sustained winds near 115 miles per hour. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

2004-09-26 18:35 (3035_19349_446873)

Hurricane Jeanne was the fourth hurricane to hit Florida during the 2004 hurricane season. This set of images shows the progression of the hurricane as it approached Florida from the Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea. When it hit the Florida coast on September 26, Jeanne was a Category 3 storm with sustained winds near 115 miles per hour. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

Background Image for Accumulated Rainfall during Hurricanes Frances, Ivan, and Jeanne, 2004 (WMS) (3034_19343_bg)

During the hurricane season of 2004, an unprecedented four hurricanes hit Florida. This animation shows the accumulated rainfall produced by three of those hurricanes during the month of September. The animation also shows the rainfall from the typhoons in the Pacific Ocean during the same period. This image can be composited with the previous animation.

Background Image for Model of Precipitable Water during Hurricane Isabel, 2003 (WMS) (3033_19337_bg)

The NASA finite-volume General Circulation Model (fvGCM) is used to produce a high-resolution weather prediction system. This model has an increased accuracy of predicting the strength and location of hurricanes over other prediction methods. Several variables are predicted, including cloud cover and precipitable water in the atmosphere. Data from Hurricane Isabel was used to validate the fvGCM model. This image can be composited with the previous animation.

Background Image for Model of Clouds during Hurricane Isabel, 2003 (WMS) (3032_19332_bg)

The NASA finite-volume General Circulation Model (fvGCM) is used to produce a high-resolution weather prediction system. This model has an increased accuracy of predicting the strength and location of hurricanes over other prediction methods. Several variables are predicted, including cloud cover and precipitable water in the atmosphere. Data from Hurricane Isabel was used to validate the fvGCM model. This image can be composited with the previous animation.

Hurricane Isabel Overview (1024x1024 Image) (2919_21239)

This sequence of images was used to create an animation of the progression of Hurricane Isabel as seen by MODIS. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to: , MODIS Rapid Response Team, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov)

2003-09-08 13:45 (2919_17589_347556)

This sequence of images was used to create an animation of the progression of Hurricane Isabel as seen by MODIS. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to: , MODIS Rapid Response Team, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov)

2003-09-11 14:15 (2919_17589_347558)

This sequence of images was used to create an animation of the progression of Hurricane Isabel as seen by MODIS. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to: , MODIS Rapid Response Team, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov)

2003-09-14 14:45 (2919_17589_347560)

This sequence of images was used to create an animation of the progression of Hurricane Isabel as seen by MODIS. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to: , MODIS Rapid Response Team, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov)

2003-09-15 15:30 (2919_17589_347562)

This sequence of images was used to create an animation of the progression of Hurricane Isabel as seen by MODIS. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to: , MODIS Rapid Response Team, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov)

2003-09-17 15:09 (2919_17589_347564)

This sequence of images was used to create an animation of the progression of Hurricane Isabel as seen by MODIS. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to: , MODIS Rapid Response Team, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov)

2003-09-18 15:55 (2919_17589_347566)

This sequence of images was used to create an animation of the progression of Hurricane Isabel as seen by MODIS. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to: , MODIS Rapid Response Team, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov)

Western Hemisphere (4096x4096 Image) (2916_21228)

This image of Earth's city lights was created with data from the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) Operational Linescan System (OLS). Originally designed to view clouds by moonlight, the OLS is also used to map the locations of permanent lights on the Earth's surface. The brightest areas of the Earth are the most urbanized, but not necessarily the most populated. (Compare western Europe with China and India.) Cities tend to grow along coastlines and transportation networks. Even without the underlying map, the outlines of many continents would still be visible. The United States interstate highway system appears as a lattice connecting the brighter dots of city centers. In Russia, the Trans-Siberian railroad is a thin line stretching from Moscow through the center of Asia to Vladivostok. The Nile River, from the Aswan Dam to the Mediterranean Sea, is another bright thread through an otherwise dark region. Even more than 100 years after the invention of the electric light, some regions remain thinly populated and unlit. Antarctica is entirely dark. The interior jungles of Africa and South America are mostly dark, but lights are beginning to appear there. Deserts in Africa, Arabia, Australia, Mongolia, and the United States are poorly lit as well (except along the coast), along with the boreal forests of Canada and Russia, and the great mountains of the Himalaya. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to: : data courtesy Marc Imhoff (NASA/GSFC) and Christopher Elvidge (NOAA/NGDC). Image by Craig Mayhew (NASA/GSFC) and Robert Simmon (NASA/GSFC).

Population Density of the World, 1990-2015 (2048x814 Animation) (2912_21392)

This animation shows the population density of the world in the years 1990, 1995, 2000, as well as a population density estimated for the year 2015. These figures have been adjusted to match United Nations totals. The most dramatic differences in population are not readily visible in this animation because they are located in cities. The maximum population density in 1990 was about 79,000 people per square kilometer, while the estimated maximum population density in 2015 will be about 236,000 people per square kilometer. Developing areas in Africa, Latin America, and Asia change the most visibly. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to: , Gridded Population of the World (GPW), Version 3: 1990, 1995, 2000. Gridded Population of the World: Future Estimates, 2015. Center for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN), Columbia University; Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO); and Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical (CIAT), 2005. Available at (http://sedac.ciesin.columbia.edu/gpw).

Wildfire Growth around Yellowstone National Park in 1988 (1024x1024 Animation) (2909_17518)

During the summer of 1988, wildfires burned about 1.4 million acres in and around Yellowstone National Park. Spurred by the driest summer in park history, the fires started in early July and lasted until early October. The worst day was August 20, when tremendous winds pushed the fires to burn over 150,000 acres. Although the scars from these fires are still visible in Landsat imagery from space over ten years later, the patchwork nature of the fire footprint left many unburned areas from which plant species have regenerated very successfully. This animation shows how the fires progressed in the period from June 30 though October 2, 1988, by which time the fall rain and snow had stopped the fire growth. These maps are based on daily ground observations by fire lookouts in the park and by infrared imaging cameras flown over the park at night. These observations are considered accurate to within about 100 meters. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

GOES Imagery of Hurricane Luis (993x684 Animation) (2898_17449)

On September 6, 1995, Hurricane Luis was a Category 4 hurricane located about 250 kilometers northeast of Puerto Rico. GOES-9, a new weather satellite in geostationary orbit, was undergoing a check-out period and tested a new, rapid scanning capability by taking high-resolution visible images of Luis at 22 images per hour, much more rapid than the normal rate of one image every 15 minutes. These images clearly show a number of hurricane features that had been hard to observe before, including the evolution of the eyewall structures and small-scale vortex features within the eye. It is also possible to see the formation of the new hurricane arm to the southeast of the eye. This arm is marked by the formation of clouds in the bubbling regions that indicate intense updrafts. The island of Puerto Rico can only be seen as a stationary disturbance under the bright white cloudbank to the southwest of the eye of the hurricane. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

Background Image for Wind Vectors for Hurricane Erin (WMS) (2896_17437_bg)

This visualization shows wind vectors for Hurricane Erin on September 10, 2001. Wind direction and speed are represented by the direction and speed of moving arrows, respectively. This animation represents a single measurement taken by the SeaWinds instrument on the QuikSCAT satellite, taken at 14:27:00 UTC on September 10, 2001. The WMS version of this animation which is available through the SVS Image Server (http://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/documents/index.html) presents this animation with a different timestamp for each frame in order to more easily present the images as an animation. It should be noted that each frame really has a time stamp of 2001-09-10 14:27:00 UTC. This image can be composited with the previous animation.

Background Image for Cumulative Earthquake Activity from 1980 through 1995 (WMS) (2893_17420_bg)

This animation shows a cumulative view of earthquake activity for the whole world from 1980 through 1995. Each dot on the image represents the number of earthquakes with magnitude greater than 4.2 that have occurred in a 0.35 by 0.35 degree area of the globe since January 1, 1980. A yellow dot represents 1 or 2 earthquakes, an orange dot represents about 10 earthquakes, and a red dot represents 50 to 200 earthquakes. The background image, if present, shows the topography of the ocean floor. As the animation proceeds, the earthquakes clearly accumulate around the topographic features that represent the boundaries of the Earth's crustal plates. This animation is based on data from world-wide seismic networks and was obtained from the National Earthquake Center of the United States Geological Survey. This image can be composited with the previous animation.

African Fires During 2002 (1024x1024 Animation) (2890_17402)

This animation shows fire activity in Africa from January 1, 2002 to December 31, 2002. The fires are shown as tiny particles with each particle depicting the geographic region in which fire was detected. The color of a particle represents the number of days since a sizable amount of fire was detected in that region, with red representing less than 20 days, orange representing 20 to 40 days, yellow representing 40 to 60 days, and gray to black representing more than 60 days. This data was measured by the MODIS instrument on the Terra satellite. MODIS detects fires by measuring the brightness temperature of a region in several frequency bands and looking for hot spots where this temperature is greater than the surrounding region. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

2005 Sea Ice over the Arctic and Antarctic derived from AMSR-E (WMS and Science-on-a-Sphere) (1024x512 Animation) (3507_20969)

Sea ice is frozen seawater floating on the surface of the ocean, typically averaging a few meters in thickness. Some sea ice is semi-permanent, persisting from year to year, and some is seasonal, melting and refreezing from season to season. This series shows the global sea ice throughout 2005, when the maximum extent occurred on March 7th and the minimum extent occurred on September 21st. Here global data from the AMSR-E instrument on the Aqua satellite is shown on a Cartesian grid. The false color in these images is derived from the daily AMSR-E 6.25 km 89 GHz brightness temperature while the sea ice extent is derived from the daily AMSR-E 12.5 km sea ice concentration. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

(2048x2048 Animation) (3352_24736)

During the first half of 1993, heavy rains in the Midwest United States caused the greatest flood ever recorded on the Upper Mississippi. The Mississippi River remained above flood stage from April through September of that year, and many of the dykes and water control systems along the rivers in this region were overwhelmed. These images from the Landsat-5 Thematic Mapper clearly show the flooded regions near St. Louis. The pink areas near the flooded regions show the scoured land from which the flood waters have receded. A comparison of the image during the flood with an image from a year before clearly shows the preponderance of cultivated fields in the lowland flooded region, evidence that floods and river meanderings have deposited rich soil in these regions in the past. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

(3390x3390 Image) (3352_24738)

During the first half of 1993, heavy rains in the Midwest United States caused the greatest flood ever recorded on the Upper Mississippi. The Mississippi River remained above flood stage from April through September of that year, and many of the dykes and water control systems along the rivers in this region were overwhelmed. These images from the Landsat-5 Thematic Mapper clearly show the flooded regions near St. Louis. The pink areas near the flooded regions show the scoured land from which the flood waters have receded. A comparison of the image during the flood with an image from a year before clearly shows the preponderance of cultivated fields in the lowland flooded region, evidence that floods and river meanderings have deposited rich soil in these regions in the past. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

Background Image for Monthly Snow Climatology, 1979-2002 (WMS) (3185_21913_bg)

The extent of snow and ice that covers the earth's surface in the northern hemisphere grows and shrinks with the seasons. This animations shows the average snow and ice cover for a given month over a 24-year period, 1979 - 2002. It shows how often a particular point is covered with snow in a given month. The SVS Image Server gives each particular image in the animation the last date for which the data was used in creating that image, even though each of the images covers a span of years for a particular month. This image can be composited with the previous animation.

Background Image for Daily 89 MHz Brightness Temperature, 2002-2003 (WMS) (3168_21471_bg)

Sea ice is frozen seawater floating on the surface of the ocean. Some sea ice is permanent, persisting from year to year, and some is seasonal, melting and refreezing from season to season. Sea ice is almost always in motion, reacting to ocean currents and to winds. The AMSR-E instrument on the Aqua satellite acquires high resolution measurements of the 89 GHz brightness temperature near the poles. Because this is a passive microwave sensor and independent of atmospheric effects, this sensor is able to observe the entire polar region every day, even through clouds and snowfalls . This animation of AMSR-E 89 GHz brightness temperature in the northern hemisphere during late 2002 and early 2003 clearly shows the dynamic motion of the ice as well as its seasonal expansion and contraction. This image can be composited with the previous animation.

Jakobshavn Glacier Retreat (2048x512 Animation) (3140_21200)

Since measurements of Jakobshavn Isbrae were first taken in 1850, the glacier has gradually receded, finally coming to rest at a certain point for the past 5 decades. However, from 1997 to 2003, the glacier has begun to recede again, this time almost doubling in speed. The finding is important for many reasons. For starters, as more ice moves from glaciers on land into the ocean, it raises sea levels. Jakobshavn Isbrae is Greenland's largest outlet glacier, draining 6.5 percent of Greenland's ice sheet area. The ice stream's speed-up and near-doubling of ice flow from land into the ocean has increased the rate of sea level rise by about .06 millimeters (about .002 inches) per year, or roughly 4 percent of the 20th century rate of sea level increase. This animation shows the recession for three years, from 2001 through 2003. The line of recession shows the place where the glacier meets the ocean and where pieces calve off and flow away from land toward open water. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

Average Total-sky Albedo (144x72 Animation) (3090_20829)

The Earth's climate is determined by energy transfer from the sun to the Earth's land, oceans, and atmosphere. As the Earth rotates, the sun lights up only part of the Earth at a time, and some of that incoming solar energy is reflected and some is absorbed, depending on type of area it lights. The average amount of reflection and absorption is critical to the climate, because the absorbed energy heats up the Earth until it is radiated away as thermal radiation. This animation shows the monthly average albedo from July, 2002 through June, 2004 as measured by the CERES instrument. This is the fraction of the incoming solar radiation that is reflected back into space by regions of the Earth. The regions of highest albedo are regions of snow and ice, followed by desert regions and regions where there is significant cloud cover during the year. Oceans have the lowest albedo. It is not possible to measure the albedo during the winter months at the poles, since there is no incoming solar radiation during these times. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

Sea Ice Surface Temperature with Regions of No Data Indicated (2048x512 Animation) (3037_19372)

This animation shows the daily sea ice surface temperature over the northern hemisphere from September 2002 through May 2003. The sea ice surface temperature was measured by the MODIS instrument on the Aqua satellite. Since this instrument cannot take measurements through clouds, in cloud-covered regions or areas with suspect data quality, the prior day's value is retained until a valid data reading is obtained. The satellite instruments are also unable to collect data in the dark, so the region around the pole is shown here with a gray cap that grows and shrinks, indicating the region in polar darkness. The color of the sea ice indicates the sea ice surface temperature. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

Daily Sea Ice Surface Temperature 2002-2003 (2048x512 Animation) (3036_19363)

This animation shows the daily sea ice surface temperature over the northern hemisphere from September 2002 through May 2003. The sea ice surface temperature was measured by the MODIS instrument on the Aqua satellite. Since this instrument cannot take measurements through clouds or in the dark, in dark or cloud-covered regions or areas with suspect data quality, the prior day's value is retained until a valid data reading is obtained. The color of the sea ice indicates the sea ice surface temperature. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

Snow Cover over North America during the Winter of 2001-2002 (1024x512 Animation) (3027_21479)

The amount of snow covering the land has both short and long term effects on the environment. From season to season, snow coverage and depth affect soil moisture and water availability, which directly influence agriculture, wildfire occurrences, and drought. In the long term, the part of the Earth's surface covered by snow reflects up to 80 or 90 percent of the incoming solar radiation as opposed to the 10 or 20 percent that uncovered land reflects, and this has important consequences for the Earth's climate. Satellites identify the snow cover precisely by looking at the difference between light reflected off snow in the visible and the infrared wavelengths. This visualization shows the snow cover over North America from October, 2001, through April, 2002, as measured by the MODIS instrument on the Terra satellite. Since this instrument cannot measure snow cover through clouds, this visualization designates an area as covered by snow when the instrument takes a valid measurement showing greater than 50% snow coverage in that area. This area is assumed to be covered in snow until the instrument takes a valid measurement showing less than 40% coverage in that same area. In this animation, snow coverage is measured every 8 days. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

Snow Cover over the Northern Hemisphere During the Winter of 2002-2003 (2048x512 Animation) (2899_17454)

The amount of snow covering the land has both short and long term effects on the environment. From season to season, snow coverage and depth affect soil moisture and water availability, which directly influence agriculture, wildfire occurrences, and drought. In the long term, the part of the Earth's surface covered by snow reflects up to 80 or 90 percent of the incoming solar radiation as opposed to the 10 or 20 percent that uncovered land reflects, and this has important consequences for the Earth's climate. Satellites identify the snow cover precisely by looking at the difference between light reflected off snow in the visible and the infrared wavelengths. This visualization shows the snow cover in the Northern Hemisphere from September, 2002, through June, 2003, as measured by the MODIS instrument on the Terra satellite. Since this instrument cannot measure snow cover through clouds, this visualization designates an area as covered by snow when the instrument takes a valid measurement showing greater than 50% snow coverage in that area. This area is assumed to be snow covered until the instrument takes a valid measurement showing less than 40% snow coverage in that same area. It is possible to see topographic features in the snow cover such as the Rocky Mountains and the Himalayas, and large snow coverage paths from storms that cross the plains of the United States and Russia can also be seen. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

Scene Identification Compared to Clouds (1024x512 Animation) (3179_21773)

The Earth's climate is determined by energy transfer from the sun to the Earth's land, oceans, and atmosphere. As the Earth rotates, the sun lights up only part of the Earth at a time, and some of that incoming solar energy is reflected and some is absorbed, depending on type of area it lights. The amount of reflection and absorption is critical to the climate. An instrument named CERES orbits the Earth every 99 minutes and measures the reflected solar energy. This animation shows the scene identification as measured by CERES during 29 orbits on June 20 and 21 of 2003. By comparing the incoming solar radiation with the outgoing reflected and thermal radiation, it is possible to identify the type of area being viewed, whether it be land, clouds, ocean, or ice. This scene identification is used together with the radiation flux measurements to build up a complete picture of the Earth's energy budget over time. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

Urban Signatures: Latent Heat Flux (1000x1000 Image) (3156_21370)

Big cities influence the environment around them. For example, urban areas are typically warmer than their surroundings. Cities are strikingly visible in computer models that simulate the Earth's land surface. This visualization shows latent heat flux predicted by the Land Information System (LIS) for a day in June 2001. (Latent heat flux refers to the transfer of energy from the Earth's surface to the air above by evaporation of water on the surface; for a more detailed explanation see http://www.uwsp.edu/geo/faculty/ritter/geog101/textbook/energy/energy_balance.html). Latent heat flux is lower in the cities because there is less evaporation there. Only part of the global computation is shown, focusing on the highly urbanized northeast corridor in the United States, including the cities of Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Washington. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

Instantaneous Scene Identification (1024x512 Animation) (3104_20920)

The Earth's climate is determined by energy transfer from the sun to the Earth's land, oceans, and atmosphere. As the Earth rotates, the sun lights up only part of the Earth at a time, and some of that incoming solar energy is reflected and some is absorbed, depending on type of area it lights. The amount of reflection and absorption is critical to th e climate. An instrument named CERES orbits the Earth every 99 minutes and measures the reflected solar energy. This animation shows the scene identification as measured by CERES during 29 orbits on June 20 and 21 of 2003. By comparing the incoming solar radiation with the outgoing reflected and thermal radiation, it is possible to identify the type of area being viewed, whether it be land, clouds, ocean, or ice. This scene identification is used together with the radiation flux measurements to build up a complete picture of the Earth's energy budget over time. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

Average Clear-sky Albedo (144x72 Animation) (3089_20823)

The Earth's climate is determined by energy transfer from the sun to the Earth's land, oceans, and atmosphere. As the Earth rotates, the sun lights up only part of the Earth at a time, and some of that incoming solar energy is reflected and some is absorbed, depending on type of area it lights. The average amount of reflection and absorption is critical to the climate, because the absorbed energy heats up the Earth until it is radiated away as thermal radiation. This animation shows the monthly average clear-sky albedo from July, 2002 through June, 2004 as measured by the CERES instrument. This is the fraction of the incoming solar radiation that is reflected back into space by regions of the Earth on cloud-free days. The regions of highest albedo are regions of snow and ice, followed by desert regions. Oceans have the lowest albedo, and reflect very little of the incoming solar radiation. It is not possible to measure the albedo during the winter months at the poles, since there is no incoming solar radiation during these times. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

Western Hemisphere (4096x4096 Image) (2915_21222)

This spectacular 'Blue Marble' image is the most detailed true-color image of the entire Earth to date. Using a collection of satellite-based observations, scientists and visualizers stitched together months of observations of the land surface, oceans, sea ice, and clouds into a seamless, true-color mosaic of every square kilometer (0.386 square mile) of our planet. Much of the information contained in this image came from a single remote-sensing device-NASA's Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer, or MODIS. Flying over 700 km above the Earth onboard the Terra satellite, MODIS provides an integrated tool for observing a variety of terrestrial, oceanic, and atmospheric features of the Earth. The land and coastal ocean portions of these images are based on surface observations collected from June through September 2001 and combined, or composited, every eight days to compensate for clouds that might block the sensor's view of the surface on any single day. Two different types of ocean data were used in these images: shallow water true color data, and global ocean color (or chlorophyll) data. Topographic shading is based on the GTOPO 30 elevation data set compiled by the U.S. Geological Survey's EROS Data Center. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

Complete Earth (2048x1024 Image) (2915_21224)

This spectacular 'Blue Marble' image is the most detailed true-color image of the entire Earth to date. Using a collection of satellite-based observations, scientists and visualizers stitched together months of observations of the land surface, oceans, sea ice, and clouds into a seamless, true-color mosaic of every square kilometer (0.386 square mile) of our planet. Much of the information contained in this image came from a single remote-sensing device-NASA's Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer, or MODIS. Flying over 700 km above the Earth onboard the Terra satellite, MODIS provides an integrated tool for observing a variety of terrestrial, oceanic, and atmospheric features of the Earth. The land and coastal ocean portions of these images are based on surface observations collected from June through September 2001 and combined, or composited, every eight days to compensate for clouds that might block the sensor's view of the surface on any single day. Two different types of ocean data were used in these images: shallow water true color data, and global ocean color (or chlorophyll) data. Topographic shading is based on the GTOPO 30 elevation data set compiled by the U.S. Geological Survey's EROS Data Center. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

2005 Sea Ice over the Arctic and Antarctic derived from AMSR-E (WMS and Science-on-a-Sphere) (1024x512 Animation) (3507_20969)

Sea ice is frozen seawater floating on the surface of the ocean, typically averaging a few meters in thickness. Some sea ice is semi-permanent, persisting from year to year, and some is seasonal, melting and refreezing from season to season. This series shows the global sea ice throughout 2005, when the maximum extent occurred on March 7th and the minimum extent occurred on September 21st. Here global data from the AMSR-E instrument on the Aqua satellite is shown on a Cartesian grid. The false color in these images is derived from the daily AMSR-E 6.25 km 89 GHz brightness temperature while the sea ice extent is derived from the daily AMSR-E 12.5 km sea ice concentration. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

(1024x512 Animation) (3487_15095)

Three fifths of the Earth's surface is under the ocean, and the ocean floor is as rich in detail as the land surface with which we are familiar. This animation simulates a drop in sea level that gradually reveals this detail. As the sea level drops, the continental shelves appear immediately. They are mostly visible by a depth of 140 meters, except for the Arctic and Antarctic regions, where the shelves are deeper. The mid-ocean ridges start to appear at a depth of 2000 to 3000 meters. By 6000 meters, most of the ocean is drained except for the deep ocean trenches, the deepest of which is the Marianas Trench at a depth of 10,911 meters. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to: U.S. Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Geophysical Data Center, 2006, 2-minute Gridded Global Relief Data (ETOPO2v2) - http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/mgg/fliers/06mgg01.html The Blue Marble data is courtesy of Reto Stockli (NASA/GSFC).

(1024x512 Image) (3487_12773)

Three fifths of the Earth's surface is under the ocean, and the ocean floor is as rich in detail as the land surface with which we are familiar. This animation simulates a drop in sea level that gradually reveals this detail. As the sea level drops, the continental shelves appear immediately. They are mostly visible by a depth of 140 meters, except for the Arctic and Antarctic regions, where the shelves are deeper. The mid-ocean ridges start to appear at a depth of 2000 to 3000 meters. By 6000 meters, most of the ocean is drained except for the deep ocean trenches, the deepest of which is the Marianas Trench at a depth of 10,911 meters. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to: U.S. Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Geophysical Data Center, 2006, 2-minute Gridded Global Relief Data (ETOPO2v2) - http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/mgg/fliers/06mgg01.html The Blue Marble data is courtesy of Reto Stockli (NASA/GSFC).

(4096x2048 Image) (3487_12777)

Three fifths of the Earth's surface is under the ocean, and the ocean floor is as rich in detail as the land surface with which we are familiar. This animation simulates a drop in sea level that gradually reveals this detail. As the sea level drops, the continental shelves appear immediately. They are mostly visible by a depth of 140 meters, except for the Arctic and Antarctic regions, where the shelves are deeper. The mid-ocean ridges start to appear at a depth of 2000 to 3000 meters. By 6000 meters, most of the ocean is drained except for the deep ocean trenches, the deepest of which is the Marianas Trench at a depth of 10,911 meters. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to: U.S. Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Geophysical Data Center, 2006, 2-minute Gridded Global Relief Data (ETOPO2v2) - http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/mgg/fliers/06mgg01.html The Blue Marble data is courtesy of Reto Stockli (NASA/GSFC).

(1024x512 Image) (3487_15094)

Three fifths of the Earth's surface is under the ocean, and the ocean floor is as rich in detail as the land surface with which we are familiar. This animation simulates a drop in sea level that gradually reveals this detail. As the sea level drops, the continental shelves appear immediately. They are mostly visible by a depth of 140 meters, except for the Arctic and Antarctic regions, where the shelves are deeper. The mid-ocean ridges start to appear at a depth of 2000 to 3000 meters. By 6000 meters, most of the ocean is drained except for the deep ocean trenches, the deepest of which is the Marianas Trench at a depth of 10,911 meters. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to: U.S. Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Geophysical Data Center, 2006, 2-minute Gridded Global Relief Data (ETOPO2v2) - http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/mgg/fliers/06mgg01.html The Blue Marble data is courtesy of Reto Stockli (NASA/GSFC).

Aqua MODIS Ocean Color Progression during Hurricane Katrina (1024x512 Animation) (3327_24800)

The Aqua satellite orbits the Earth every 99 minutes in a polar, sun-synchronous orbit. The MODIS instrument on Aqua observes reflected light from the Earth in 36 spectral frequencies. These observations can be processed to show many properties of the Earth's surface, from temperature and phytoplankton measurements near the surface of the ocean to fire occurrences and land cover characteristics on the land surface. This animation shows MODIS ocean color data from about 4 days of individual Aqua orbits. Ocean color is a measurement of the amount of chlorophyll in ocean phytoplankton and is therefore a direct measurement of the amount of life in the ocean. It can only be measured in ocean regions that are free of both clouds and sun glint, the bright band of specular reflection in the center of each granule. For this animation the data is accumulated and so builds up a complete picture of the surface of the Earth except around the South Pole, which is in darkness during the entire 4-day period. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

Aqua MODIS Sea Surface Temperature Progression during Hurricane Katrina (1024x512 Animation) (3324_24791)

The Aqua satellite orbits the Earth every 99 minutes in a polar, sun-synchronous orbit. The MODIS instrument on Aqua observes reflected light from the Earth in 36 spectral frequencies. These observations can be processed to show many properties of the Earth's surface, from temperature and phytoplankton measurements near the surface of the ocean to fire occurrences and land cover characteristics on the land surface. This animation shows MODIS sea surface temperature data from about 4 days of individual Aqua orbits. Sea surface temperature can only be measured by MODIS in ocean regions that are free of both clouds and sun glint, the bright band of specular reflection in the center of each granule. For this animation the data is accumulated and so builds up a complete picture of the surface of the Earth except around the South Pole, which is in darkness during the entire 4-day period. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

Hurricane Katrina Sea Surface Temperature (1024x1024 Animation) (3240_24673)

This visualization shows the cold water trail left by Hurricane Katrina. The data is from August 23 through 30, 2005. The colors on the ocean represent the sea surface temperatures, and satellite images of the hurricane clouds are laid over the temperatures to clearly show the hurricane positions. Orange and red depict regions that are 82 degrees F and higher, where the ocean is warm enough for hurricanes to form. Hurricane winds are sustained by the heat energy of the ocean, so the ocean is cooled as the hurricane passes and the energy is extracted to power the winds. The sea surface temperatures are 3-day moving averages based on the AMSR-E instrument on the Aqua satellite, while the cloud images were taken by the Imager on the GOES-12 satellite. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

Background Image for Sea Surface Height Anomaly, 2003-2005 (WMS) (3193_21991_bg)

Changes in the normal height of the ocean's surface were observed by the TOPEX/Poseidon altimeter. This image can be composited with the previous animation.

Background Image for Sea Surface Temperature Anomaly, 2005 (WMS) (3192_21988_bg)

The temperature of the surface of the world's oceans provides a clear indication of the state of the Earth's climate and weather. The sea surface temperature anomaly, or difference from the mean, can show climate indicators such as the El Nino oscillation, which manifests as a warmer-than-normal sea surface temperature in the Pacific Ocean west of Ecuador and Peru. This sequence shows a slight La Nina effect, or cooler-than-normal sea surface temperature in the eastern Pacific. This image can be composited with the previous animation.

Background Image for Sea Surface Temperature Anomaly, 2005 (WMS) (3192_21989_bg)

The temperature of the surface of the world's oceans provides a clear indication of the state of the Earth's climate and weather. The sea surface temperature anomaly, or difference from the mean, can show climate indicators such as the El Nino oscillation, which manifests as a warmer-than-normal sea surface temperature in the Pacific Ocean west of Ecuador and Peru. This sequence shows a slight La Nina effect, or cooler-than-normal sea surface temperature in the eastern Pacific. This image can be composited with the previous animation.

Background Image for Sea Surface Temperature, 2005 (WMS) (3191_21982_bg)

The temperature of the surface of the world's oceans provides a clear indication of the state of the Earth's climate and weather. In this visualization sequence covering the period from January to June, 2005, the most obvious effects are the north-south movement of warm regions across the equator due to the seasonal movement of the sun and the seasonal advance and retreat of the sea ice near the North and South poles. It is also possible to see the Gulf Stream, the warm river of water that parallels the east coast of the United States before heading towards northern Europe, in this data. This image can be composited with the previous animation.

Background Image for Sea Surface Temperature, 2005 (WMS) (3191_21983_bg)

The temperature of the surface of the world's oceans provides a clear indication of the state of the Earth's climate and weather. In this visualization sequence covering the period from January to June, 2005, the most obvious effects are the north-south movement of warm regions across the equator due to the seasonal movement of the sun and the seasonal advance and retreat of the sea ice near the North and South poles. It is also possible to see the Gulf Stream, the warm river of water that parallels the east coast of the United States before heading towards northern Europe, in this data. This image can be composited with the previous animation.

Background Image for Minimum Sea Ice Extent (WMS) (3186_21918_bg)

Each year, the ice covering the Arctic Ocean grows during the northern hemisphere winter and shrinks with the northern hemisphere summer. The ice extent is usually greatest during the month of March and is the least during the month of September. This image shows the average minimum extent of sea ice over the northern hemisphere during the month of September over 24 seasons, from 1979 - 2002. The red line shows the area where the average sea ice concentration is 15%. This image can be composited with the previous animation.

Outgoing Longwave Flux Compared to Clouds (1024x512 Animation) (3176_21754)

The Earth's climate is determined by energy transfer from the sun to the Earth's land, oceans, and atmosphere. As the Earth rotates, the sun lights up only part of the Earth at a time, and some of that incoming solar energy is reflected and some is absorbed, depending on type of area it lights. The amount of reflection and absorption is critical to the climate. An instrument named CERES orbits the Earth every 99 minutes and measures the reflected solar energy. This animation shows the outgoing thermal radiation measured by CERES during 29 orbits on June 20 and 21 of 2003 over global infrared cloud images. Thermal radiation is longwave radiation and depends on the temperature of the earth, with the most intense radiation coming from the warmest regions and the least from cold clouds in the atmosphere. Although cold clouds and the cold Antarctic night regions can be seen in this data, the Earth radiates pretty uniformly in the longwave bands because the atmosphere distributes the heat of the sun to the whole planet. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

Wind Anomalies During El Nino/La Nina Event of 1997-1998 (2040x504 Animation) (3171_21745)

The El Nino/La Nina event in 1997-1999 was particularly intense, but was also very well observed by satellites and buoys. Deviations from normal winds speeds and directions were computed using data from the Special Sensor Microwave/Imager (SSMI) on the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

Background Image for September Minimum Sea Ice Concentration, 1979-2004 (WMS) (3167_21466_bg)

Sea ice is frozen seawater floating on the surface of the ocean. Some sea ice is permanent, persisting from year to year, and some is seasonal, melting and refreezing from season to season. Because the extent of the sea ice is important both for the Arctic marine ecology and for the role it plays in the Earth's climate, understanding the variation of this extent during the year and from year-to-year is vital. Each year, the minimum sea ice extent in the northern hemisphere occurs at the end of summer, in September. By comparing the extent of the sea ice in September over many successive years, long term trends in the polar climate can be assessed. This animation shows the minimum sea ice concentration in the northern hemisphere in September between 1979 and 2004. Since 1999, this minimum has shown an ice extent that is consistently 10% to 15% smaller than the average extent over the past 20 years. This image can be composited with the previous animation.

Background Image for Monthly Sea Ice Climatology, 1979-2002 (WMS) (3166_21461_bg)

Sea ice is frozen seawater floating on the surface of the ocean. Some sea ice is permanent, persisting from year to year, and some is seasonal, melting and refreezing from season to season. Because the extent of the sea ice is important both for the Arctic marine ecology and for the role it plays in the Earth's climate, understanding the variation of this extent during the year and from year-to-year is vital. The first step in understanding the behavior of the sea ice is to calculate the average behavior of the sea ice over a single year. This behavior, called the climatology, is calculated by averaging the sea ice concentration over each month of a long period, in this case from October 1978 through September 2002. This animation shows the 23-year average sea ice concentration in the northern hemisphere for each particular month of the year. Generally, the minimum extent of sea ice occurs in September, and the maximum occurs in March. This image can be composited with the previous animation.

Background Image for Sea Surface Height Anomalies during El Nino/La Nina Event of 1997-1998 (WMS) (3142_21213_bg)

The El Nino/La Nina event in 1997-1999 was particularly intense, but was also very well observed by satellites and buoys. Changes in the normal height of the ocean's surface were observed by the TOPEX/Poseidon altimeter. This image can be composited with the previous animation.

Background Image for Sea Surface Temperature Anomalies during El Nino/La Nina Event of 1997-1998 (WMS) (3135_21167_bg)

The El Nino/La Nina event in 1997-1999 was particularly intense, but was also very well observed by satellites and buoys. A strong upwelling of unusually warm water was observed in the Pacific Ocean during the El Nino phase, followed by unusually cold water in the La Nina phase. The Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) instrument on the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's NOAA-14 spacecraft observed the changes in sea surface temperature shown here. This image can be composited with the previous animation.

Instantaneous Outgoing Longwave Flux (1024x512 Animation) (3107_21484)

The Earth's climate is determined by energy transfer from the sun to the Earth's land, oceans, and atmosphere. As the Earth rotates, the sun lights up only part of the Earth at a time, and some of that incoming solar energy is reflected and some is absorbed, depending on type of area it lights. The amount of reflection and absorption is critical to the climate. An instrument named CERES orbits the Earth every 99 minutes and measures the reflected solar energy. This animation shows the outgoing thermal radiation measured by CERES during 29 orbits on June 20 and 21 of 2003. Thermal radiation is longwave radiation and depends on the temperature of the earth, with the most intense radiation coming from the warmest regions and the least from cold clouds in the atmosphere. Although cold clouds and the cold Antarctic night regions can be seen in this data, the Earth radiates pretty uniformly in the longwave bands because the atmosphere distributes the heat of the sun to the whole planet. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

Average Total-sky Outgoing Shortwave Flux (144x72 Animation) (3097_20871)

The Earth's climate is determined by energy transfer from the sun to the Earth's land, oceans, and atmosphere. As the Earth rotates, the sun lights up only part of the Earth at a time, and some of that incoming solar energy is reflected and some is absorbed, depending on type of area it lights. The average amount of reflection and absorption is critical to the climate, because the absorbed energy heats up the Earth until it is radiated away as thermal radiation. This animation shows the monthly average outgoing shortwave radiation from July, 2002 through June, 2004 as measured by the CERES instrument. This is the sunlight that is directly reflected back into space by clouds, ice, desert, and other physical areas on the Earth. Although clouds are very reflective, they come and going during the month, so more reflection is seen on average from ice sheets, which change very little during a monthly period. Note that the cloud-free parts of the ocean are relatively dark, indicating that oceans absorb more sunlight than they reflect. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

Average Total-sky Outgoing Longwave Flux (144x72 Animation) (3092_20841)

The Earth's climate is determined by energy transfer from the sun to the Earth's land, oceans, and atmosphere. As the Earth rotates, the sun lights up only part of the Earth at a time, and some of that incoming solar energy is reflected and some is absorbed, depending on type of area it lights. The average amount of reflection and absorption is critical to the climate, because the absorbed energy heats up the Earth until it is radiated away as thermal radiation. This animation shows the monthly average outgoing longwave radiation from July, 2002 through June, 2004 as measured by the CERES instrument. This is the thermal radiation given off by the warm Earth. The Earth's rotation and the movement of warm air from the equator to the poles make the Earth roughly uniform in temperature. The most visible features are the cold poles in winter and the cold clouds along the equator which trap the outgoing thermal radiation. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

Sea Ice Surface Temperature with Regions of No Data Indicated (2048x512 Animation) (3037_19372)

This animation shows the daily sea ice surface temperature over the northern hemisphere from September 2002 through May 2003. The sea ice surface temperature was measured by the MODIS instrument on the Aqua satellite. Since this instrument cannot take measurements through clouds, in cloud-covered regions or areas with suspect data quality, the prior day's value is retained until a valid data reading is obtained. The satellite instruments are also unable to collect data in the dark, so the region around the pole is shown here with a gray cap that grows and shrinks, indicating the region in polar darkness. The color of the sea ice indicates the sea ice surface temperature. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

Daily Sea Ice Surface Temperature 2002-2003 (2048x512 Animation) (3036_19363)

This animation shows the daily sea ice surface temperature over the northern hemisphere from September 2002 through May 2003. The sea ice surface temperature was measured by the MODIS instrument on the Aqua satellite. Since this instrument cannot take measurements through clouds or in the dark, in dark or cloud-covered regions or areas with suspect data quality, the prior day's value is retained until a valid data reading is obtained. The color of the sea ice indicates the sea ice surface temperature. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

High Resolution (2048x1024 Animation) (2914_17554)

By monitoring the color of reflected light via satellite, scientists can determine how successfully plant life is photosynthesizing. A measurement of photosynthesis is essentially a measurement of successful growth, and growth means successful use of ambient carbon. This animation represents the first six years' worth of data taken by the SeaWiFS instrument, showing the abundance of life both on land and in the sea. In the ocean, dark blue represents warmer areas where there is little life due to lack of nutrients, and greens and reds represent cooler nutrient-rich areas. The nutrient-rich areas include coastal regions where cold water rises from the sea floor bringing nutrients along and areas at the mouths of rivers where the rivers have brought nutrients into the ocean from the land. On land, green represents areas of abundant plant life, such as forests and grasslands, while tan and white represent areas where plant life is sparse or non-existent, such as the deserts in Africa and the Middle East and snow-cover and ice at the poles. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to: NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center, The SeaWiFS Project and GeoEye, Scientific Visualization Studio. NOTE: All SeaWiFS images and data presented on this web site are for research and educational use only. All commercial use of SeaWiFS data must be coordinated with GeoEye (http://www.geoeye.com).

Life Returns to the Galapagos after El Nino (640x480 Animation) (2913_17544)

During the El Nino in 1997 and 1998, the surface water in the eastern equatorial Pacific off the coast of South America was warmer than normal. This warm water trapped the ocean nutrients that normally come to the surface in the upwelling cold water, leading to a drastic decrease in phytonplankton and other ocean life in the region. The unique Galapagos ecosystem was severely affected and many species, including sea lions, seabirds, and barracudas, suffered a very high mortality level. During the second week of May, 1998, the ocean temperatures plummeted 10 degrees in one day, and the ocean productivity exploded with large phytoplankton blooms. After this time, many species recovered very rapidly and the land species started to reproduce immediately. The SeaWiFS instrument, which monitors global phytoplankton in the oceans by measuring the color of reflected light, caught this dramatic recovery. This visualization shws images from SeaWiFS starting on May 10, 1998 and ending on May 31, 1998, where ocean colors of blue or purple represents little or no ocean life and colors or yellow and red indicate significant ocean productivity. White and gray denote areas occluded by clouds in these images, and a relief image of the Galapagos Islands has been superimposed on the images to clarify the location of the islands. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to: NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center, The SeaWiFS Project and GeoEye, Scientific Visualization Studio. NOTE: All SeaWiFS images and data presented on this web site are for research and educational use only. All commercial use of SeaWiFS data must be coordinated with GeoEye (http://www.geoeye.com).

Background Image for Hurricane Regions Indicated by Sea Surface Temperature from June 2002 to September 2003 (WMS) (2907_17506_bg)

The temperature of the world's ocean surface provides a clear indication of the regions where hurricanes and typhoons form, since they can only form when the sea surface temperature exceeds 82 degrees F (27.8 degrees C). The AMSR-E instrument on the Aqua satellite measures the temperature of the top 1 millimeter of the ocean every day, even through the clouds. In this visualization of AMSR-E data covering the period from June, 2002, to September, 2003, areas with surface temperatures greater than 82 degrees F are shown in yellow and orange, while sea surface temperatures below 82 degrees F are shown in blue. The region in the Atlantic from the Caribbean to the equator only exceeds the critical temperature during late summer and early fall in the Northern Hemisphere, the period known as Hurricane Season. It is also possible to see the Gulf Stream, the warm river of water that parallels the east coast of the United States before heading towards northern Europe, in this data. Around January 1, 2003, a cooler than normal region of the ocean appears just to the west of Peru as part of an La Nina and flows westward, driven by the trade winds. The waves that appear on the edges of this cooler area are called tropical instability waves and can also be seen in the equatorial Atlantic Ocean about the same time. This image can be composited with the previous animation.

Background Image for Global Sea Surface Temperature Anomalies from June, 2002 to September, 2003 (WMS) (2906_17499_bg)

The temperature of the surface of the world's oceans provides a clear indication of the state of the Earth's climate and weather. The AMSR-E instrument on the Aqua satellite measures the temperature of the top 1 millimeter of the ocean every day, even through the clouds. If the average sea surface temperature for a particular date is subtracted from the measured temperature for that date, the resulting sea surface temperature anomaly can be used to accurately assess the current state of the oceans. The anomaly can serve as an early warning system for weather phenomena and can be used to indicate forthcoming problems with fish populations and coral reef health. In this visualization of the anomaly covering the period from June, 2002, to September, 2003, the most obvious effects are a successive warming and cooling along the equator to the west of Peru, the signature of an El Nino/La Nina cycle. Around January 1, 2003, a cooler than normal region of the ocean appears in this region as part of a La Nina and flows westward, driven by the trade winds. The waves that appear on the edges of this cooler area are called tropical instability waves. This image can be composited with the previous animation.

Background Image for Global Sea Surface Temperature from June, 2002 to September, 2003 (WMS) (2905_17492_bg)

The temperature of the surface of the world's oceans provides a clear indication of the state of the Earth's climate and weather. The AMSR-E instrument on the Aqua satellite measures the temperature of the top 1 millimeter of the ocean every day, even through the clouds. In this visualization sequence covering the period from June, 2002, to September, 2003, the most obvious effects are the north-south movement of warm regions across the equator due to the seasonal movement of the sun and the seasonal advance and retreat of the sea ice near the North and South poles. It is also possible to see the Gulf Stream, the warm river of water that parallels the east coast of the United States before heading towards northern Europe, in this data. Around January 1, 2003, a cooler than normal region of the ocean appears just to the west of Peru as part of a La Nina and flows westward, driven by the trade winds. The waves that appear on the edges of this cooler area are called tropical instability waves and can also be seen in the equatorial Atlantic Ocean about the same time. This image can be composited with the previous animation.

Wind Vectors for Hurricane Erin (1024x1024 Animation) (2896_17437)

This visualization shows wind vectors for Hurricane Erin on September 10, 2001. Wind direction and speed are represented by the direction and speed of moving arrows, respectively. This animation represents a single measurement taken by the SeaWinds instrument on the QuikSCAT satellite, taken at 14:27:00 UTC on September 10, 2001. The WMS version of this animation which is available through the SVS Image Server (http://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/documents/index.html) presents this animation with a different timestamp for each frame in order to more easily present the images as an animation. It should be noted that each frame really has a time stamp of 2001-09-10 14:27:00 UTC. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

Sulfur Dioxide from the Mount Pinatubo Volcanic Eruption, 1991 (1024x256 Animation) (3169_21478)

Tectonic Plate Boundaries (1024x512 Image) (2953_18147)

The Earth's crust is constantly in motion. Sections of the crust, called plates, push against each other due to forces from the molten interior of the Earth. The areas where these plates collide often have increased volcanic and earthquake activity. These images show the locations of the plates and their boundaries in the Earth's crust. Convergent boundaries are areas where two plates are pushing against each other and one plate may be subducting under another. Divergent boundaries have two plates pulling away from each other and indicate regions where new land could be created. Transform boundaries are places where two plates are sliding against each other in opposite directions, and diffuse boundaries are places where two plates have the same relative motion. Numerous small microplates have been omitted from the plate image. These images have been derived from images made available by the United States Geological Survey's Earthquake Hazards Program. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

Tectonic Plates (1024x512 Image) (2953_18155)

The Earth's crust is constantly in motion. Sections of the crust, called plates, push against each other due to forces from the molten interior of the Earth. The areas where these plates collide often have increased volcanic and earthquake activity. These images show the locations of the plates and their boundaries in the Earth's crust. Convergent boundaries are areas where two plates are pushing against each other and one plate may be subducting under another. Divergent boundaries have two plates pulling away from each other and indicate regions where new land could be created. Transform boundaries are places where two plates are sliding against each other in opposite directions, and diffuse boundaries are places where two plates have the same relative motion. Numerous small microplates have been omitted from the plate image. These images have been derived from images made available by the United States Geological Survey's Earthquake Hazards Program. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

Medium Resolution (720x360 Animation) (2908_21808)

This animation represents cumulative global volcanic activity over a 36-year span, from 1960 through 1995. Volcanoes occur near but not on tectonic plate boundaries. If a plate boundary is a convergent boundary, where one plate is subducting under another, then volcanoes occur on the top plate, over the area where rock from the subducting plate has melted, is rising, and has broken through to the surface. The Mt. St. Helens eruption is visible in this animation starting in March, 1980. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

Low Resolution (360x180 Animation) (2908_21809)

This animation represents cumulative global volcanic activity over a 36-year span, from 1960 through 1995. Volcanoes occur near but not on tectonic plate boundaries. If a plate boundary is a convergent boundary, where one plate is subducting under another, then volcanoes occur on the top plate, over the area where rock from the subducting plate has melted, is rising, and has broken through to the surface. The Mt. St. Helens eruption is visible in this animation starting in March, 1980. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

Cumulative Earthquake Activity from 1980 through 1995 (1024x512 Animation) (2893_17420)

This animation shows a cumulative view of earthquake activity for the whole world from 1980 through 1995. Each dot on the image represents the number of earthquakes with magnitude greater than 4.2 that have occurred in a 0.35 by 0.35 degree area of the globe since January 1, 1980. A yellow dot represents 1 or 2 earthquakes, an orange dot represents about 10 earthquakes, and a red dot represents 50 to 200 earthquakes. The background image, if present, shows the topography of the ocean floor. As the animation proceeds, the earthquakes clearly accumulate around the topographic features that represent the boundaries of the Earth's crustal plates. This animation is based on data from world-wide seismic networks and was obtained from the National Earthquake Center of the United States Geological Survey. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

(1024x512 Animation) (3349_27721)

The Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite was launched on November 27, 1997, as a joint mission of NASA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, JAXA. TRMM has five Earth-observing instruments on board and circles the Earth every 92 minutes in an equatorial orbit between 35 degrees north and south latitude so that those instruments can measure precipitation in the tropics. One of the instruments, TMI, observes five frequencies of microwave emissions in a 780-kilometer wide swath along the orbit in order to measure the amount of rain and ice in the atmosphere. This animation shows the TRMM satellite orbiting for one day, August 27, 2005, showing a set of TRMM measurements at a frequency of 85.5 GHz. In this frequency band, atmospheric ice crystals scatter microwaves and so areas with ice crystals appear colder than areas with no ice. Both Hurricane Katrina, just to the west of Florida in the Gulf of Mexico, and Typhoon Talim, in the westerm Pacific between Japan and New Guinea, show up as bright swirling patterns. This measurement is just one of the TMI measurements that go into calculating the total instantaneous rainfall in the tropics. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

(4096x2048 Animation) (3349_27723)

The Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite was launched on November 27, 1997, as a joint mission of NASA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, JAXA. TRMM has five Earth-observing instruments on board and circles the Earth every 92 minutes in an equatorial orbit between 35 degrees north and south latitude so that those instruments can measure precipitation in the tropics. One of the instruments, TMI, observes five frequencies of microwave emissions in a 780-kilometer wide swath along the orbit in order to measure the amount of rain and ice in the atmosphere. This animation shows the TRMM satellite orbiting for one day, August 27, 2005, showing a set of TRMM measurements at a frequency of 85.5 GHz. In this frequency band, atmospheric ice crystals scatter microwaves and so areas with ice crystals appear colder than areas with no ice. Both Hurricane Katrina, just to the west of Florida in the Gulf of Mexico, and Typhoon Talim, in the westerm Pacific between Japan and New Guinea, show up as bright swirling patterns. This measurement is just one of the TMI measurements that go into calculating the total instantaneous rainfall in the tropics. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

(4096x2048 Animation) (3348_27659)

NASA's Aqua satellite was launched on May 4, 2002 with six Earth-observing instruments on board. Aqua circles the Earth every 99 minutes and is in a polar orbit, passing within ten degrees of each pole on every orbit. The orbit is sun-synchronous, meaning that the satellite always passes over a particular part of the Earth at about the same local time each day. Aqua always crosses the equator from south to north at about 1:30 PM local time. One of the instruments on Aqua, MODIS, measures 36 spectral frequencies of light reflected off the Earth in a 2300-kilometer wide swath along this orbit, so that MODIS measures almost the entire surface of the Earth every day.The first animation shows the Aqua satellite orbiting for one day, August 27, 2005, showing a set of MODIS measurements taken that day that have been processed to look like a a true-color image of the Earth. Notice that MODIS only takes data during the dayside part of the orbit because it measures reflected light from the Sun, and that there is a bright band of reflected sunlight in the center of swaths over the ocean. Also visible in this animation are Hurricane Katrina, just to the west of Florida in the Gulf of Mexico, and Typhoon Talim, in the westerm Pacific between Japan and New Guinea.The second animation spans five days of Aqua orbits, from August 27, 2005 through August 31, 2005. For this animation, the orbits and data are shown over an Earth image that shows the day and night parts of the Earth at each time of the animation. The daylight part of the Earth is a cloud-free MODIS composite, while the nighttime regions show the 'city lights', the Earth's stable light sources. During the first day, August 27, the Aqua satellite is shown with a red line indicating the orbit of the satellite. Since the Earth's surface is stationary in this animation, the satellite orbit moves westward with the sun. During the second day, August 28, the most recent observation swath is shown in addition to the satellite orbit line. In this way , the drift of th orbit relative to the observations is illustrated. Starting with the third day, August 29, the orbit line disappears and the observation swaths accumulate. The observations cover the Earth during the third day except for small gaps at the equator, which are filled in during the fourth day, August 30. The animation continues to show the MODIS observations through August 31, the fifth day.The third animation shows the same composition as the second one, but the point of view has changed to that of the Sun. In this animation, the Earth rotates and the orbit is stationary. At this dat, the North Pole of the Earth is tilted towards the Sun and in daylight, while the South Pole is tilted away and is in darkness. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

(4096x2048 Animation) (3348_33186)

NASA's Aqua satellite was launched on May 4, 2002 with six Earth-observing instruments on board. Aqua circles the Earth every 99 minutes and is in a polar orbit, passing within ten degrees of each pole on every orbit. The orbit is sun-synchronous, meaning that the satellite always passes over a particular part of the Earth at about the same local time each day. Aqua always crosses the equator from south to north at about 1:30 PM local time. One of the instruments on Aqua, MODIS, measures 36 spectral frequencies of light reflected off the Earth in a 2300-kilometer wide swath along this orbit, so that MODIS measures almost the entire surface of the Earth every day.The first animation shows the Aqua satellite orbiting for one day, August 27, 2005, showing a set of MODIS measurements taken that day that have been processed to look like a a true-color image of the Earth. Notice that MODIS only takes data during the dayside part of the orbit because it measures reflected light from the Sun, and that there is a bright band of reflected sunlight in the center of swaths over the ocean. Also visible in this animation are Hurricane Katrina, just to the west of Florida in the Gulf of Mexico, and Typhoon Talim, in the westerm Pacific between Japan and New Guinea.The second animation spans five days of Aqua orbits, from August 27, 2005 through August 31, 2005. For this animation, the orbits and data are shown over an Earth image that shows the day and night parts of the Earth at each time of the animation. The daylight part of the Earth is a cloud-free MODIS composite, while the nighttime regions show the 'city lights', the Earth's stable light sources. During the first day, August 27, the Aqua satellite is shown with a red line indicating the orbit of the satellite. Since the Earth's surface is stationary in this animation, the satellite orbit moves westward with the sun. During the second day, August 28, the most recent observation swath is shown in addition to the satellite orbit line. In this way , the drift of th orbit relative to the observations is illustrated. Starting with the third day, August 29, the orbit line disappears and the observation swaths accumulate. The observations cover the Earth during the third day except for small gaps at the equator, which are filled in during the fourth day, August 30. The animation continues to show the MODIS observations through August 31, the fifth day.The third animation shows the same composition as the second one, but the point of view has changed to that of the Sun. In this animation, the Earth rotates and the orbit is stationary. At this dat, the North Pole of the Earth is tilted towards the Sun and in daylight, while the South Pole is tilted away and is in darkness. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

Aqua MODIS Ocean Color Progression during Hurricane Katrina (1024x512 Animation) (3327_24800)

The Aqua satellite orbits the Earth every 99 minutes in a polar, sun-synchronous orbit. The MODIS instrument on Aqua observes reflected light from the Earth in 36 spectral frequencies. These observations can be processed to show many properties of the Earth's surface, from temperature and phytoplankton measurements near the surface of the ocean to fire occurrences and land cover characteristics on the land surface. This animation shows MODIS ocean color data from about 4 days of individual Aqua orbits. Ocean color is a measurement of the amount of chlorophyll in ocean phytoplankton and is therefore a direct measurement of the amount of life in the ocean. It can only be measured in ocean regions that are free of both clouds and sun glint, the bright band of specular reflection in the center of each granule. For this animation the data is accumulated and so builds up a complete picture of the surface of the Earth except around the South Pole, which is in darkness during the entire 4-day period. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

Aqua MODIS Sea Surface Temperature Progression during Hurricane Katrina (1024x512 Animation) (3324_24791)

The Aqua satellite orbits the Earth every 99 minutes in a polar, sun-synchronous orbit. The MODIS instrument on Aqua observes reflected light from the Earth in 36 spectral frequencies. These observations can be processed to show many properties of the Earth's surface, from temperature and phytoplankton measurements near the surface of the ocean to fire occurrences and land cover characteristics on the land surface. This animation shows MODIS sea surface temperature data from about 4 days of individual Aqua orbits. Sea surface temperature can only be measured by MODIS in ocean regions that are free of both clouds and sun glint, the bright band of specular reflection in the center of each granule. For this animation the data is accumulated and so builds up a complete picture of the surface of the Earth except around the South Pole, which is in darkness during the entire 4-day period. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

MODIS True Color Swaths during Hurricane Katrina (1024x512 Animation) (3322_24935)

The Aqua satellite orbits the Earth every 99 minutes in a polar, sun-synchronous orbit. The MODIS instrument on Aqua observes reflected light from the Earth in 36 spectral frequencies. These observations can be processed to show many properties of the Earth's surface, from temperature and phytoplankton measurements near the surface of the ocean to fire occurrences and land cover characteristics on the land surface. This animation shows about 4 days of MODIS data from individual Aqua orbits processed to look like true-color photographs of the planet's surface. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

Aqua MODIS True Color Granules during Hurricane Katrina (1024x512 Animation) (3320_24939)

The Aqua satellite orbits the Earth every 99 minutes in a polar, sun-synchronous orbit. The MODIS instrument on Aqua observes reflected light from the Earth in 36 spectral frequencies. These observations can be processed to show many properties of the Earth's surface, from temperature and phytoplankton measurements near the surface of the ocean to fire occurrences and land cover characteristics on the land surface. The MODIS observations start out divided into 5-minute sections called granules, and this animation shows about 4 days of MODIS granules processed to look like true-color photographs of the planet's surface. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

GOES-12 Imagery of Hurricane Katrina: Visible Close-up (1024x1024 Animation) (3254_22657)

The GOES-12 satellite sits at 75 degrees west longitude at an altitude of 36,000 kilometers over the equator, in geosynchronous orbit. At this position its Imager instrument takes pictures of cloud patterns in several wavelengths for all of North and South America, a primary measurement used in weather forecasting. The Imager takes a pattern of pictures of parts of the Earth in several wavelengths all day, measurements that are vital in weather forecasting. This animation shows a daily sequence of GOES-12 images in the visible wavelengths, from 0.52 to 0.72 microns, during the period that Hurricane Katrina passed through the Gulf of Mexico. At one kilometer resolution, the visible band measurement is the highest resolution data from the Imager, which accounts for the very high level of detail in these images. For this animation, the cloud data was extracted from GOES image and laid over a background color image of the southeast United States. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

Background Image for TRMM Microwave Measurements during Hurricane Katrina: Horizontal Polarization (3250_22668_bg)

The TMI instrument on the TRMM satellite measures microwaves emitted from the Earth's land and water. By comparing emission from different microwave frequencies, the characteristics of ice and water in the atmosphere can be determined. For example, 85 GHz microwaves are scattered by ice crystals in tropical cyclones, making cyclone rain bands appear 'colder' than the surrounding areas. By comparing 85 GHz temperatures in different polarizations with other frequency band measurements, accurate measurements of rainfall in the atmosphere can be made. This animation shows eight days of global TMI 85 GHz measurements in the Gulf of Mexico during Hurricane Katrina. The hurricane Katrina rainbands clearly show up in these images. This image can be composited with the previous animation.

Background Image for TRMM Microwave Measurements during Hurricane Katrina: Vertical Polarization (3249_22662_bg)

The TMI instrument on the TRMM satellite measures microwaves emitted from the Earth's land and water. By comparing emission from different microwave frequencies, the characteristics of ice and water in the atmosphere can be determined. For example, 85 GHz microwaves are scattered by ice crystals in tropical cyclones, making cyclone rain bands appear 'colder' than the surrounding areas. By comparing 85 GHz temperatures in different polarizations with other frequency band measurements, accurate measurements of rainfall in the atmosphere can be made. This animation shows eight days of global TMI 85 GHz measurements in the Gulf of Mexico during Hurricane Katrina. The hurricane Katrina rainbands clearly show up in these images. This image can be composited with the previous animation.

Background Image for TRMM Microwave Brightness Temperature Progression During Hurricane Katrina: Horizontal Polarization (3248_22701_bg)

The TMI instrument on the TRMM satellite measures microwaves emitted from the Earth's land and water. By comparing emission from different microwave frequencies, the characteristics of ice and water in the atmosphere can be determined. For example, 85 GHz microwaves are scattered by ice crystals in tropical cyclones, making cyclone rain bands appear 'colder' than the surrounding areas. By comparing 85 GHz temperatures in different polarizations with other frequency band measurements, accurate measurements of rainfall in the atmosphere can be made. This animation builds up four days of global TMI 85 GHz measurements. Hurricane Katrina was in the Gulf of Mexico at the time and clearly shows up in the measurements. This image can be composited with the previous animation.

Background Image for TRMM Microwave Brightness Temperature Progression during Hurricane Katrina: Vertical Polarization (3247_22695_bg)

The TMI instrument on the TRMM satellite measures microwaves emitted from the Earth's land and water. By comparing emission from different microwave frequencies, the characteristics of ice and water in the atmosphere can be determined. For example, 85 GHz microwaves are scattered by ice crystals in tropical cyclones, making cyclone rain bands appear 'colder' than the surrounding areas. By comparing 85 GHz temperatures in different polarizations with other frequency band measurements, accurate measurements of rainfall in the atmosphere can be made. This animation builds up four days of global TMI 85 GHz measurements. Hurricane Katrina was in the Gulf of Mexico at the time and clearly shows up in the measurements. This image can be composited with the previous animation.

Background Image for TRMM Microwave Brightness Temperature Swath during Hurricane Katrina: Horizontal Polarization (3243_22680_bg)

The TMI instrument on the TRMM satellite measures microwaves emitted from the Earth's land and water. By comparing emission from different microwave frequencies, the characteristics of ice and water in the atmosphere can be determined. For example, 85 GHz microwaves are scattered by ice crystals in tropical cyclones, making cyclone rain bands appear 'colder' than the surrounding areas. By comparing 85 GHz temperatures in different polarizations with other frequency band measurements, accurate measurements of rainfall in the atmosphere can be made. This animation shows four days of TMI 85 GHz measurements, one orbit at a time. Hurricane Katrina was in the Gulf of Mexico at the time and clearly shows up in the measurements. This image can be composited with the previous animation.

Background Image for TRMM Microwave Brightness Temperature Swath during Hurricane Katrina: Vertical Polarization (3242_22674_bg)

The TMI instrument on the TRMM satellite measures microwaves emitted from the Earth's land and water. By comparing emission from different microwave frequencies, the characteristics of ice and water in the atmosphere can be determined. For example, 85 GHz microwaves are scattered by ice crystals in tropical cyclones, making cyclone rain bands appear 'colder' than the surrounding areas. By comparing 85 GHz temperatures in different polarizations with other frequency band measurements, accurate measurements of rainfall in the atmosphere can be made. This animation shows four days of TMI 85 GHz measurements, one orbit at a time. Hurricane Katrina was in the Gulf of Mexico at the time and clearly shows up in the measurements. This image can be composited with the previous animation.

GOES-12 Imagery of Hurricane Katrina: Longwave Infrared Overview (512x512 Animation) (3236_22547)

The GOES-12 satellite sits at 75 degrees west longitude at an altitude of 36,000 kilometers over the equator, in geosynchronous orbit. At this position its Imager instrument takes pictures of cloud patterns in several wavelengths for all of North and South America, a primary measurement used in weather forecasting. The Imager takes a pattern of pictures of parts of the Earth in several wavelengths all day, measurements that are vital in weather forecasting. This animation shows a four-day sequence of GOES-12 images in the longwave infrared wavelengths, from 10.2 to 11.2 microns, during the period that Hurricane Katrina passed through the Gulf of Mexico. This wavelength band is the most common one for observing cloud motions and severe storms throughout the day and night. Note that most of the images are taken over the United States (about every 5 minutes) with full disk images every 3 hours and several specific images over South America every day. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

GOES-12 Imagery of Hurricane Katrina: Full Disk Lower Level Temperature (1024x1024 Animation) (3234_22542)

The GOES-12 satellite sits at 75 degrees west longitude at an altitude of 36,000 kilometers over the equator, in geosynchronous orbit. At this position its Imager instrument takes pictures of cloud patterns in several wavelengths for all of North and South America, a primary measurement used in weather forecasting. Every three hours the Imager takes a picture of the full disk of the Earth. This animation shows a sequence of these full disk images in the wavelength band from 12.9 to 13.8 microns, during the period that Hurricane Katrina passed through the Gulf of Mexico. This wavelength band is useful for determining cloud characteristics such as cloud top pressure. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

GOES-12 Imagery of Hurricane Katrina: Full Disk Water Vapor (1024x1024 Animation) (3232_22532)

The GOES-12 satellite sits at 75 degrees west longitude at an altitude of 36,000 kilometers over the equator, in geosynchronous orbit. At this position its Imager instrument takes pictures of cloud patterns in several wavelengths for all of North and South America, a primary measurement used in weather forecasting. Every three hours the Imager takes a picture of the full disk of the Earth. This animation shows a sequence of these full disk images in the 6.47 to 7.02 micron wavelength band, during the period that Hurricane Katrina passed through the Gulf of Mexico. This wavelength band is useful for estimating mid-level water vapor content and for observing atmospheric motion in that level. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

GOES-12 Imagery of Hurricane Katrina: Full Disk Visible (1024x1024 Animation) (3230_22515)

The GOES-12 satellite sits at 75 degrees west longitude at an altitude of 36,000 kilometers over the equator, in geosynchronous orbit. At this position its Imager instrument takes pictures of cloud patterns in several wavelengths for all of North and South America, a primary measurement used in weather forecasting. Every three hours the Imager takes a picture of the full disk of the Earth. This animation shows a sequence of these full disk images in the visible wavelengths, 0.52 to 0.72 microns, during the period that Hurricane Katrina passed through the Gulf of Mexico. This wavelength band clearly shows the day-night cycle since the Earth is dark at night in the visible wavelengths. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

Jakobshavn Glacier Ice Flow (700x1700 Animation) (3141_21208)

Since measurements of Jakobshavn Isbrae were first taken in 1850, the glacier has gradually receded, finally coming to rest at a certain point for the past 5 decades. However, from 1997 to 2003, the glacier has begun to recede again, this time almost doubling in speed. The finding is important for many reasons. For starters, as more ice moves from glaciers on land into the ocean, it raises sea levels. Jakobshavn Isbrae is Greenland's largest outlet glacier, draining 6.5 percent of Greenland's ice sheet area. The ice stream's speed-up and near-doubling of ice flow from land into the ocean has increased the rate of sea level rise by about .06 millimeters (about .002 inches) per year, or roughly 4 percent of the 20th century rate of sea level increase. This animation shows a time-lapse sequence of the ice flowing toward the ocean. In recent years, even ice that has traditionally remained in place is now being pulled down to the edge of land. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

Goddard Zoom Complete Earth (512x512 Image) (3031_19317)

The WMS Global Mosaic data set was developed at NASA's Jet Propulstion Laboratory (JPL). This global mosaic was produced from visual and near infrared bands taken by the Landsat-7 satellite. Using the panchromatic band to sharpen the final image, a final resolution of 0.5 arc seconds (about 15 meters) can be achieved. This mosaic is available through the Web Mapping Services (WMS) protocol at JPL. This series of images was obtained using a software program called the Digital Earth PC which can use the WMS protocol to obtain images covering an arbitrary region of the earth. These images can be arranged in such a way with the Digital Earth PC software that a nearly continuous zoom effect can be achieved. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

Goddard Zoom Step 2 (512x512 Image) (3031_19322)

The WMS Global Mosaic data set was developed at NASA's Jet Propulstion Laboratory (JPL). This global mosaic was produced from visual and near infrared bands taken by the Landsat-7 satellite. Using the panchromatic band to sharpen the final image, a final resolution of 0.5 arc seconds (about 15 meters) can be achieved. This mosaic is available through the Web Mapping Services (WMS) protocol at JPL. This series of images was obtained using a software program called the Digital Earth PC which can use the WMS protocol to obtain images covering an arbitrary region of the earth. These images can be arranged in such a way with the Digital Earth PC software that a nearly continuous zoom effect can be achieved. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

Goddard Zoom Step 4 (512x512 Image) (3031_19326)

The WMS Global Mosaic data set was developed at NASA's Jet Propulstion Laboratory (JPL). This global mosaic was produced from visual and near infrared bands taken by the Landsat-7 satellite. Using the panchromatic band to sharpen the final image, a final resolution of 0.5 arc seconds (about 15 meters) can be achieved. This mosaic is available through the Web Mapping Services (WMS) protocol at JPL. This series of images was obtained using a software program called the Digital Earth PC which can use the WMS protocol to obtain images covering an arbitrary region of the earth. These images can be arranged in such a way with the Digital Earth PC software that a nearly continuous zoom effect can be achieved. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

Goddard Zoom Step 6 (Maximum Zoom Level) (512x512 Image) (3031_19330)

The WMS Global Mosaic data set was developed at NASA's Jet Propulstion Laboratory (JPL). This global mosaic was produced from visual and near infrared bands taken by the Landsat-7 satellite. Using the panchromatic band to sharpen the final image, a final resolution of 0.5 arc seconds (about 15 meters) can be achieved. This mosaic is available through the Web Mapping Services (WMS) protocol at JPL. This series of images was obtained using a software program called the Digital Earth PC which can use the WMS protocol to obtain images covering an arbitrary region of the earth. These images can be arranged in such a way with the Digital Earth PC software that a nearly continuous zoom effect can be achieved. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

Boulder Zoom Step 1 (512x512 Image) (3030_19309)

The WMS Global Mosaic data set was developed at NASA's Jet Propulstion Laboratory (JPL). This global mosaic was produced from visual and near infrared bands taken by the Landsat-7 satellite. Using the panchromatic band to sharpen the final image, a final resolution of 0.5 arc seconds (about 15 meters) can be achieved. This mosaic is available through the Web Mapping Services (WMS) protocol at JPL. This series of images was obtained using a software program called the Digital Earth PC which can use the WMS protocol to obtain images covering an arbitrary region of the earth. These images can be arranged in such a way with the Digital Earth PC software that a nearly continuous zoom effect can be achieved. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

Boulder Zoom Step 3 (512x512 Image) (3030_19313)

The WMS Global Mosaic data set was developed at NASA's Jet Propulstion Laboratory (JPL). This global mosaic was produced from visual and near infrared bands taken by the Landsat-7 satellite. Using the panchromatic band to sharpen the final image, a final resolution of 0.5 arc seconds (about 15 meters) can be achieved. This mosaic is available through the Web Mapping Services (WMS) protocol at JPL. This series of images was obtained using a software program called the Digital Earth PC which can use the WMS protocol to obtain images covering an arbitrary region of the earth. These images can be arranged in such a way with the Digital Earth PC software that a nearly continuous zoom effect can be achieved. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

Austin Zoom Complete Earth (512x512 Image) (3029_19293)

The WMS Global Mosaic data set was developed at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). This global mosaic was produced from visual and near infrared bands taken by the Landsat-7 satellite. Using the panchromatic band to sharpen the final image, a final resolution of 0.5 arc seconds (about 15 meters) can be achieved. This mosaic is available through the Web Mapping Services (WMS) protocol at JPL. This series of images was obtained using a software program called the Digital Earth PC which can use the WMS protocol to obtain images covering an arbitrary region of the earth. These images can be arranged in such a way with the Digital Earth PC software that a nearly continuous zoom effect can be achieved. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

Austin Zoom Step 2 (512x512 Image) (3029_19298)

The WMS Global Mosaic data set was developed at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). This global mosaic was produced from visual and near infrared bands taken by the Landsat-7 satellite. Using the panchromatic band to sharpen the final image, a final resolution of 0.5 arc seconds (about 15 meters) can be achieved. This mosaic is available through the Web Mapping Services (WMS) protocol at JPL. This series of images was obtained using a software program called the Digital Earth PC which can use the WMS protocol to obtain images covering an arbitrary region of the earth. These images can be arranged in such a way with the Digital Earth PC software that a nearly continuous zoom effect can be achieved. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

Austin Zoom Step 4 (512x512 Image) (3029_19302)

The WMS Global Mosaic data set was developed at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). This global mosaic was produced from visual and near infrared bands taken by the Landsat-7 satellite. Using the panchromatic band to sharpen the final image, a final resolution of 0.5 arc seconds (about 15 meters) can be achieved. This mosaic is available through the Web Mapping Services (WMS) protocol at JPL. This series of images was obtained using a software program called the Digital Earth PC which can use the WMS protocol to obtain images covering an arbitrary region of the earth. These images can be arranged in such a way with the Digital Earth PC software that a nearly continuous zoom effect can be achieved. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

Galileo Earth Views (1024x512 Animation) (2971_18451)

The Galileo spacecraft was launched from the Space Shuttle Atlantis on October 18, 1989 on a six-year trip to Jupiter. On the way, the trajectory of the spacecraft took it past Venus once and Earth twice. Galileo took the Earth images in this animation just after the first flyby of the Earth, on December 11 and 12, 1990. This six-hour sequence of images taken two minutes apart clearly shows how the Earth looks from space and how fast (or slow) the cloud features change when looked at from a distance. The path of the sun can be seen crossing Australia by its reflection in the nearby ocean, and the terminator region between night and day can be seen moving across the Indian Ocean. In the original images, the Earth's rotation is so dominant that cloud movement is hard to see, but these images have been mapped to the Earth is such a way that a viewer can watch just the clouds move in the ocean around Antarctica or across the Australian land mass. In this animation, New Zealand can ony be seen as a stationary disturbance under a moving cloud bank. The black area with the sharp boundary to the north and east of Australia is the side of the Earth that could not be seen from Galileo's position. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

Eastern Hemisphere (4096x4096 Image) (2915_21220)

This spectacular 'Blue Marble' image is the most detailed true-color image of the entire Earth to date. Using a collection of satellite-based observations, scientists and visualizers stitched together months of observations of the land surface, oceans, sea ice, and clouds into a seamless, true-color mosaic of every square kilometer (0.386 square mile) of our planet. Much of the information contained in this image came from a single remote-sensing device-NASA's Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer, or MODIS. Flying over 700 km above the Earth onboard the Terra satellite, MODIS provides an integrated tool for observing a variety of terrestrial, oceanic, and atmospheric features of the Earth. The land and coastal ocean portions of these images are based on surface observations collected from June through September 2001 and combined, or composited, every eight days to compensate for clouds that might block the sensor's view of the surface on any single day. Two different types of ocean data were used in these images: shallow water true color data, and global ocean color (or chlorophyll) data. Topographic shading is based on the GTOPO 30 elevation data set compiled by the U.S. Geological Survey's EROS Data Center. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

Complete Earth (1024x512 Image) (2915_21223)

This spectacular 'Blue Marble' image is the most detailed true-color image of the entire Earth to date. Using a collection of satellite-based observations, scientists and visualizers stitched together months of observations of the land surface, oceans, sea ice, and clouds into a seamless, true-color mosaic of every square kilometer (0.386 square mile) of our planet. Much of the information contained in this image came from a single remote-sensing device-NASA's Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer, or MODIS. Flying over 700 km above the Earth onboard the Terra satellite, MODIS provides an integrated tool for observing a variety of terrestrial, oceanic, and atmospheric features of the Earth. The land and coastal ocean portions of these images are based on surface observations collected from June through September 2001 and combined, or composited, every eight days to compensate for clouds that might block the sensor's view of the surface on any single day. Two different types of ocean data were used in these images: shallow water true color data, and global ocean color (or chlorophyll) data. Topographic shading is based on the GTOPO 30 elevation data set compiled by the U.S. Geological Survey's EROS Data Center. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

Complete Earth (512x512 Image) (2915_21225)

This spectacular 'Blue Marble' image is the most detailed true-color image of the entire Earth to date. Using a collection of satellite-based observations, scientists and visualizers stitched together months of observations of the land surface, oceans, sea ice, and clouds into a seamless, true-color mosaic of every square kilometer (0.386 square mile) of our planet. Much of the information contained in this image came from a single remote-sensing device-NASA's Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer, or MODIS. Flying over 700 km above the Earth onboard the Terra satellite, MODIS provides an integrated tool for observing a variety of terrestrial, oceanic, and atmospheric features of the Earth. The land and coastal ocean portions of these images are based on surface observations collected from June through September 2001 and combined, or composited, every eight days to compensate for clouds that might block the sensor's view of the surface on any single day. Two different types of ocean data were used in these images: shallow water true color data, and global ocean color (or chlorophyll) data. Topographic shading is based on the GTOPO 30 elevation data set compiled by the U.S. Geological Survey's EROS Data Center. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

Foreground Image for Infrared Cloud Cover over the Atlantic Ocean, September 2001 (WMS) (2895_17432_bg)

This animation is a mosaic of cloud cover data taken by several different satellites in the infrared band. Instead of showing a global composite, it is cropped to highlight the Atlantic Ocean. One of the most prominent cloud features during this time was Hurricane Erin. This image can be composited with the previous animation.

Foreground Image for Global Infrared Cloud Cover, September 2001 (WMS) (2894_17427_bg)

This animation is a mosaic of cloud cover data taken by several different satellites in the infrared band. One of the most prominent cloud features during this time was Hurricane Erin near the Atlantic coast of the United States. This image can be composited with the previous animation.

X-Ray Images of the North Polar Region (922x461 Animation) (3170_21483)

Here are X-rays images (shown on the same brightness scale) of the north polar region obtained by Chandra HRC-I on different days, showing large variability in soft (0.1-10.0 keV) X-ray emissions from Earth s aurora. Note that the images are not snap shots, but are approximately 20-min scans of the northern auroral region in the HRC-I field-of-view. The brightness scale in Rayleighs (R) assumes an average effective area of 40 cm2. The day-night terminator at an altitude of 0 km is displayed with lighting. The day-night terminator at an altitude of 100 km is shown by the blue line. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

Solar Irradiance (512x256 Animation) (3109_20950)

The Earth's climate is determined by energy transfer from the sun to the Earth's land, oceans, and atmosphere. As the Earth moves around the sun, the fact that the Earth's axis is tilted means that the sun's overhead position moves from the Northern Hemisphere to the Southern Hemisphere and back from one summer to the next. This effect causes winters to be cold and summers warm in the Northern Hemisphere and the opposite in the Southern Hemisphere. This animation shows the incoming solar irradiance on the Earth at noon on the Greenwich meridian during an entire year, illustrating this movement. The magnitude of this irradiance comes from measurements by the TIM instrument on SORCE. Since the Earth's orbit is elliptical, the magnitude of the solar irradiance at the Earth is least when the Earth is farthest from the sun and greatest when the earth is closest. This 6 or 7 percent change can be seen in the animation by watching the dark bands move. When the bands expand from the bright spot, the Earth is getting closer to the sun, from July through December, and when they contract the Earth is moving away, from January through June. The sun's irradiance is also variable from day to day, but that effect is about ten times smaller than the effect of the earth's orbit. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

Average Total-sky Incoming Solar Flux (144x72 Animation) (3095_20859)

The Earth's climate is determined by energy transfer from the sun to the Earth's land, oceans, and atmosphere. As the Earth rotates, the sun lights up only part of the Earth at a time, and some of that incoming solar energy is reflected and some is absorbed, depending on type of area it lights. The average amount of reflection and absorption is critical to the climate, because the absorbed energy heats up the Earth until it is radiated away as thermal radiation. This animation shows the monthly average incoming solar radiation from July, 2002 through June, 2004 as measured by the CERES instrument. This average data set is constant in longitude because of the Earth's rotation, but clearly shows the seasonal cycle as the sun heats the Northern Hemisphere more in summer than in winter. Note that the polar regions are abnormally bright in the local summer and dark in the local winter because whole day is either light or dark in those seasons. Additional Credit: B>Please give credit for this item to:

Background Image for Aurora over the North Pole on April 17, 1999 (WMS) (2891_17409_bg)

When the charged particles flowing outward from the Sun (the solar wind) hit the Earth's magnetic field, they are channeled down the magnetic field lines to the ionosphere at the North and South Poles. The impact of these particles on atmospheric molecules causes the molecules to emit light, which forms the visible aurora. This visualization shows the development of the aurora over the North Pole for about three hours on April 17, 1999, as seen by the ultraviolet VIS Earth Camera on the POLAR spacecraft. The two main features of these ultraviolet images are the very bright ultraviolet emission from the reflected solar radiation on the dayside of the Earth and the bright ring of the auroral oval circling the North Pole. The aurora seen in this visualization is the diffuse aurora, a very large bright band that is actually too dim to be seen well from the ground by the human eye. What we normally think of as the aurora are the even brighter curtains of light within the diffuse auroral caused by very energetic electrons. These curtains are too small to be seen in this image. The diffuse aurora appears as a ring around the pole rather than as a bright spot over the entire pole because the solar particles actually spend extended time wandering about within the Earth's magnetic field before traveling down a very select set of magnetic field lines to the Earth. Near the end of this three hour period, the spacecraft was getting so close to the Earth that the edges of the globe were outside the camera's image, which accounts for the growing circular data gaps over Asia and the Pacific Ocean. This image can be composited with the previous animation.