North Atlantic Ocean Current Velocity

  • Released Thursday, January 21, 1999
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Three-dimensional General Circulation Models divide the ocean into a rectangular grid with layered vertical columns. This North Atlantic model uses a ⅙ degree grid with 37 layers. It captured 30 years of velocity, sea-surface temperature, and salinity. The model realistically separates the Gulf Stream from the Florida coast. A feature as small as the Gulf Stream had not appeared in lower-resolution models.

An animation of three-dimensional current velocity in the North Atlantic, where velocity ranges from 30 centimeters per second, shown in blue, to 200 centimeters per second, shown in red

Video slate image reads, "North Atlantic Ocean Current VelocityThis North Atlantic model uses a 1/6 degree grid with 37 layers. The complete model captured 30 years of velocity, sea-surface temperature, and salinity."

Video slate image reads, "North Atlantic Ocean Current Velocity
This North Atlantic model uses a ⅙ degree grid with 37 layers. The complete model captured 30 years of velocity, sea-surface temperature, and salinity."

Credits

Please give credit for this item to:
NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory

This page was originally published on Thursday, January 21, 1999.
This page was last updated on Wednesday, May 3, 2023 at 1:59 PM EDT.

Series

This visualization can be found in the following series: