Earth ID: 2905

Global Sea Surface Temperature from June, 2002 to September, 2003 (WMS)

Visualizations by Eric Sokolowsky Released on February 12, 2004

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 Niña 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.

The oceans of the world are falsely colored in this animation. The warmest temperatures are shown in bright yellow and the coldest temperatures are shown in dark green and black. Grey represents areas that have no data values such as coastal regions or land. White represents surface ice.

This product is available through our Web Map Service.

For More Information

http://www.ghcc.msfc.nasa.gov/AMSR/

Visualization Credits

Eric Sokolowsky (GST): Lead Animator
Greg Shirah (NASA/GSFC): Animator
Jesse Allen (Raytheon): Animator
Frank J. Wentz (Remote Sensing Systems): Scientist
Chelle Gentemann (Remote Sensing Systems): Scientist

Please give credit for this item to:
NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio

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https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/2905

Data Used:

Aqua/AMSR-E

2002/06/02 - 2003/09/07

For more information, please click http://wwwghcc.msfc.nasa.gov/AMSR/

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This item is part of this series:
WMS

Keywords:
SVS >> HDTV
DLESE >> Physical oceanography
GCMD >> Earth Science >> Hydrosphere
GCMD >> Earth Science >> Oceans >> Ocean Circulation >> Ocean Currents
GCMD >> Earth Science >> Oceans >> Ocean Temperature >> Sea Surface Temperature
SVS >> Hyperwall
SVS >> For Educators
SVS >> Hydrosphere >> Ice
NASA Science >> Earth

GCMD keywords can be found on the Internet with the following citation: Olsen, L.M., G. Major, K. Shein, J. Scialdone, S. Ritz, T. Stevens, M. Morahan, A. Aleman, R. Vogel, S. Leicester, H. Weir, M. Meaux, S. Grebas, C.Solomon, M. Holland, T. Northcutt, R. A. Restrepo, R. Bilodeau, 2013. NASA/Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Earth Science Keywords. Version 8.0.0.0.0