Earth  ID: 3827

Perpetual Ocean

Visualizations by Greg Shirah Released on August 15, 2011
This visualization shows ocean surface currents around the world during the period from June 2005 through December 2007. The visualization does not include a narration or annotations; the goal was to use ocean flow data to create a simple, visceral experience.

This visualization was produced using model output from the joint MIT/JPL project: Estimating the Circulation and Climate of the Ocean, Phase II or ECCO2. ECCO2 uses the MIT general circulation model (MITgcm) to synthesize satellite and in-situ data of the global ocean and sea-ice at resolutions that begin to resolve ocean eddies and other narrow current systems, which transport heat and carbon in the oceans. ECCO2 provides ocean flows at all depths, but only surface flows are used in this visualization. The dark patterns under the ocean represent the undersea bathymetry. Topographic land exaggeration is 20x and bathymetric exaggeration is 40x.

This visualization was shown at the SIGGRAPH Asia 2012 Computer Animation Festival.

Don't miss these related visualizations:

Excerpt form Dynamic Earth

Gulf Stream Sea Surface Currents and Temperatures

Ocean Current Flows around the Mediterranean Sea for UNESCO

Global Sea Surface Currents and Temperature

Flat Map Ocean Current Flows with Sea Surface Temperatures (SST)

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Perpetual Ocean is a visualization of some of the world's surface ocean currents.



This video is also available on our YouTube channel.

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Print resolution still of Gulf Stream
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Print resolution still of currents near Southern Africa
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Print resolution still of the Kuroshio Current
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Twenty minute version of ocean flows at 30 frames per second. This version does not include the 'speed ups', labels, narration, or soundtrack from Perpetual Ocean.
 

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Perpetual Ocean

For More Information

http://www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/features/perpetual-ocean.html

Visualization Credits

Greg Shirah (NASA/GSFC): Lead Animator
Horace Mitchell (NASA/GSFC): Animator
Victoria Weeks (HTSI): Video Editor
Hong Zhang (UCLA): Scientist
Dimitris Menemenlis (NASA/JPL CalTech): Scientist
Please give credit for this item to:
NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio

Short URL to share this page:
https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/3827

Mission:
Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM)

Data Used:
GTOPO30 Topography and Bathymetry
Data Compilation - USGS
view all stories where this data set is used
Hipparcos/Telescope/Tycho 2 Catalogue also referred to as: Tycho Catalogue
Database
view all stories where this data set is used
ECCO2 High Resolution Ocean and Sea Ice Model also referred to as: ECCO2
Model - NASA/JPL - 06/2006 - 12/2007
view all stories where this data set is used
Note: While we identify the data sets used in these visualizations, we do not store any further details nor the data sets themselves on our site.

This item is part of this series:
Flows

Keywords:
DLESE >> Physical oceanography
GCMD >> Earth Science >> Oceans
GCMD >> Earth Science >> Oceans >> Ocean Circulation
GCMD >> Earth Science >> Oceans >> Ocean Circulation >> Ocean Currents
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