Earth ID: 4154

Early Spring Frost-Free Regions: Comparing 1950s and 2010s

Visualizations by Greg Shirah Released on March 19, 2014

These visualizations show observational evidence that the growing season (climatalogical spring) is occurring earlier in the northen hemisphere. Scientists analyze recorded ground temperatures throughout each season and determine the earliest frost-free dates for each location every year. The earliest frost-free date in a growing season often does not correspond to the northern hemisphere's Spring equinox (about March 20), which is the astronomical first day of Spring.

The visualziations below show frost-free regions for March 20 and April 20. The regions colored in light green are the frost-free regions averaged from 1950 through 1952. The darker green regions that fade on are the additional areas covered by the frost-free regions averaged from 2009 through 2011. More area is frost-free in the each of the 2009-2011 averages compared to the 1950-1952 averages.

Visualization Credits

Greg Shirah (NASA/GSFC): Lead Animator
Lori Perkins (NASA/GSFC): Animator
Michael Randazzo (Advocates in Manpower Management, Inc.): Video Editor
Rich Melnick (HTSI): Video Editor
Michelle Handleman (USRA): Producer
Compton Tucker (NASA/GSFC): Scientist
Michelle Thaller (NASA/GSFC): Scientist
Laurence Schuler (ADNET Systems, Inc.): Project Support
Ian Jones (ADNET Systems, Inc.): Project Support
Patrick Lynch (Wyle Information Systems): Writer

Please give credit for this item to:
NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio

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Data Used:

HadGHCND Gridded Daily Ground Temperature

Observed Data - Hadley Centre - 1950-1952, 2009-2011

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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:
Early Spring

Keywords:
SVS >> Seasons
GCMD >> Earth Science >> Cryosphere >> Frozen Ground >> Seasonally Frozen Ground
GCMD >> Earth Science >> Land Surface >> Frozen Ground >> Seasonally Frozen Ground
SVS >> Hyperwall
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