Earth  ID: 4406

Sea Surface Temperature Anomaly Plot from 1950 to 2015

Sea surface temperature anomalies (SSTA) from NOAA are used to determine when El Nino and La Nina conditions have occurred. This visualization shows a plot over time of SSTAs over a region of the Pacific Ocean called "Oceanic Nino Index Region 3.4". An El Nino happens when the SSTA is greater than 0.5 degrees C (shown in red); a La Nina happens when SSTA is less than -0.5 degrees C (shown in blue).

Over this period, several El Nino events occurred including: 1957-1958, 1972-1973, 1982-1983, and 1997-1998.

This visualization is based on the following NOAA data:
http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/analysis_monitoring/ensostuff/ensoyears.shtml

Visualization Credits

Greg Shirah (NASA/GSFC): Lead Visualizer
David Halpern (NASA/JPL CalTech): Scientist
Jessica Hausman (NASA/JPL CalTech): Scientist
Please give credit for this item to:
NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio

Short URL to share this page:
https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/4406

Data Used:
NOAA/AVHRR/Sea Surface Temperature Anomaly
1950-2015
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.

Keywords:
GCMD >> Earth Science >> Oceans >> Ocean Temperature >> Sea Surface Temperature
SVS >> Hyperwall
NASA Science >> Earth
SVS >> Presentation

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