Earth  ID: 552

The 1997-98 El Niño

Visualizations by Greg Shirah Released on January 21, 1999
El Niño, a periodic warming of the Eastern Pacific Ocean, is among Earth's most powerful phenomena. Satellite, ship, and buoy observations show the 1997-98 event as the strongest on record. Visualizing how sea-surface height, sea-surface temperature, and sea-surface winds differ from normal conditions reveals the event's magnitude.
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Four animations of data sets in the Pacific from January 1997 through July 1998, showing the difference of El Niño conditions from normal. The data sets are sea surface height anomaly, sea surface temperature anomaly, and sea surface wind anomaly.
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Video slate image reads, "The 1997-98 El Niño
El Niño, a periodic warming of the Eastern Pacific Ocean, is among Earth's most powerful phenomena. Satellite, ship, and buoy observations show the 1997-98 event as the strongest on record.".

Visualization Credits

Greg Shirah (NASA/GSFC): Lead Animator
William Wynn (NASA): Animator
Antonio Busalacchi (NASA/GSFC): Scientist
Eric Hackert (NASA/GSFC): 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/552

Data Used:
TOPEX/Poseidon/Sea Surface Height Anomaly
1997/01/01-1998/07/31
view all stories where this data set is used
NOAA-14/AVHRR/NCEP Sea Surface Temperature Anomaly
1997/01/01-1998/07/31
view all stories where this data set is used
DMSP/SSM/I/Sea Surface Wind Anomaly
1997/01/01-1998/07/31
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:
Images of Earth and Space

Keywords:
DLESE >> Physical oceanography
NASA Science >> Earth