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SeaWiFS Captures El Nino

By monitoring the color of reflected light via satellite, scientists can determine how successfully plant life is photosynthesizing. A measurement of photosynthesis is essentially a measurement of successful growth, and growth means successful use of ambient carbon.

Until now, scientists have only had a continuous record of photosynthesis on land. But following three years of continual data collected by the SeaWiFS instrument, NASA has gathered the first record of photosynthetic productivity in the oceans. By taking three years of continuous data as a whole, experts have been able to map trends and anomalies in the global circulation of carbon to a degree of detail than has never been done before. It is a baseline measurement to by which all future measurements will be compared.


In this flat projection you can see the El Nino and La Nina season with a pause of the last day of the
La Nina.    In this flat projection you can see the El Nino and La Nina season with a pause of the last day of the La Nina.
Duration: 18.0 seconds
Available formats:
  320x240 (30 fps) MPEG-1   2 MB
  160x80       PNG           26 KB
  80x40         PNG           7 KB
  320x266     JPEG         13 KB
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Looking at the height of El Nino Season.    Looking at the height of El Nino Season.

Available formats:
  2880 x 1944     TIFF 8 MB
  160 x 80           PNG 23 KB
  320 x 216         JPEG 24 KB
  80 x 40             PNG   6 KB

Animation Number:2086
Animators:Stuart A. Snodgrass (Lead)
 Marte Newcombe
Studio:SVS
Completed:2001-03-25
Scientist:Gene Feldman (NASA/GSFC)
Instrument:SeaStar/SeaWiFS
Data Collected:1997/09/20 - 2000/09/20
Series:SeaWiFS Biosphere
Video:SVS2001-0008 *
Keywords:
DLESE >> Biological oceanography
SVS >> Biosphere
SVS >> El Nino
DLESE >> Physical oceanography
More Information on this topic available at:
http://www.gsfc.nasa.gov/topstory/20010327colors_of_life.html
 
 
Please give credit for this visualization to
NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center, The SeaWiFS Project and GeoEye, Scientific Visualization Studio. NOTE: All SeaWiFS images and data presented on this web site are for research and educational use only. All commercial use of SeaWiFS data must be coordinated with GeoEye (http://www.geoeye.com).


*Please note: the SVS does not fulfill requests for copies of the tapes in our library. On some of our animation pages, there is a direct link to a video distribution service from which tapes, handled by the Public Affairs Office (PAO)/Goddard TV, including some of our animations may be ordered. General information on this service can be found here.


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