Black Carbon: Asia's Plain Of Air Pollution

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Black carbon visualization without colorbar overlay Black carbon visualization with colorbar overlay Black carbon colorbar: Aerosol Optical Thickness ranging non-linearly from 0.002 (transparent) to 0.02 (purple) 0.2 (whte) Black crabon over the Tibetan Plateau on August 3, 2009 Black carbon over the Tibetan Plateau on September 26, 2009 Black carbon over the Tibetan Plateau on November 18, 2009 Black carbon on September 26, 2009 - global view Tiny air pollution particles commonly called soot, but also known as black carbon, are in the air and on the move throughout our planet. Black carbon enters the air when fossil fuels and biofuels, such as coal, wood, and diesel are burned. Since black carbon readily absorbs heat from sunlight, the particles can affect Earth's climate, especially on a regional scale. Though global distribution of soot remains difficult to measure, NASA researchers use satellite data and computer models to better understand how these short-lived particles influence Earth's climate, cryosphere, and clouds. This scientific data visualization uses data from the GEOS5 GOCART climate model to show black carbon's atmospheric concentration from August to November in 2009.A flat map version of this animation is available.This visualziation was created in support of a presentation at the Fall 2009 American Geophysical Union (AGU) conference in San Fransisco, CA. Related pages