Perpetual Ocean
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- Visualizations by:
- Greg Shirah
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- Written by:
- Kayvon Sharghi
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- Scientific consulting by:
- Dimitris Menemenlis and
- Hong Zhang
- View full credits
Driven by wind and other forces, currents on the ocean surface cover our planet. Some span hundreds to thousands of miles across vast ocean basins in well-defined flows. Others are confined to particular regions and form slow-moving, circular pools. Seen from space, the circulating waters offer a study in both chaos and order. The visualization below, based on ocean temperature, salinity, sea surface height and sea ice data collected during field observations and by NASA satellites between July 2005 and December 2007, highlights many of the world's most important ocean surface currents. Watch powerful, fast-moving currents like the Gulf Stream in the Atlantic Ocean and the Kuroshio in the Pacific Ocean carry warm waters northeastward at speeds greater than 4 mph. View coastal currents such as the Agulhas in the Southern Hemisphere transporting equatorial waters from the Indian Ocean farther southwards. Explore the image collection to compare the direction and unique flow pattern of each of these major currents.
For More Information
See NASA.gov
Credits
Please give credit for this item to:
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center
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Animators
- Greg Shirah (NASA/GSFC) [Lead]
- Horace Mitchell (NASA/GSFC)
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Writer
- Kayvon Sharghi (USRA) [Lead]
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Video editor
- Victoria Weeks (None)
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Scientists
- Dimitris Menemenlis (NASA/JPL CalTech) [Lead]
- Hong Zhang (UCLA) [Lead]
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ID: 3827 Visualization
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Read moreThis visualization shows ocean surface currents around the world during the period from June 2005 through December 2007. The visualization does not include a narration or annotations; the goal was to use ocean flow data to create a simple, visceral experience.This visualization was produced using model output from the joint MIT/JPL project: Estimating the Circulation and Climate of the Ocean, Phase II or ECCO2. ECCO2 uses the MIT general circulation model (MITgcm) to synthesize satellite and in-situ data of the global ocean and sea-ice at resolutions that begin to resolve ocean eddies and other narrow current systems, which transport heat and carbon in the oceans. ECCO2 provides ocean flows at all depths, but only surface flows are used in this visualization. The dark patterns under the ocean represent the undersea bathymetry. Topographic land exaggeration is 20x and bathymetric exaggeration is 40x. This visualization was shown at the SIGGRAPH Asia 2012 Computer Animation Festival.Don't miss these related visualizations:Excerpt form Dynamic EarthGulf Stream Sea Surface Currents and TemperaturesOcean Current Flows around the Mediterranean Sea for UNESCOGlobal Sea Surface Currents and TemperatureFlat Map Ocean Current Flows with Sea Surface Temperatures (SST) ||
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