Earth's Water Cycle

  • Released Thursday, August 2, 2012
  • Updated Thursday, October 8, 2015 at 8:04AM
  • ID: 11054
Water is the fundamental ingredient for life on Earth. Looking at our Earth from space, with its vast and deep ocean, it appears as though there is an abundance of water for our use. However, only a small portion of Earth's water is accessible for our needs. How much fresh water exists and where it is stored affects us all. This animation uses Earth science data from a variety of sensors on NASA Earth observing satellites as well as cartoons to describe Earth's water cycle and the continuous movement of water on, above and below the surface of the Earth.

Sensors on a suite of NASA satellites observe and measure water on land, in the ocean and in the atmosphere. These measurements are important to understanding the availability and distribution of Earth's water — vital to life and vulnerable to the impacts of climate change on a growing world population.

NASA Earth Observing System Data and Information Systems (EOSDIS)
EOSDIS is a distributed system of twelve data centers and science investigator processing systems. EOSDIS processes, archives, and distributes data from Earth observing satellites, field campaigns, airborne sensors, and related Earth science programs. These data enable the study of Earth from space to advance scientific understanding.

For questions, please contact eosdis-outreach@lists.nasa.gov

Narrated.

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For More Information

See http://earthdata.nasa.gov

Credits

Sponsored by Earth Science Data and Information System Project/NASA GSFC

Joint project between NASA GSFC and NASA JPL


Design:
Carol Boquist, NASA GSFC
Jennifer Brennan, Adnet Systems Inc., NASA GSFC
Dr. Brian Krupp, Adnet Systems Inc., NASA GSFC
Dr. Eric M. De Jong, NASA JPL
Barbara McGuffie, NASA JPL

Science Advisors:
Dr. Scott Braun, NASA GSFC
Dr. Arthur Hou, NASA GSFC
Dr. Matthew Rodell, NASA GSFC
Jessica Hausman, NASA JPL
David Moroni, NASA JPL
Dr. Jorge Vazquez, NASA JPL
Dr. Jared Entin, NASA HQ
Dr. Eric Lindstrom, NASA HQ

Animation:
Robert Baldwin, Studio Orb

Narration:
Raymond A. Hearn http://raymondhearn.com

Producer/Editor:
Erica Drezek, Honeywell Technology Solutions Inc., NASA GSFC

Special Thanks:
Paul Andres,Jason Craig and Michael Stetson,
Solar System Visualization Project, NASA JPL
Heather K. Dennis, Studio Orb
Dr. Henry Liu, NASA GSFCDr. Matthew Smith, NASA Global Hydrology Resource Center
Dr. Wendy Tang, NASA JPL
M. Sara Tweedie, Tweedie & Assoc.

Data sets available through:
NASA Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS) Data Centers
http://earthdata.nasa.gov

Global Hydrology Resource Center Distributed Active Archive Center (GHRC DAAC)
GOES
GOES data distributed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

Goddard Earth Science Data and Information Services Center (GES DISC)
AIRS, TRMM, GLDAS
AIRS imagery created using the NASA GES DISC Giovanni Tool

Land Processes DAAC (LP DAAC)MODIS, ASTER

MODIS Level-1 Atmosphere Archive and Distribution System (MODAPS LAADS)
MODIS

National Snow and Ice Data Center DAAC (NSIDC DAAC)
MODIS

Ocean Biology Processing Group (OBPG)
MODIS, SeaWiFS

Physical Oceanography DAAC (PO.DAAC)
GRACE, OSTIA, QuikSCAT

Socioeconomic Data and Applications Center (SEDAC)
Population Density, Natural Hazard Drought Indices and Flood Risk data

Next Generation Blue Marble courtesy:
NASA Earth Observatory

Series

This visualization can be found in the following series:

Tapes

This visualization originally appeared on the following tapes:
  • None

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