GPM GMI First Light

Credits

• Animator

  • Alex Kekesi (Global Science and Technology, Inc.) [Lead]

• Writer

  • Ellen T. Gray (NASA/HQ)

• Video editor

  • Ryan Fitzgibbons (KBR Wyle Services, LLC)

• Scientists

  • Chris Kidd (University of Maryland)
  • Dalia B Kirschbaum (NASA/GSFC)
  • Gail Skofronick Jackson (NASA/GSFC)

• Producer

  • Ryan Fitzgibbons (KBR Wyle Services, LLC)

• Narration

  • Ryan Fitzgibbons (KBR Wyle Services, LLC)

• Narrator

  • Dan Gallagher (KBR Wyle Services, LLC)

• Project support

  • Aaron E. Lepsch (ADNET Systems, Inc.)

Related Pages

• Related

  • 

    ID: 11470 Produced Video

    Seeing Precipitation From Space

    April 1st, 2014
    (updated May 3rd, 2023)

    An extratropical cyclone spun across the North Pacific near Japan on March 10, 2014. The cyclone became the first storm imaged by NASA’s Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) Core Observatory, launched eleven days earlier. The two instruments aboard the satellite are tuned in to different types of precipitation—rain, snow, and any mixture of the two, letting scientists see exactly where each is falling inside a storm. This kind of detail is important for understanding how storms behave and how the water essential to life moves around the planet. Watch the video to learn more about the satellite and how it observes our watery world. ||

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  • 

    ID: 4153 Visualization

    GPM/GMI First Light

    March 25th, 2014
    (updated May 3rd, 2023)

    Eleven days after the Feb. 27 launch of the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) Core Observatory, the two instruments aboard took their first joint images of an interesting precipitation event. On March 10, the Core Observatory passed over an extra-tropical cyclone about 1055 miles (1700 kilometers) due east of Japan's Honshu Island. The storm formed from the collision of a cold front wrapping around a warm front, emerging over the ocean near Okinawa on March 8. It moved northeast over the ocean south of Japan, drawing cold air west-to-east over the land, a typical winter weather pattern that also brought heavy snow over Hokkaido, the northernmost of the four main islands. After the GPM images were taken, the storm continued to move eastward, slowly intensifying before weakening in the central North Pacific.This visualization shows data from the GPM Microwave Imager, which observes different types of precipitation with 13 channels. Scientists analyze that data and then use it to calculate the light to heavy rain rates and falling snow within the storm.For more information on this topic:     GPM web siteOther multimedia items related to this story:     GPM GMI First Light (#11508)     GPM DPR First Light (#11509) ||

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  • 

    ID: 11509 Produced Video

    GPM DPR First Light

    March 25th, 2014
    (updated May 3rd, 2023)

    Images and animation from the GPM DPR first light. ||

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  • 

    ID: 4135 Visualization

    Five-Year Global Temperature Anomalies from 1880 to 2013

    Jan. 21st, 2014
    (updated Nov. 14th, 2023)

    NASA scientists say 2013 tied with 2009 and 2006 for the seventh warmest year since 1880, continuing a long-term trend of rising global temperatures. With the exception of 1998, the 10 warmest years in the 134-year record all have occurred since 2000, with 2010 and 2005 ranking as the warmest years on record.NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) in New York, which analyzes global surface temperatures on an ongoing basis, released an updated report Tuesday on temperatures around the globe in 2013. The comparison shows how Earth continues to experience temperatures warmer than those measured several decades ago. The average temperature in 2013 was 58.3 degrees Fahrenheit (14.6 degrees Celsius), which is 1.1 °F (0.6 °C) warmer than the mid-20th century baseline. The average global temperature has risen about 1.4 °F (0.8 °C) since 1880, according to the new analysis. Exact rankings for individual years are sensitive to data inputs and analysis methods."Long-term trends in surface temperatures are unusual and 2013 adds to the evidence for ongoing climate change," GISS climatologist Gavin Schmidt said. "While one year or one season can be affected by random weather events, this analysis shows the necessity for continued, long-term monitoring."Scientists emphasize that weather patterns always will cause fluctuations in average temperatures from year to year, but the continued increases in greenhouse gas levels in Earth's atmosphere are driving a long-term rise in global temperatures. Each successive year will not necessarily be warmer than the year before, but with the current level of greenhouse gas emissions, scientists expect each successive decade to be warmer than the previous.Carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas that traps heat and plays a major role in controlling changes to Earth's climate. It occurs naturally and also is emitted by the burning of fossil fuels for energy. Driven by increasing man-made emissions, the level of carbon dioxide in Earth's atmosphere presently is higher than at any time in the last 800,000 years. The carbon dioxide level in the atmosphere was about 285 parts per million in 1880, the first year in the GISS temperature record. By 1960, the atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration, measured at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii, was about 315 parts per million. This measurement peaked last year at more than 400 parts per million.While the world experienced relatively warm temperatures in 2013, the continental United States experienced the 42nd warmest year on record, according to GISS analysis. For some other countries, such as Australia, 2013 was the hottest year on record.The temperature analysis produced at GISS is compiled from weather data from more than 1,000 meteorological stations around the world, satellite observations of sea-surface temperature, and Antarctic research station measurements, taking into account station history and urban heat island effects. Software is used to calculate the difference between surface temperature in a given month and the average temperature for the same place from 1951 to 1980. This three-decade period functions as a baseline for the analysis. It has been 38 years since the recording of a year of cooler than average temperatures.The GISS temperature record is one of several global temperature analyses, along with those produced by the Met Office Hadley Centre in the United Kingdom and NOAA's National Climatic Data Center in Asheville, N.C. These three primary records use slightly different methods, but overall, their trends show close agreement.Additional commentary on the 2013 temperature anomaly is provided by Dr. James Hansen of Columbia University at: http://www.columbia.edu/~jeh1/mailings/2014/20140121_Temperature2013.pdfThe GISTEMP analysis website is located at: http://data.giss.nasa.gov/gistemp/ ||

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