El Niño Watch 2015
Credits
Please give credit for this item to:
NASA/JPL OSTM/Jason-2, based on products provided by Akiko Hayashi and Bill Patzert, NASA/JPL Ocean Surface Topography Team.
Visualizer
- Marit Jentoft-Nilsen (None)
Missions
This visualization is related to the following missions:Datasets used in this visualization
TOPEX Sea Surface Height Anomaly (Collected with the Poseidon sensor)
OSTM/Jason-2 SSHA (A.K.A. Sea Surface Height Anomaly) (Collected with the Poseidon-3 sensor)
Note: While we identify the data sets used in these visualizations, we do not store any further details nor the data sets themselves on our site.
Related pages
Sea Surface Temperature and Temperature Anomaly 2015-2016
Jan. 31, 2016, 7 p.m.
Read moreSea Surface Temperature compared to Sea Surface Temperature Anomaly El Niño is characterized by unusually warm ocean temperatures in the eastern equatorial Pacific. Sea surface temperature is the temperature of the top millimeter of the ocean s surface. A sea surface temperature anomaly (SSTA) represents how different the ocean temperature, at a particular location and time, is from the normal (or average) temperature for that place and time. These maps, showing sea surface temperature and sea surface temperature anomalies, reveal the progression of the strong 2015-16 El Nino event from January 1, 2015 to January 2, 2016. The sea surface temperature data are seven-day averages calculated using daily thermal data from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) instrument. Missing data have been filled with monthly-average data. The sea surface temperature anomaly data are seven-day averages calculated using the 5-kilometer Coral Reef Watch product produced by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The data are based on observations from geostationary and polar-orbiting satellites. A perspective view of SST and SSTA centered on the Pacific
NASA On Air: NASA Satellites Are Tracking Current El Niño Across The Pacific (9/11/2015)
Sept. 11, 2015, 10 a.m.
Read moreLEAD: NASA s satellites are tracking the developing El Niño across the Pacific Ocean. 1. Ocean conditions in 2015 bear some similarities to the powerful 1997 El Niño. This NASA visualization shows side-by-side comparisons of Pacific Ocean sea surface height anomalies measured by satellites in 1997 and 2015. 2. Red shows where the ocean is above the normal sea level. 3. Blue shades indicate areas of lower sea levels. 4. Sea surface height is an indicator of the temperature of the water below. Above normal levels indicate warmer temperatures, below normal colder temperatures. 5. El Niño events are characterized by a mass of warm water migrating from Southeast Asia toward South America.TAG: Weather and climate forecasters are tracking El Niño closely because it could help steer beneficial rains to parts of drought-stricken California and the American West.