2015 Monthly Cloud Fraction
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- Visualizations by:
- Amy Moran
- View full credits
MODIS aboard Aqua with its wide coverage can tell us how cloudy different parts of the world are. This animation shows how the amount of cloud varies within a year throughout the globe.
Credits
Please give credit for this item to:
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center
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Animator
- Amy Moran (Global Science and Technology, Inc.) [Lead]
Missions
This visualization is related to the following missions:Datasets used in this visualization
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Aqua
ID: 5
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
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ID: 30384 Hyperwall Visual
Monthly Cloud Fraction (Terra/MODIS)
Read moreCloud fraction is the measurement scientists use to determine how much of the Earth is covered by clouds. The measurement is important because clouds play a large role in regulating the amount of energy that reaches the Earth from the sun as well as the amount of energy that the Earth reflects and emits back into space. These maps show monthly cloud fraction from January 2005 to the present, produced using data from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) instrument onboard NASA’s Terra satellite. Like a digital camera, MODIS collects information in gridded boxes or pixels. Each box covers one square kilometer. Cloud fraction is the portion of each pixel that is covered by clouds. Scientists make this measurement by counting the number of pixels in a 25-square-kilometer box (5 pixels tall by 5 pixels wide) that are cloudy and dividing that number by 25. Scientists use these measurements to better understand how much of the Earth is covered by clouds and how changes in Earth’s climate may alter the amount and types of clouds that form. ||
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ID: 30397 Hyperwall Visual
Monthly Cloud Fraction (Aqua/MODIS)
Read moreCloud fraction is the measurement scientists use to determine how much of the Earth is covered by clouds. The measurement is important because clouds play a large role in regulating the amount of energy that reaches the Earth from the sun as well as the amount of energy that the Earth reflects and emits back into space. These maps show monthly cloud fraction from July 2002 to the present, produced using data from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) instrument onboard NASA’s Terra satellite. Like a digital camera, MODIS collects information in gridded boxes or pixels. Each box covers one square kilometer. Cloud fraction is the portion of each pixel that is covered by clouds. Scientists make this measurement by counting the number of pixels in a 25-square-kilometer box (5 pixels tall by 5 pixels wide) that are cloudy and dividing that number by 25. Scientists use these measurements to better understand how much of the Earth is covered by clouds and how changes in Earth’s climate may alter the amount and types of clouds that form. ||
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