Earth: A System of Systems (updated)

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    ID: 4397 Visualization

    Monsoons: Wet, Dry, Repeat...

    June 23rd, 2016
    (updated Aug. 25th, 2023)

    This visualization shows the Asian monsoon and how it develops using observational and modeled data. It also showns some of the impacts.This video is also available on our YouTube channel. || The monsoon is a seasonal rain and wind pattern that occurs over South Asia (among other places). Through NASA satellites and models we can see the monsoon patterns like never before. Monsoon rains provide important reservoirs of water that sustain human activities like agriculture and supports the natural environment through replenishment of aquifers. However, too much rainfall routinely causes disasters in the region, including flooding of the major rivers and landslides in areas of steep topography.This visualization uses a combination of NASA satellite data and models to show how and why the monsoon develops over this region. In the summer the land gets hotter, heating the atmosphere and pulling in cooler, moisture-laden air from the oceans. This causes pulses in heavy rainfall throughout the region. In the winter the land cools off and winds move towards the warmer ocean and suppressing rainfall on land. ||

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  • 
    ID: 4439 Visualization

    High Resolution Layers from "Monsoons: Wet, Dry, Repeat..."

    June 23rd, 2016
    (updated Aug. 25th, 2023)

    Composited layers - all layers on || The visualizations here are based on the visualization Monsoons: Wet, Dry, Repeat (#4397). Each data set is presented in three resolutions: 8192x4096, 4096x2048, and 2048x1024. Each the 8192x4096 and 4096x2048 layers have been rendered with alpha transparency channels to allow you to create your own combinations of layered data. NOTE: the preview movies are composited over a black background, but the individual 8192x4096 and 4096x2048 frames have transparency channels. The 2048x1024 frames do not have transparency channels.The layers have frame numbers from 01000 through 13000. Frame 01000 corresponds to 02 Jun 2014 at 00:00 GMT. Each successive frame is 15 minutes later. Frame 13000 corresponds to 05 Oct 2014 at 00:00 GMT. To determine the time for a specific layer's frame number, you can look at the date sequence's corresponding frame.Even though all layers are provided at 15 minute intervals, most data sets do not have such a high cadence. In these cases, the frames simply show the same data. See the annotation with each data set for the cadences. ||

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  • 
    ID: 14043 Produced Video

    Tour 2022: NASA's Upcoming Earth Missions

    Dec. 13th, 2021
    (updated May 3rd, 2023)

    NASA has a unique view of our planet from space. NASA’s fleet of Earth-observing satellites provide high quality data on different parts of Earth’s interconnected environment from air quality to sea ice. Take a tour of missions launching in 2022, including SWOT, TROPICS, EMIT, and JPSS-2. || Music: "Kitchen Preparations," "Kinky Boots," "Bossa Baby," "Pleasantville" and "Exotic Encounter" from Universal Production MusicComplete transcript available. || The Surface Water and Ocean Topography mission — SWOT — focuses on the planet’s most precious resource: Water. SWOT will help researchers compile the first global survey of Earth’s surface freshwater and study our changing ocean. ||

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  • 
    ID: 13909 Produced Video

    How NASA Satellites Help Model the Future of Climate

    Aug. 24th, 2021
    (updated May 3rd, 2023)

    Music: "Connections Established," "Data Visions," Universal Production MusicComplete transcript available. || Continuing key observations of the Earth is really important to see how our atmosphere, land and oceans are changing over time. A long term record, combined with cutting edge observations from the new NASA Earth System Observatory, will continue to push boundaries to better understand our ever changing Earth. ||

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  • 
    ID: 4920 Visualization

    Earth System Observatory

    Aug. 4th, 2021
    (updated Aug. 25th, 2023)

    An animated graphic showing the areas of focus for NASA's Earth System Observatory. || NASA's Earth System Observatory is a set of Earth-focused missions designed to provide key information to guide efforts related to climate change, disaster mitigation, fighting forest fires, and improving real-time agricultural processes. With the Earth System Observatory, each satellite will be uniquely designed to complement the others, working in tandem to create a 3D, holistic view of Earth, from bedrock to atmosphere.The observatory follows recommendations from the 2017 Earth Science Decadal Survey by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine, which lays out ambitious but critically necessary research and observation guidance.Areas of focus for the observatory include:Aerosols: Answering the critical question of how aerosols affect the global energy balance, a key source of uncertainty in predicting climate change.Cloud, Convection, and Precipitation: Tackling the largest sources of uncertainty in future projections of climate change, air quality forecasting, and prediction of severe weather.Mass Change: Providing drought assessment and forecasting, associated planning for water use for agriculture, as well as supporting natural hazard response.Surface Biology and Geology: Understanding climate changes that impact food and agriculture, habitation, and natural resources, by answering open questions about the fluxes of carbon, water, nutrients, and energy within and between ecosystems and the atmosphere, the ocean, and the Earth.Surface Deformation and Change: Quantifying models of sea-level and landscape change driven by climate change, hazard forecasts, and disaster impact assessments, including dynamics of earthquakes, volcanoes, landslides, glaciers, groundwater, and Earth’s interior. ||

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  • 
    ID: 13799 Produced Video

    NASA Finds 2020 Tied for Hottest Year on Record

    Jan. 14th, 2021
    (updated May 3rd, 2023)

    Globally, 2020 was the hottest year on record, effectively tying 2016, the previous record. Overall, Earth’s average temperature has risen more than 2 degrees Fahrenheit since the 1880s. Temperatures are increasing due to human activities, specifically emissions of greenhouse gases, like carbon dioxide and methane. || Music: Organic Machine by Bernhard Hering [GEMA] and Matthias Kruger [GEMA]Complete transcript available. || Universal Production Music: "A City Asleep Instrumental," "Inducing Waves Main Track," "Getting Bad Instrumental," "It's Decision Time Underscore," "In Doubt Instrumental." This video can be freely shared and downloaded. While the video in its entirety can be shared without permission, some individual imagery provided by pond5.com and Artbeats is obtained through permission and may not be excised or remixed in other products. Specific details on stock footage may be found here. For more information on NASA’s media guidelines, visit https://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/guidelines/index.html.Complete transcript available. ||

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• Alternate versions

  • 
    ID: 30701 Hyperwall Visual

    Earth: A System of Systems

    Feb. 8th, 2016
    (updated Aug. 25th, 2023)

    Slices of Earth observational and modeling data || This visualization reveals that the Earth system, like the human body, comprises diverse components that interact in complex ways. Heat absorbed by the ocean is transported by ocean currents—shown here as ECCO2 model output. This energy is constantly released into Earth’s atmosphere. Heat and moisture from the ocean and land influence Earth’s weather patterns—represented here as 500 mb wind speeds from GEOS-5. Moisture in the atmosphere—represented as precipitable water from the GEOS-5 model—forms clouds and precipitation—shown here using the GPM IMERG product. Precipitation significantly impacts water availability, which influences soil moisture and ocean salinity—shown here as data from SMAP. Lastly, data from multiple satellites show the density of plant growth on land and chlorophyll concentrations in the ocean. While scientists learn a great deal from studying each of these components individually, improved observational and computational capabilities increasingly allow them to study the interactions between these interrelated geophysical and biological parameters, leading to unprecedented insight into how the Earth system works—and how it might change in the future.List of visualizations used:Slice 1: Sea Surface Currents & Temperature (ECCO2 model)Slice 2: Winds (GEOS-5 model)Slice 3: Precipitable Water (GEOS-5 model)Slice 4: Clouds (GEOS-5 model)Slice 5: Precipitation (IMERG data)Slice 6: Soil Moisture (SMAP data)Slice 7: Biosphere (Multiple satellite datasets)Slice 8: Blue Marble (MODIS data) ||

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