Modelling Weather: Wind, Clouds, and T2M.

  • Released Monday, March 26th, 2012
  • Updated Tuesday, November 14th, 2023 at 12:02AM
  • ID: 3935

This visualization shows a Goddard Earth Observing System Model, Version 5 (GEOS-5) run for most of the month of June, 2005. The simulation was seeded at the beginning of the run and then ran on its own to create a 2 year simulation. Only 25 days of the full run are depicted here.

The ocean color layer ranging from blue to orange depict air temperatures 2 meters (T2M) above sea level. Since Sea Surface Temperatures (SST) are typically measured at sea level and below, the T2M model output behaves somewhat differently. Nonetheless, it is a reasonable proxy to SST.

Landcover information is taken from the Next Generation Blue Marble dataset.

Sea Ice is depicted as solid white and clouds are shades of white.

The wind layer is depicted as flowing white arrows.

This project was developed in support of a hyperwall show titled "Pursuit of Light" which is scheduled to premiere on April 19, 2012 at the Smithsonian Uvar-Hazy Center during the space shuttle Discovery Transfer Ceremony on a Jumbotron. The hyperwall itself is a multi-screen display system that allows for the display of very high resolution images beyond current 1080p HDTV standards, allowing for much greater detail to be shown on much larger screens. Please click here for more information on NASA's travelling hyperwall.

Sample animation composite using most of the below layers, depicting 500 mB. winds, clouds, and air temperatures 2 meters above sea level.

2 meter temperature above sea level colorbar. Temperature units in Celsius.

2 meter temperature above sea level colorbar. Temperature units in Celsius.

Alternate sample composite animation showing 500 mB. winds with clouds over a more natural looking ocean.

Rim layer used for post-production compositing.

Rim layer used for post-production compositing.

Layer used to create the atmospheric haze effect.

Layer used to create the atmospheric haze effect.

Cloud layer.

Cloud layer.

Wind layer. (500 millibar winds)

Wind layer. (500 millibar winds)

Sea Ice layer. Since the model run is in June, the sea ice is mostly concentrated closer to the North Pole and is only really seen at the beginning of the animation where more of the North Pole is in view.

Sea Ice layer. Since the model run is in June, the sea ice is mostly concentrated closer to the North Pole and is only really seen at the beginning of the animation where more of the North Pole is in view.

Layer used to create a more realistic ocean surface.

Layer used to create a more realistic ocean surface.

Proxy Sea Surface Temperature (SST) layer. Colors ranging from blue to orange depict air temperatures 2 meters (T2M) above sea level. Since SSTs are typically measured at sea level and below, the T2M model output behaves somewhat differently. Nonetheless, it is a reasonable proxy for SST.

Proxy Sea Surface Temperature (SST) layer. Colors ranging from blue to orange depict air temperatures 2 meters (T2M) above sea level. Since SSTs are typically measured at sea level and below, the T2M model output behaves somewhat differently. Nonetheless, it is a reasonable proxy for SST.

Land and ocean bathymetry layer.

Land and ocean bathymetry layer.

Background starfield layer.

Background starfield layer.

Hyperwall frames for the sample animation composite depicting winds, clouds, and temperature 2 meters above sea level. The names of the screens that comprise the hyperwall follow the spreadsheet convention in which rows are assigned numbers, beginning with 1 at the top, and columns are assigned letters, beginning with A at the left. The display in the upper left is A1. The display in the bottom right is E3 (for a 5 x 3 display).

Hyperwall frames for the sample animation composite depicting winds, clouds, and temperature 2 meters above sea level. The names of the screens that comprise the hyperwall follow the spreadsheet convention in which rows are assigned numbers, beginning with 1 at the top, and columns are assigned letters, beginning with A at the left. The display in the upper left is A1. The display in the bottom right is E3 (for a 5 x 3 display).

Hyperwall frames for the alternate composite animation showing winds and clouds over a more natural looking ocean.

Hyperwall frames for the alternate composite animation showing winds and clouds over a more natural looking ocean.

Credits

Please give credit for this item to:
NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio

Series

This visualization can be found in the following series:

Papers used in this visualization

Putman, W. M., and M. Suarez (2011), Cloud-system resolving simulations with the NASA Goddard Earth Observing System global atmospheric model (GEOS-5), Geophys. Res. Lett., 38, L16809, doi:10.1029/2011GL048438.

Datasets used in this visualization

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