Atmospheric River Slams California
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- Visualizations by:
- Horace Mitchell
- View full credits
This visualization combines precipitation data from the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission's Integrated Multi-satellitE Retrievals (IMERG) and water vapor data from Goddard Earth Observing System Model (GEOS) . Together, they allow scientists to study atmospheric rivers and the heavy precipitation they bring to California.
This video is also available on our YouTube channel.
After more than four years of drought, Californians may wonder where the current rain is coming from. Using satellites, NASA scientists have a unique view of the sources of precipitation, and how it reaches the western United States.
Rain is often carried by narrow tendrils of moisture called atmospheric rivers that occur all over the world, shown here in white. The atmospheric rivers that affect the western United States are known as the Pineapple Express because they transport water vapor from as far south as Hawaii to California. When the moisture reaches land, it is forced up over the hills and mountains where it cools, producing significant rainfall. This type of precipitation provides about 40 percent of the state’s annual water supply.
Rain is often carried by narrow tendrils of moisture called atmospheric rivers that occur all over the world, shown here in white. The atmospheric rivers that affect the western United States are known as the Pineapple Express because they transport water vapor from as far south as Hawaii to California. When the moisture reaches land, it is forced up over the hills and mountains where it cools, producing significant rainfall. This type of precipitation provides about 40 percent of the state’s annual water supply.
Credits
Please give credit for this item to:
NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio
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Visualizer
- Horace Mitchell (NASA/GSFC) [Lead]
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Scientist
- George Huffman (NASA/GSFC)
Series
This visualization can be found in the following series:Datasets used in this visualization
IMERG
Data Compilation
NASA/GSFC
1/1/2017-1/14/2017
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.
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