Science On A Sphere: Aerosols in the Air

NASA merges observations, advanced models and computing power to monitor aerosols in the atmosphere. Aerosols are tiny invisible solid or liquid particles that float in the atmosphere and can travel long distances affecting air quality and visibility far from their source. These particles come from natural and human sources and include black carbon (orange/red), sea salt (cyan), dust (magenta) and sulfates (green). In South America you can see Black Carbon from Wildfires burning in the Amazon rainforest, and over the Atlantic you can see transport of dust from Northern Africa towards the Americas. This visualization shows aerosols from NASA's Goddard Earth Observing System (GEOS) model, which delivers realistic, high resolution weather and aerosol data that enable advances in AI research and customized environmental prediction.

Representative still image of the aerosols visualization.

Visualization showcasing aerosols by NASA's Goddard Earth Observing (GEOS) model. Labels have been skewed to ensure proper display when wrapped on a sphere.

Visualization showcasing aerosols by NASA's Goddard Earth Observing (GEOS) model. This version does not include labels.

This frame set provides labels with transparency that can be overlaid for compositing purposes.

Colorbar of the aerosols visualizaton. This still image is provided with transparency for compositing purposes.

Vertical colorbar of the aerosols visualization. This still image is provided with transparency for compositing purposes.