{ "count": 91, "next": null, "previous": null, "results": [ { "id": 14261, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/14261/", "result_type": "Produced Video", "release_date": "2023-01-19T16:00:00-05:00", "title": "Leaders in Lidar", "description": "In this series, we dive into the legacy of Goddard's lead role in developing laser altimetry, which has revolutionized the way we map our planet, the Moon and other planets. Each chapter looks at the successes and failures of these lidar instruments, beginning with the Mars Observer Laser Altimeter in the late 1980s, through the current generation of laser altimeters on ICESat-2 and GEDI. Through dozens of interviews and archival footage, the history, challenges and legacy of lidar are uncovered. || ", "hits": 65 }, { "id": 13877, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/13877/", "result_type": "Produced Video", "release_date": "2021-07-07T12:00:00-04:00", "title": "New Lakes Discovered Under Antarctic Ice with NASA's ICESat-2", "description": "Hundreds of meltwater lakes hide deep beneath the expanse of Antarctica’s ice sheet. With a powerful laser altimeter system in space, NASA’s Ice Cloud and land Elevation Satellite-2 (ICESat-2) is helping scientists \"see\" under the ice.For more on the story: https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2021/nasa-space-lasers-map-meltwater-lakes-in-antarctica-with-striking-precisionComplete transcript available. || Icesat2_Lakes_Final.00300_print.jpg (1024x576) [130.6 KB] || Icesat2_Lakes_Final.00300_searchweb.png (320x180) [88.9 KB] || Icesat2_Lakes_Final.00300_web.png (320x180) [88.9 KB] || Icesat2_Lakes_Final.00300_thm.png (80x40) [5.6 KB] || Icesat2_Lakes_Final.mp4 (1920x1080) [142.1 MB] || Icesat2_Lakes_Final.webm (1920x1080) [14.9 MB] || Icesat2_Lakes_Final.en_US.srt [2.5 KB] || Icesat2_Lakes_Final.en_US.vtt [2.5 KB] || ", "hits": 195 }, { "id": 10811, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/10811/", "result_type": "Produced Video", "release_date": "2012-10-16T22:00:00-04:00", "title": "Media Produced for NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center by Montana State University SNHF Alumni", "description": "The Science and Natural History Filmmaking MFA program at Montana State University was the first program of its kind and is still the largest. There is a long-standing tradition of some graduates going on to work at the Goddard Space Flight Center as video producers. This short video samples some of the animations, visualizations and clips that they have produced. || ", "hits": 29 }, { "id": 10723, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/10723/", "result_type": "Produced Video", "release_date": "2011-02-14T00:00:00-05:00", "title": "Base Camp: West Antarctica", "description": "Stretching off the edge of the continent, 1,400 miles west of Antarctica's McMurdo Station, is Pine Island Glacier (PIG)—a massive river of ice 190 miles wide and 30 miles long that satellite measurements reveal is rapidly shrinking in size. Much of the glacier rests on a bed below sea level and global sea levels could increase by three feet or more if the glacier melted completely. The rate of ice loss on the glacier has increased rapidly in recent years, and scientists believe shifting warm water rising from the adjacent deep ocean and circulating in the surrounding Amundsen Sea are rapidly melting the underside of the glacier's floating edge—the ice shelf. To be certain requires measurements taken beneath this floating ice. That's where NASA polar scientist Robert Bindschadler comes in. In 2008, Bindschadler led an expedition to the remote ice shelf by plane, but the dangers of landing on the crevassed surface prevented his team from collecting data. This fall Bindschadler will return via helicopter. The plan on arrival: drill 1,640 feet below the surface and deploy a specially designed instrument that will start continuous measurements of the shifting ocean waters beneath the glacier. || ", "hits": 51 }, { "id": 20025, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/20025/", "result_type": "Animation", "release_date": "2010-05-14T12:00:00-04:00", "title": "Cloud Albedo", "description": "Clouds greatly effect the earth's solar energy balance. Albedo, or reflectance, deflects a portion of the influx of solar energy from reaching our planet's surface. At the same time, a blanket of clouds insulates, preventing total loss of allthermal surface heat radiance out into space. This very important balance of energy is essential to our planet's ability to support life. || ", "hits": 79 }, { "id": 10596, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/10596/", "result_type": "Produced Video", "release_date": "2010-04-02T00:00:00-04:00", "title": "IceBridge 2010, a liveshot with Lora Koenig", "description": "Live interview with NASA Goddard cryospheric scientist Lora Koenig regarding Operation IceBridge and the 2010 Arctic sea ice maximum. || Koenig_OIB_LS_2010_SVS.00327_print.jpg (1024x576) [67.0 KB] || Koenig_OIB_LS_2010_SVS_web.png (320x180) [207.5 KB] || Koenig_OIB_LS_2010_SVS_thm.png (80x40) [16.1 KB] || Koenig_OIB_LS_2010.webmhd.webm (960x540) [56.4 MB] || Koenig_OIB_LS_2010.m4v (960x720) [138.4 MB] || Koenig_OIB_LS_2010.mov (1280x720) [4.1 GB] || Koenig_OIB_LS_2010_youtube_HQ.mov (1280x720) [115.0 MB] || Koenig_OIB_LS_2010_youtube.mov (1280x720) [53.3 MB] || Koenig_OIB_LS_2010_Goddard_Shorts.m4v (640x360) [42.0 MB] || Koenig_OIB_LS_2010_nasa_podcast.m4v (320x180) [17.6 MB] || Koenig_OIB_LS_2010_NASA_PORTAL.wmv (346x260) [36.3 MB] || Koenig_OIB_LS_2010_SVS.mpg (512x288) [36.0 MB] || ", "hits": 30 }, { "id": 10574, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/10574/", "result_type": "Produced Video", "release_date": "2010-02-22T00:00:00-05:00", "title": "Piecing Together the Temperature Puzzle", "description": "The decade from 2000 to 2009 was the warmest in the modern record. \"Piecing Together the Temperature Puzzle\" illustrates how NASA satellites enable us to study possible causes of climate change. The video explains what role fluctuations in the solar cycle, changes in snow and cloud cover, and rising levels of heat-trapping gases may play in contributing to climate change. For complete transcript, click here. || Temperature_Puzzle_fullres.01252_print.jpg (1024x576) [113.2 KB] || Temperature_Puzzle_fullres_web.png (320x180) [207.8 KB] || Temperature_Puzzle_fullres_thm.png (80x40) [16.9 KB] || Temperature_Puzzle_AppleTV.webmhd.webm (960x540) [83.9 MB] || Temperature_Puzzle_fullres.mov (1280x720) [166.2 MB] || Temperature_Puzzle_AppleTV.m4v (960x720) [211.4 MB] || Temperature_Puzzle__Youtube.mov (1280x720) [87.7 MB] || Temperature_Puzzle_iPod_small.m4v (640x360) [67.9 MB] || Temperature_Puzzle_iPod_large.m4v (320x180) [27.9 MB] || Temperature_Puzzle_svs.mpg (512x288) [136.6 MB] || Temperature_Puzzle_portal.wmv (346x260) [38.8 MB] || ", "hits": 121 }, { "id": 10557, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/10557/", "result_type": "Produced Video", "release_date": "2010-01-21T12:00:00-05:00", "title": "2009 Global Temperature Package: Year Tied as Second Hottest", "description": "Reporters package style video about the new 2009 global temperature data. Scientists at the Goddard Institute for Space Science found that 2009 was tied as the second hottest year ever recorded.For complete transcript, click here. || G2010-004_Global_Temp_2009-H.264_for_iPod_video_and_iPhone_640x480.00302_print.jpg (1024x576) [104.3 KB] || G2010-004_Global_Temp_2009-H.264_for_iPod_video_and_iPhone_640x480_web.png (320x180) [104.3 KB] || G2010-004_Global_Temp_2009-H.264_for_iPod_video_and_iPhone_640x480_thm.png (80x40) [12.0 KB] || G2010-004_Global_Temp_2009-H.264_for_Apple_TV.webmhd.webm (960x540) [37.9 MB] || G2010-004_Global_Temp_2009_1280x720_ProRes.mov (1280x720) [2.6 GB] || G2010-004_Global_Temp_2009-H.264_1280x720_@30fps.mov (1280x720) [85.5 MB] || G2010-004_Global_Temp_2009-720_H.264_QT_for_16x9_Youtube.mov (1280x720) [37.9 MB] || G2010-004_Global_Temp_2009-H.264_for_Apple_TV.m4v (960x720) [92.0 MB] || G2010-004_Global_Temp_2009-H.264_for_iPod_video_and_iPhone_640x480.m4v (640x360) [27.3 MB] || G2010-004_Global_Temp_2009-MPEG1_512x288.mpg (512x288) [23.2 MB] || G2010-004_Global_Temp_2009-H.264_for_iPod_video_and_iPhone_320x240_QVGA.m4v (320x180) [10.8 MB] || G2010-004_Global_Temp_2009_WMVHQ_346x260_16_9.wmv (346x260) [25.2 MB] || ", "hits": 42 }, { "id": 10524, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/10524/", "result_type": "Produced Video", "release_date": "2009-11-04T00:00:00-05:00", "title": "Glory's Suncatcher", "description": "The Sun's energy is one of the biggest forcings on Earth's climate, and for years satellites have measured total solar irradiance. Glory will continue collection of this critical climate data, which will contribute to the long-term climate record. The cutting edge TIM instrument will continue the work of NASA's SORCE mission. For complete transcript, click here. || Glorys_Suncatcher_512x288.00627_print.jpg (1024x576) [45.3 KB] || Glorys_Suncatcher_512x288_web.png (320x180) [150.8 KB] || Glorys_Suncatcher_512x288_thm.png (80x40) [15.2 KB] || Glorys_Suncatcher_960x540_AppleTV.webmhd.webm (960x540) [40.2 MB] || Glorys_Suncatcher_1280x720_ProRes.mov (1280x720) [3.2 GB] || Glorys_Suncatcher_1280x720_H264.mov (1280x720) [97.7 MB] || Glorys_Suncatcher_960x540_AppleTV.m4v (960x540) [107.5 MB] || Glorys_Suncatcher_640x480_ipod.m4v (640x360) [35.1 MB] || Glorys_Suncatcher_512x288.mpg (512x288) [36.1 MB] || Glorys_Suncatcher_320x240.mp4 (320x180) [14.3 MB] || Glorys_Suncatcher.wmv (320x180) [17.3 MB] || ", "hits": 21 }, { "id": 10502, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/10502/", "result_type": "Produced Video", "release_date": "2009-10-12T00:00:00-04:00", "title": "Climate Change and the Global Ocean", "description": "We know climate change can affect us, but does climate change alter something as vast, deep and mysterious as our oceans? For years, scientists have studied the world's oceans by sending out ships and divers, deploying data-gathering buoys, and by taking aerial measurements from planes. But one of the better ways to understand oceans is to gain an even broader perspective - the view from space. NASA's Earth observing satellites do more than just take pictures of our planet. High-tech sensors gather data, including ocean surface temperature, surface winds, sea level, circulation, and even marine life. Information the satellites obtain help us understand the complex interactions driving the world's oceans today - and gain valuable insight into how the impacts of climate change on oceans might affect us on dry land.For complete transcript, click here. || Global_Ocean_ipod_320x240.01252_print.jpg (1024x576) [77.3 KB] || Global_Ocean_ipod_320x240_web.png (320x180) [84.7 KB] || Global_Ocean_ipod_320x240_thm.png (80x40) [16.1 KB] || Global_Ocean_appletv.webmhd.webm (960x540) [78.2 MB] || Global_Ocean_broll_prores.mov (1280x720) [5.3 GB] || Global_Ocean_1280x720.mp4 (1280x720) [159.8 MB] || Global_Ocean_appletv.m4v (960x540) [187.1 MB] || Global_Ocean_H264_1280x720_30fps.mov (1280x720) [167.6 MB] || Global_Ocean_youtube_1280x720.mov (1280x720) [79.2 MB] || Global_Ocean_ipod_640x480.m4v (640x360) [59.9 MB] || Global_Ocean_ipod_320x240.m4v (320x180) [25.9 MB] || Global_Ocean.wmv (346x260) [39.1 MB] || ", "hits": 32 }, { "id": 10503, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/10503/", "result_type": "Produced Video", "release_date": "2009-10-12T00:00:00-04:00", "title": "Melting Ice, Rising Seas", "description": "Sea level rise is an indicator that our planet is warming. Much of the world's population lives on or near the coast, and rising seas are something worth watching. Sea level can rise for two reasons, both linked to a warming planet. When ice on land, such as mountain glaciers or the ice sheets of Greenland or Antarctica, melt, that water contributes to sea level rise. And when our oceans get warmer - another indicator of climate change - the water expands, also making sea level higher. Using satellites, lasers, and radar in space, and dedicated researchers on the ground, NASA is studying the Earth's ice and water to better understand how sea level rise might affect us all.For complete transcript, click here. || Melting_Seas_ipod_640x480.03027_print.jpg (1024x576) [80.7 KB] || Melting_Seas_ipod_640x480_web.png (320x180) [156.6 KB] || Melting_Seas_ipod_640x480_thm.png (80x40) [16.6 KB] || Melting_Seas_appletv_1280x720.webmhd.webm (960x540) [67.9 MB] || Melting_Seas_H264_1280x720_30fps.mov (1280x720) [128.9 MB] || Melting_Seas_1280x720.mp4 (1280x720) [125.1 MB] || Melting_Seas_broll_prores.mov (1280x720) [4.4 GB] || Melting_Seas_youtube_1280x720.mov (1280x720) [69.1 MB] || Melting_Seas_appletv_1280x720.m4v (960x540) [160.0 MB] || Melting_Seas_ipod_640x480.m4v (640x360) [49.7 MB] || Melting_Seas_ipod_320x240.m4v (320x180) [21.1 MB] || Rising_Seas.wmv (346x260) [38.5 MB] || ", "hits": 37 }, { "id": 10504, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/10504/", "result_type": "Produced Video", "release_date": "2009-10-12T00:00:00-04:00", "title": "Salt of the Earth", "description": "Salinity plays a major role in how ocean waters circulate around the globe. Salinity changes can create ocean circulation changes that, in turn, may impact regional and global climates. The extent to which salinity impacts our global ocean circulation is still relatively unknown, but NASA's new Aquarius mission will help advance that understanding by painting a global picture of our planet's salty waters.For complete transcript, click here. || Salt_of_the_Earth_640x480.00519_print.jpg (1024x576) [66.1 KB] || Salt_of_the_Earth_640x480_web.png (320x180) [106.1 KB] || Salt_of_the_Earth_640x480_thm.png (80x40) [12.6 KB] || Salt_of_the_Earth_appletv_1280x720.webmhd.webm (960x540) [65.9 MB] || Salt_of_the_Earth_H264_1280x720_30fps.mov (1280x720) [150.0 MB] || Salt_of_the_Earth_appletv_1280x720.m4v (960x540) [166.5 MB] || Salt_of_the_Earth_1280x720.mp4 (1280x720) [99.9 MB] || Salt_of_the_Earth_broll_prores.mov (1280x720) [4.7 GB] || Salt_of_the_Earth_Youtube_1280x720.mov (1280x720) [72.2 MB] || Salt_of_the_Earth_640x480.m4v (640x360) [55.1 MB] || GSFC_20091012_Aquarius_m10504_Salt.en_US.srt [6.0 KB] || GSFC_20091012_Aquarius_m10504_Salt.en_US.vtt [6.1 KB] || Salt_of_the_Earth_ipod_320x240.m4v (320x180) [23.1 MB] || Salt_of_the_Earth.wmv (346x260) [35.0 MB] || ", "hits": 325 }, { "id": 10412, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/10412/", "result_type": "Produced Video", "release_date": "2009-04-13T00:00:00-04:00", "title": "Return to P.I.G.", "description": "Return to PIG provides an update to PIG Ice Shelf: First Contact. Though NASA researcher Bob Bindschadler had hoped to return to Pine Island Glacier Ice Shelf and continue his research during the 2009 season, this video explians how plans hit a snag. Sometimes science takes time, especially when it comes to dealing with the forbidding conditions of Antarctica. || ", "hits": 16 }, { "id": 10400, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/10400/", "result_type": "Produced Video", "release_date": "2009-03-04T00:00:00-05:00", "title": "50 Years of Goddard", "description": "Pioneer rocket scientist Robert H. Goddard once said, 'It is difficult to say what is impossible, for the dream of yesterday is the hope of today and the reality of tomorrow.' Fifty years after its inception, NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center continues to live by these words, advancing science and engineering to new limits once thought impossible as it explores of the Earth, the sun, the solar system, and the universe. || ", "hits": 26 }, { "id": 10358, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/10358/", "result_type": "Produced Video", "release_date": "2009-01-15T00:00:00-05:00", "title": "Geochemical Creation of Methane", "description": "Conceptual animation depicting how geochemical processes during the course of Mars' history may have produced the methane plumes now seen in Mars' atmosphere. Here, through a process called serpentinization, methane is generated as part of a reaction involving the conversion of liquid water (seen seeping into the planet's crust), iron oxide, and carbon dioxide energized by the planet's internal heat into serpentine minerals. || methane_geo_mpgLG00377_print.jpg (1024x576) [85.2 KB] || methane_geo_mpgLG_web.png (320x180) [184.0 KB] || methane_geo_mpgLG_thm.png (80x40) [16.0 KB] || methane_geo_h264fullres.webmhd.webm (960x540) [3.0 MB] || methane_geo_h264fullres.mov (1280x720) [12.3 MB] || methane_geo_prores.mov (1280x720) [535.3 MB] || methane_geo_YouTube.mov (1280x720) [5.8 MB] || methane_geo_ipodLG.m4v (640x360) [3.5 MB] || methane_geo_mpgLG.mpg (640x360) [4.7 MB] || methane_geo_ipodSM.m4v (320x180) [1.5 MB] || methane_geo_mp4SM.mp4 (320x240) [665.5 KB] || methane_geo_mpgSM.mpg (512x288) [3.1 MB] || ", "hits": 63 }, { "id": 10359, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/10359/", "result_type": "Produced Video", "release_date": "2009-01-15T00:00:00-05:00", "title": "Biological Creation of Methane", "description": "Conceptual animation depicting how biological organisms (shown as oval-shaped translucent structures) living beneath the surface of Mars may have produced methane (shown as blue spheres). || methane_bio_mpgLG00327_print.jpg (1024x576) [88.5 KB] || methane_bio_mpgLG_web.png (320x180) [202.1 KB] || methane_bio_mpgLG_thm.png (80x40) [16.4 KB] || methane_bio_h264fullres.webmhd.webm (960x540) [4.5 MB] || methane_bio_h264fullres.mov (1280x720) [12.3 MB] || methane_bio_prores.mov (1280x720) [505.6 MB] || methane_bio_ipodLG.m4v (640x360) [3.7 MB] || methane_bio_mpgLG.mpg (640x360) [4.6 MB] || methane_bio_ipodSM.m4v (320x180) [1.4 MB] || methane_bio_mp4SM.mp4 (320x240) [1.1 MB] || methane_bio_mpgSM.mpg (512x288) [3.1 MB] || ", "hits": 37 }, { "id": 10331, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/10331/", "result_type": "Produced Video", "release_date": "2008-10-15T00:00:00-04:00", "title": "In The Zone", "description": "Earth's oceans are wide reaching and teeming with life. One microscopic aquatic organism plays a major role in making life on Earth possible: phytoplankton. Under certain conditions, excessive phytoplankton growth can result in an area known as a dead zone. Dead zones form when big blooms of phytoplankton at the surface trigger large quantities of organic matter, which then sink to the bottom. Bacteria break down the organic material, releasing carbon dioxide but absorbing oxygen as they work. Most marine organisms need oxygen for survival and dead zones prove fatal for many aquatic species. This short web video features dynamic animations, science data visualizations, and interview excerpts with a NASA oceanographer to explore this fascinating marine phenomenon. || ", "hits": 23 }, { "id": 10353, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/10353/", "result_type": "Produced Video", "release_date": "2008-09-25T00:00:00-04:00", "title": "Sea Ice 2008", "description": "Arctic sea ice declined this summer to its second smallest extent in the satellite era, suggesting that the record set in 2007 may not have been an anomaly. If recent trends in the melt rate continue, we could see a virtually ice-free Arctic each summer much sooner than previously thought.For complete transcript, click here. || SeaIce2008_320iPod.03621_print.jpg (1024x576) [95.6 KB] || SeaIce2008_320iPod_web.png (320x180) [129.4 KB] || SeaIce2008_320iPod_thm.png (80x40) [17.3 KB] || SeaIce2008_AppleTV.webmhd.webm (960x540) [46.7 MB] || SeaIce2008_AppleTV.m4v (960x540) [115.0 MB] || SeaIce2008_fullH264.mov (1280x720) [112.5 MB] || SeaIce2008_640iPod.m4v (640x360) [37.0 MB] || Sea_Ice_2008_640x360_Youtube.mov (640x480) [40.7 MB] || GSFC_20080925_SeaIce_m10353_2008.en_US.srt [6.0 KB] || GSFC_20080925_SeaIce_m10353_2008.en_US.vtt [5.7 KB] || SeaIce2008_320iPod.m4v (320x180) [16.6 MB] || SeaIce2008_podcast.mp4 (320x236) [14.7 MB] || SeaIce2008_512x288.mpg (512x288) [50.7 MB] || ", "hits": 76 }, { "id": 10333, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/10333/", "result_type": "Produced Video", "release_date": "2008-08-13T00:00:00-04:00", "title": "The Cloud Makers", "description": "This segment provides an introduction to aerosols- their varied sources, brief lifetimes, and erratic behavior. Glory's APS will help researchers determine the global distribution of aerosol particles. This unique instrument will unravel the microphysical properties of aerosols, and will shed light on the chemical composition of natural and anthropogenic aerosols and clouds. For complete transcript, click here. || The_Cloud_Makers_512x28800502_print.jpg (1024x576) [80.6 KB] || The_Cloud_Makers_512x288_web.png (320x180) [235.4 KB] || The_Cloud_Makers_512x288_thm.png (80x40) [16.9 KB] || The_Cloud_Makers_960x540_AppleTV.webmhd.webm (960x540) [45.0 MB] || The_Cloud_Makers_1280x720_ProRes.mov (1280x720) [3.0 GB] || The_Cloud_Makers_1280x720_H264.mov (1280x720) [90.7 MB] || The_Cloud_Makers_960x540_AppleTV.m4v (960x540) [109.4 MB] || The_Cloud_Makers_640x480.m4v (640x360) [35.4 MB] || The_Cloud_Makers_512x288.mpg (512x288) [35.7 MB] || The_Cloud_Makers_320x240.mp4 (320x180) [14.7 MB] || The_Cloud_Makers.wmv (320x180) [21.0 MB] || ", "hits": 33 }, { "id": 10198, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/10198/", "result_type": "Produced Video", "release_date": "2008-05-07T00:00:00-04:00", "title": "Striking a Solar Balance", "description": "This short film explores the vital connection between the Earth and the Sun. NASA's Glory mission and the Total Irradiance Monitor will continue nearly three decades of solar irradiance measurments. This crucial data will contribute to the long-term climate record.For complete transcript, click here. || Striking_a_Solar_Balance_640x48001227_print.jpg (1024x768) [110.2 KB] || Striking_a_Solar_Balance_640x480_web.png (320x240) [213.2 KB] || Striking_a_Solar_Balance_640x480_thm.png (80x40) [13.1 KB] || Striking_a_Solar_Balance_640x480_searchweb.png (320x180) [84.5 KB] || Striking_a_Solar_Balance_720x486_ProRes.webmhd.webm (960x540) [44.9 MB] || Striking_a_Solar_Balance_640x480.mpg (640x480) [118.9 MB] || Striking_a_Solar_Balance_720x486_ProRes.mov (720x486) [972.5 MB] || Striking_a_Solar_Balance_640x480_H264.mov (720x486) [171.0 MB] || Striking_a_Solar_Balance_640x480.m4v (640x480) [39.9 MB] || Striking_a_Solar_Balance_320x240.mp4 (320x240) [17.5 MB] || Striking_a_Solar_Balance.wmv (346x260) [30.4 MB] || ", "hits": 386 }, { "id": 20116, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/20116/", "result_type": "Animation", "release_date": "2007-09-17T00:00:00-04:00", "title": "Global Ice Albedo ALTERNATE", "description": "This is a conceptual animation showing how polar ice reflects light from the sun. As this ice begins to melt, less sunlight gets reflected into space. It is instead absorbed into the oceans and land, raising the overall temperature, and fueling further melting. || icealbedoGalt_512x28800077_print.jpg (1024x576) [67.8 KB] || icealbedoGalt_512x288_web.png (320x180) [175.8 KB] || icealbedoGalt_512x288_thm.png (80x40) [14.0 KB] || 1280x720_16x9_60p (1280x720) [128.0 KB] || icealbedoGalt_720p.m2v (1280x720) [36.5 MB] || icealbedoGalt_720p.webmhd.webm (960x540) [4.7 MB] || a010160_icealbedoGalt_720p.mp4 (640x360) [3.2 MB] || icealbedoGalt_512x288.m1v (512x288) [6.3 MB] || ", "hits": 209 }, { "id": 20113, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/20113/", "result_type": "Animation", "release_date": "2007-09-07T00:00:00-04:00", "title": "Gamma Ray Creation", "description": "Gamma rays are the highest-energy forms of light in the electromagnetic spectrum and they can have over a billion times the energy of the type of light visible to the human eye. Gamma rays can be created in several different ways: a high-energy particle can collide with another particle, a particle can collide and annihilate with its anti-particle, an element can undergo radioactive decay, or a charged particle can be accelerated. In this animation, we see a high-energy photon collide with a free electron, which causes the creation of a gamma-ray. || ", "hits": 148 }, { "id": 20114, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/20114/", "result_type": "Animation", "release_date": "2007-09-07T00:00:00-04:00", "title": "Greenhouse Gases Effect on Global Warming", "description": "The 'greenhouse effect' is the warming of climate that results when the atmosphere traps heat radiating from Earth toward space. Certain gases in the atmosphere resemble glass in a greenhouse, allowing sunlight to pass into the 'greenhouse,' but blocking Earth's heat from escaping into space. The gases that contribute to the greenhouse effect include water vapor, carbon dioxide (CO2), methane, nitrous oxides, and chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs).On Earth, human activities are changing the natural greenhouse. Over the last century the burning of fossil fuels like coal and oil has increased the concentration of atmospheric CO2. This happens because the coal or oil burning process combines carbon (C) with oxygen (O2) in the air to make CO2. To a lesser extent, the clearing of land for agriculture, industry, and other human activities have increased the concentrations of other greenhouse gases like methane (CH4), and further increased (CO2).The consequences of changing the natural atmospheric greenhouse are difficult to predict, but certain effects seem likely: - On average, Earth will become warmer. Some regions may welcome warmer temperatures, but others may not. - Warmer conditions will probably lead to more evaporation and precipitation overall, but individual regions will vary, some becoming wetter and others dryer. - A stronger greenhouse effect will probably warm the oceans and partially melt glaciers and other ice, increasing sea level. Ocean water also will expand if it warms, contributing to further sea level rise. - Meanwhile, some crops and other plants may respond favorably to increased atmospheric CO2, growing more vigorously and using water more efficiently. At the same time, higher temperatures and shifting climate patterns may change the areas where crops grow best and affect the makeup of natural plant communities. || ", "hits": 1899 }, { "id": 20112, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/20112/", "result_type": "Animation", "release_date": "2007-09-03T00:00:00-04:00", "title": "AIM's Cosmic Dust Experiment and Cloud Formation", "description": "Like clouds in other parts of the atmosphere, one element required for polar mesospheric clouds to form is tiny dust particles on which water vapor can accumulate and grow into ice crystals. Nearer to Earth's surface, clouds form from 'cloud condensation nuclei' that can be sea salt spray, desert dust, or other materials lofted from the surface. In the mesosphere it is thought that cosmic dust particles falling into the Earth's atmosphere might serve this same purpose, and the Cosmic Dust Experiment instrument on the Aeronomy of Ice Mission will be able to identify how important cosmic dust particles are in the lifecycle of these clouds. || ", "hits": 35 }, { "id": 20110, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/20110/", "result_type": "Animation", "release_date": "2007-08-29T00:00:00-04:00", "title": "Greenland Ice Mass Balance", "description": "This cut away of the Greenland ice sheet shows the high altitude accumulation region and the low altitude ablation (melt) zones. In a warming climate, both melting around the margins and precipitation in the interior increase, causing the ice sheet to grow in the middle and shrink at the edges. || ", "hits": 70 }, { "id": 20111, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/20111/", "result_type": "Animation", "release_date": "2007-08-29T00:00:00-04:00", "title": "Accelerating Ice Sheet", "description": "During the summer melt season, melt water accumulates in undulations on the surface of the Greenland ice sheet. Eventually, these melt lakes drain through crevasses or moulins (tunnels under the ice sheet surface), delivering water to the bottom of the ice sheet. This melt water lubricates the interface between the ice and the bedrock, causing the ice to flow faster toward the sea during summer. As summer melt increases and more melt water is available, the greater its effect on summer ice sheet flow rates. || ", "hits": 20 }, { "id": 20105, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/20105/", "result_type": "Animation", "release_date": "2007-06-17T00:00:00-04:00", "title": "AIM SOFIE and Cloud Composition", "description": "The Solar Occultation For Ice Experiment (SOFIE) instrument uses solar occultation to measure cloud particles, temperature and atmospheric gases involved in forming the noctilucent clouds studied by the Aeronomy of Ice in the Mesosphere (AIM) spacecraft. The instrument will reveal the recipe of chemicals that prompt formation of polar mesospheric clouds. It will provide the most accurate and comprehensive look to date of ice particles and chemicals within the clouds as well as of the environment in which these clouds form. || ", "hits": 30 }, { "id": 20100, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/20100/", "result_type": "Animation", "release_date": "2007-02-27T00:00:00-05:00", "title": "Antarctic Sub-glacial Lakes", "description": "The following animation helps to explain the dynamics of subglacial water exchange and what it looks like from space. Starting from an artist's concept of the Antarctic surface we move down to a cross section of the ice sheet with lakes hidden deep beneath. As pressure is exerted on one lake, the water in it is forced to an adjacent lake. This water movement results in elevation changes at the surface over both lakes, detectable by NASA satellites. The camera then moves to a 'top-down' view of a system of these hidden lakes and streams before dissolving into observed satellite data. || ", "hits": 91 }, { "id": 20092, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/20092/", "result_type": "Animation", "release_date": "2006-10-05T00:00:00-04:00", "title": "Earth's Energy Budget Breakout", "description": "Reigning on Earth's Climate - Only about 70% of the solar energy that reaches Earth is absorbed, while the other 30% is reflected back into space by atmosphere and aerosols, ocean/land and clouds. A closer view reveals a delicate balance between absorption and reflection as well as a release of energy by rocks, air and sea warming and emitting increasing amounts of thermal radiation (heat) in the form of long-wave infrared light. This radiation allows Earth to lose heat at the same rate it gains from the Sun. Evidence is in the land/ocean interaction, the absorption of energy by clouds, water vapor and the greenhouse gas ozone, as well as the 20-24% absorbed and emitted back by clouds. || ", "hits": 75 }, { "id": 20093, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/20093/", "result_type": "Animation", "release_date": "2006-10-05T00:00:00-04:00", "title": "Earth's Energy Budget Global View", "description": "Reigning on Earth's Climate - Only about 70% of the solar energy that reaches Earth is absorbed, while the other 30% is reflected back into space by atmosphere and aerosols, ocean/land and clouds. A closer view reveals a delicate balance between absorption and reflection as well as a release of energy by rocks, air and sea warming and emitting increasing amounts of thermal radiation (heat) in the form of long-wave infrared light. This radiation allows Earth to lose heat at the same rate it gains from the Sun. Evidence is in the land/ocean interaction, the absorption of energy by clouds, water vapor and the greenhouse gas ozone, as well as the 20-24% absorbed and emitted back by clouds. || ", "hits": 41 }, { "id": 20094, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/20094/", "result_type": "Animation", "release_date": "2006-10-05T00:00:00-04:00", "title": "Earth's Energy Budget: Land", "description": "Reigning on Earth's Climate - Only about 70% of the solar energy that reaches Earth is absorbed, while the other 30% is reflected back into space by atmosphere and aerosols, ocean/land and clouds. A closer view reveals a delicate balance between absorption and reflection as well as a release of energy by rocks, air and sea warming and emitting increasing amounts of thermal radiation (heat) in the form of long-wave infrared light. This radiation allows Earth to lose heat at the same rate it gains from the Sun. Evidence is in the land/ocean interaction, the absorption of energy by clouds, water vapor and the greenhouse gas ozone, as well as the 20-24% absorbed and emitted back by clouds. || ", "hits": 48 }, { "id": 20095, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/20095/", "result_type": "Animation", "release_date": "2006-10-05T00:00:00-04:00", "title": "Earth's Energy Budget: Water Vapor", "description": "Reigning on Earth's Climate - Only about 70% of the solar energy that reaches Earth is absorbed, while the other 30% is reflected back into space by atmosphere and aerosols, ocean/land and clouds. A closer view reveals a delicate balance between absorption and reflection as well as a release of energy by rocks, air and sea warming and emitting increasing amounts of thermal radiation (heat) in the form of long-wave infrared light. This radiation allows Earth to lose heat at the same rate it gains from the Sun. Evidence is in the land/ocean interaction, the absorption of energy by clouds, water vapor and the greenhouse gas ozone, as well as the 20-24% absorbed and emitted back by clouds. || ", "hits": 582 }, { "id": 20083, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/20083/", "result_type": "Animation", "release_date": "2006-10-04T00:00:00-04:00", "title": "CALIPSO Science Objectives Animation", "description": "Scientists are eager to use CALIPSO data to study the nature of the atmosphere. Using lidar and a pair of infrared and visible imaging systems, CALIPSO promises to deliver new insights into how clouds and aerosols work to affect the atmosphere. || ", "hits": 16 }, { "id": 20084, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/20084/", "result_type": "Animation", "release_date": "2006-10-04T00:00:00-04:00", "title": "Weather: CloudSat and CALIPSO Help the Study of Meteorology", "description": "The study of meteorology presents significant challenges to scientists. One of the most challenging aspects is the inherent complexity of weather coupled with its high rate of change. In the case of clouds, scientists seek new insights into how they form, behave, and interact with the Earth's atmosphere. Engineers designed Cloudsat and Calipso to deliver the data needed by scientists to provide new understanding of how clouds, water vapor, ice particles, and aerosols affect the weather. || ", "hits": 16 }, { "id": 20085, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/20085/", "result_type": "Animation", "release_date": "2006-10-04T00:00:00-04:00", "title": "Ocean Convection at High Altitudes - Normal Condition", "description": "Understanding the variability of the density of ocean water is critical to understanding changes in the ocean's circulation, particularly those parts of the circulation that pertain to climate. In the tropics, the sun warms the surface water and causes that water to expand. Because the surface water is now less dense than the cooler water below, the warmest waters remain near the surface. Near the poles, the energy input by the sun is not as strong, and the surface waters are not warmed to the degree they are away from the poles. Here, it is the salinity of the water plays a critical role as to which water is found at the surface as the waters near the surface are not that much different in temperature to the water below. These animations highlight the crucial role of salinity in high latitude convection (upward and downward movement of water) and climate.This animation, labeled Normal, is a display of the way convection might often occur at high latitudes. Here the water initially is assumed to be almost constant in temperature and salinity from top to bottom. At the times when the air immediately above is colder than the water, there is a transfer of heat from the water to the atmosphere. The surface waters cool, condense, become more dense and ultimately sink. Because the cooling can be very intense at high latitudes, the surface water can cool enough to sink to the bottom. Note in this animation that the convection is depicted to occur in a narrow, almost chimney like area. This is very much the way nature and deep convection behaves at high latitudes. Note later in this animation, the coldest water has made its way to the bottom and it appears the water is moving from right to left near the bottom. This depiction is meant to indicate a movement toward the tropics at these depths. || ", "hits": 150 }, { "id": 20086, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/20086/", "result_type": "Animation", "release_date": "2006-10-04T00:00:00-04:00", "title": "Ocean Convection at High Altitudes - Fresh Condition", "description": "Understanding the variability of the density of ocean water is critical to understanding changes in the ocean's circulation, particularly those parts of the circulation that pertain to climate. In the tropics, the sun warms the surface water and causes that water to expand. Because the surface water is now less dense than the cooler water below, the warmest waters remain near the surface. Near the poles, the energy input by the sun is not as strong, and the surface waters are not warmed to the degree they are away from the poles. Here, it is the salinity of the water plays a critical role as to which water is found at the surface as the waters near the surface are not that much different in temperature to the water below. These animations highlight the crucial role of salinity in high latitude convection (upward and downward movement of water) and climate.This animation, labeled Fresh, illustrates the condition where the water near the surface is assumed to be much fresher than the saltier water below. Now when a atmosphere cools the surface water, the water sinks, but it does not make it all the way to the bottom. The scenario displayed is one where the condensing effect of the cooling is not strong enough to overcome the effects that salinity has on the density of the water. The less saline the water, the less dense it is. A cold fresh layer of water is constrained near the surface. Sometimes, this layer can even freeze insulating the water from any further cooling by the atmosphere. Note that in this animation there is very little movement of the water at depth back toward the tropics. || ", "hits": 118 }, { "id": 20082, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/20082/", "result_type": "Animation", "release_date": "2006-09-28T00:00:00-04:00", "title": "CloudSat Science Objectives Animation", "description": "CloudSat flies a first-of-its-kind radar system that is much more sensitive than any current weather radar. CloudSat will provide new information about the vertical structure of clouds, including the quantities of liquid water and ice they contain, and how clouds affect the distribution of the sun's energy in the atmosphere. These measurements will help with research into atmospheric circulation models and weather patterns. The data will also help scientists develop better tools for making weather and climate predictions in the future, and provide insights into the global water cycle. || ", "hits": 15 }, { "id": 20079, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/20079/", "result_type": "Animation", "release_date": "2006-09-18T00:00:00-04:00", "title": "NASA Warms Up to Maryland's Trash", "description": "Trash to Gas Process - Landfill gas provides all of the center's heating needs 95 percent of the time, with natural gas serving as the back up. Methane is a natural product of trash. In this animation, wells draw methane out of the landfill and feed it to an on site purification plant. Before Goddard started using the gas, all of it was burned off in a flare. Now, the gas is intercepted from the flare and directed to a purification plant where the gas is cleaned and sent to Goddard. || ", "hits": 9 }, { "id": 20080, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/20080/", "result_type": "Animation", "release_date": "2006-09-18T00:00:00-04:00", "title": "NASA Warms Up to Maryland's Trash", "description": "Gas Purification Process - Most of the landfill gas purification process involves removing water. This animation shows four major steps to purifying the landfill gas for Goddard. First, placed throughout the landfill purification plant, filters sift out tiny trash particles and water. Second, a compressor squeezes out more water. Third, pipes cool gas drooling out even more water. Finally, the gas is reheated and transported to Goddard. Warm gas reduces moisture. || ", "hits": 7 }, { "id": 20081, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/20081/", "result_type": "Animation", "release_date": "2006-09-18T00:00:00-04:00", "title": "Geodesy", "description": "To some extent, geodesy is the study of the shape of the Earth. But it is also the study of how to find precise locations on the planet. As it relates to the study of sea level, geodesy becomes vital. The Earth is not a perfect shape and is constantly changing. Only through a very carefully constructed system of analysis can scientists achieve the necessary accuracy about the planet's shape (the so-called 'geoid') to make measurements of sea level from space. In this animation we look at how a fleet of ground based lasers and the Global Positioning Satellite fleet contribute to a mathematically representative picture of the Earth. || ", "hits": 151 }, { "id": 20078, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/20078/", "result_type": "Animation", "release_date": "2006-09-12T00:00:00-04:00", "title": "Methane's Connection to Global Warming", "description": "Methane is a simple compound made of carbon and hydroge. This gas comes from ordinary sources, like cattle herds and garbage dumps. On a planetary scale it also has a significant impact on climate. As it builds up in the atmosphere, it traps energy from the sun like a layer of insulation. Carbon dioxide does much the same thing-it causes global warming by trapping heat. But as experts struggle to curtail global climate change, a decrease of atmospheric methane might be easier to achieve than proportional drops in carbon dioxide, affording an alternate scenario to policy makers.Methane is second only to carbon dioxide in contributing to global warming. It is a naturally occurring gas, a product of a variety of biological processes. But in terms of climate change, it is the unnatural concentration of the gas from human induced factors that has researchers concerned. In the case of garbage disposal, methane enters the atmosphere as a byproduct of decomposition. As anaerobic bacteria break down polymers and other carbon based garbage, like the banana peel shown here, methane gets produced as a waste gas. As it enters the atmosphere, it reduces the Earth's ability to cool by absorbing more reflected heat from the planet than would otherwise occur. Other sources of methane production include rice cultivation, industrial production, and cattle herds. || ", "hits": 27 }, { "id": 20077, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/20077/", "result_type": "Animation", "release_date": "2006-08-18T00:00:00-04:00", "title": "Cosmic Explosion Second Only to the Sun in Brightness", "description": "The gamma ray flare produced by neutron star SGR 1806-20, traveled 50,000 light years before impacting Earth. The burst was so powerful, that it disrupted Earth's ionosphere. Scientists know of only two other giant flares in the past 35 years, and this December 27, 2005 event was one hundred times more powerful than either of those || ", "hits": 171 }, { "id": 10069, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/10069/", "result_type": "Produced Video", "release_date": "2006-06-07T00:00:00-04:00", "title": "Bermuda High", "description": "The Bermuda High pressure system sits over the Atlantic during summer. Acting as a block that hurricanes cannot penetrate, the size and location of this system can determine where hurricanes go. A normal Bermuda High often leads to hurricanes moving up the east coast and out to sea. During summer 2004 and 2005, the Bermuda High expanded to the south and west, which steered hurricanes into the Gulf of Mexico rather than up the east coast or curving out to sea. Once in the Gulf, most hurricane paths will involve landfall at some location. || ", "hits": 201 }, { "id": 20089, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/20089/", "result_type": "Animation", "release_date": "2006-02-06T00:00:00-05:00", "title": "Invasive Species: Tamarisk's Use of Water", "description": "Experts now estimate that Tamarisk (saltcedar) has infested more than 3.3 million acres in the western United States. Tamarisk is one of our most harmful invasive species because the plant's long roots tap into underground aquifers. Its groundwater-absorbing qualities may be adding to the severity of the drought in the western U.S.NASA and the USGS are working together to develop a National Invasive Species Forecasting System (ISFS) for the management and control of invasive species. The ISFS combines NASA Earth observations and models with field data to enhance USGS capabilities to map, monitor and predict the spread of significant invasive plant species.Tamarisk's extensive root system can reach up to 50 feet laterally and 100 feet in depth to access the water supply. As this invasive plant draws up large amounts of water, it can lower the water table. Native plants with shallower root systems have to compete for an already-dwindling water supply. One large Tamarisk plant can absorb up to 200 gallons of water per day - that's twice the amount the average person uses in the same timeframe. || ", "hits": 109 }, { "id": 20090, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/20090/", "result_type": "Animation", "release_date": "2006-02-06T00:00:00-05:00", "title": "Invasive Species: Tamarisk and Salt", "description": "Experts now estimate that Tamarisk (saltcedar) has infested more than 3.3 million acres in the western United States. Tamarisk is one of our most harmful invasive species because the plant's long roots tap into underground aquifers. Its groundwater-absorbing qualities may be adding to the severity of the drought in the western U.S.NASA and the USGS are working together to develop a National Invasive Species Forecasting System (ISFS) for the management and control of invasive species. The ISFS combines NASA Earth observations and models with field data to enhance USGS capabilities to map, monitor and predict the spread of significant invasive plant species.Tamarisk's extensive root system extracts sodium chloride, or salt, from deep within the soil. Salt collects in plant tissues allowing it to exude the excess through its leaves. Over a period of years, the plant effectively changes the natural chemistry of the soil. Native trees and plants can no longer thrive in the salt-saturated soil. || ", "hits": 46 }, { "id": 20091, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/20091/", "result_type": "Animation", "release_date": "2006-02-06T00:00:00-05:00", "title": "Invasive Species: Tamarisk and Fire Sprouts", "description": "Experts now estimate that Tamarisk (saltcedar) has infested more than 3.3 million acres in the western United States. Tamarisk is one of our most harmful invasive species because the plant's long roots tap into underground aquifers. Its groundwater-absorbing qualities may be adding to the severity of the drought in the western U.S.NASA and the USGS are working together to develop a National Invasive Species Forecasting System (ISFS) for the management and control of invasive species. The ISFS combines NASA Earth observations and models with field data to enhance USGS capabilities to map, monitor and predict the spread of significant invasive plant species.As Tamarisk drops its leaves, it creates a debris layer known as 'duff' which chokes the ground below. This adds to the fuel load, compounding an already high fire danger in the drought-stricken West. When fires ravage an area, Tamarisk ignites quickly, leading to a more severe burn. To make matters worse, this invasive plant tends to come back more quickly than native plants in these burned areas. || ", "hits": 23 }, { "id": 20050, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/20050/", "result_type": "Animation", "release_date": "2005-04-05T12:00:00-04:00", "title": "Raindrop Acoustics", "description": "SMALL RAINDROP ANIMATION - When a small raindrop falls on the ocean, it produces sound underwater by its impact on the ocean surface and, more importantly, by sound created from a bubble trapped underwater during its splash. Different raindrop sizes produce distinctive sounds. When recorded underwater, small raindrops make a sound like a hiss. The following animation is first simulated as a real-time small raindrop, and then slowed down to demonstrate the distinct sound of impact and the subsequent ring of the higher frequency sound made by the bubble. || ", "hits": 22 }, { "id": 20051, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/20051/", "result_type": "Animation", "release_date": "2005-04-05T12:00:00-04:00", "title": "Raindrop Acoustics", "description": "MEDIUM RAINDROP ANIMATION - Interestingly, the splash of a medium sized raindrop does not trap bubbles underwater and is consequently quiet, much quieter than small raindrops. The only acoustic signal from these drops is a weak impact sound as it hits the ocean surface. The following animation is first simulated as a real-time raindrop and then slowed to demonstrate how it does not make a bubble under the water. || ", "hits": 41 }, { "id": 20052, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/20052/", "result_type": "Animation", "release_date": "2005-04-05T12:00:00-04:00", "title": "Raindrop Acoustics", "description": "LARGE RAINDROP ANIMATION - For large and very large raindrops, the splash becomes energetic enough to create a wide range of bubble sizes trapped underwater, which produces a loud sound relatively low in frequency. The following animation is first simulated as a real-time large raindrop, and then slowed down to demonstrate the distinct sound of impact and the subsequent ring of the lower frequency sound made by the bubble. || ", "hits": 19 }, { "id": 20044, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/20044/", "result_type": "Animation", "release_date": "2005-03-11T12:00:00-05:00", "title": "Indecisive El Niño", "description": "This animation shows El Niño's and La Niña's mulitiple personalites. The sequence begins with normal jet streams, normal sea surface temperatures, and normal wind patterns. The first change illustrates what occurs when a very strong El Niño strikes surface waters in the Central equatorial Pacific Ocean. Warm water anomalies (red) develop in the Central Pacific Ocean while normal westerly winds weaken and allow easterly winds to push the warm water up against the South American Coast. The second change in the animation illustrates typical La Niña conditions. Cold water anomalies (blue) develop as stronger than normal trade winds bring cold water up to the ocean surface. The third change in the animation illustrates the current, weaker El Niño. Warmer waters develop in the central Pacific Ocean and stay in place due to westerly and easterly wind patterns. || ", "hits": 20 }, { "id": 20045, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/20045/", "result_type": "Animation", "release_date": "2005-03-11T12:00:00-05:00", "title": "El Niño Hurricane Connection", "description": "Animation compares the effects of La Niña and El Niño on the formation of Atlantic Hurricanes. El Niño tends to suppress the formation of hurricanes by steering the subtropical jet stream into the hurricanes' path and shearing off the tops of the storms before they develop into full intensity. During La Niña, the jet stream moves north, and hurricanes tend to more easily evolve without interference. || ", "hits": 22 }, { "id": 20046, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/20046/", "result_type": "Animation", "release_date": "2005-03-11T12:00:00-05:00", "title": "La Niña Retreat", "description": "Winds Of Death - It is the strong east to west winds that sustain La Niña. The winds cause cool waters to rise to the surface from the ocean depths. When the winds diminish, the supply of cool water is cut off and the ocean begins to warm. || ", "hits": 15 }, { "id": 20047, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/20047/", "result_type": "Animation", "release_date": "2005-03-11T12:00:00-05:00", "title": "Hurricane Heat Engine", "description": "TRMM provides a closer look at hurricanes using a unique combination of passive and active microwave instruments designed to peer inside cloud systems and measure rainfall. TRMM allows scientists to study the combustion process in the hurricane engine and relate this process to intensification or weakening. || ", "hits": 11 }, { "id": 20048, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/20048/", "result_type": "Animation", "release_date": "2005-03-11T12:00:00-05:00", "title": "Hurricane Heat Engine", "description": "TRMM provides a closer look at hurricanes using a unique combination of passive and active microwave instruments designed to peer inside cloud systems and measure rainfall. TRMM allows scientists to study the combustion process in the hurricane engine and relate this process to intensification or weakening.Hurricane Energy Process - As water vapor is evaporated from the warm ocean surface, it is forced upward in towering convective clouds in the eyewall and rain band regions of the storm. As the water vapor changes from a gas to a liquid (cloud water), latent heat is released. || ", "hits": 38 }, { "id": 20049, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/20049/", "result_type": "Animation", "release_date": "2005-03-11T12:00:00-05:00", "title": "Hurricane Heat Engine", "description": "TRMM provides a closer look at hurricanes using a unique combination of passive and active microwave instruments designed to peer inside cloud systems and measure rainfall. TRMM allows scientists to study the combustion process in the hurricane engine and relate this process to intensification or weakening. Cloud Growth - The release of latent heat warms the surrounding air, making it lighter, which promotes more vigorous cloud development. It is suspected that rapid bursts of cloud growth, particularly in the eyewall region of hurricanes, may relate to the intensification phase of a storm. Towering eyewall clouds are potential precursors to intensification of hurricanes. || ", "hits": 32 }, { "id": 20053, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/20053/", "result_type": "Animation", "release_date": "2005-03-11T12:00:00-05:00", "title": "Unmaned Aerosonde Braves Hurricane Winds", "description": "The aerosonde will make continuous observation of the temperature, moisture, and wind structure of the near-surface hurricane environment providing real-time detailed observations to NOAA forecasters. Aerosonde and its sophisticated instruments will try to detect signals of rapid intensity changes in the hurricane. Enhancing this predictive capability would not only save our economy billions of dollars, but more importantly, it would save countless lives. || ", "hits": 11 }, { "id": 20054, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/20054/", "result_type": "Animation", "release_date": "2005-03-11T12:00:00-05:00", "title": "Dead Zones", "description": "Dead zones are areas of water so devoid of oxygen that sea life cannot live there. If phytoplankton productivity is enhanced by fertilizers or other nutrients, more organic matter is produced at the surface of the ocean. The organic matter sinks to the bottom, where bacteria break it down and release carbon dioxide. Bacteria thrives off excessive organic matter and absorb oxygen, the same oxygen that fish, crabs and other sea creatures rely on for life. || deadzone_pre.00002_print.jpg (1024x768) [40.6 KB] || deadzone_thm.png (80x40) [8.7 KB] || deadzone_pre.jpg (320x240) [4.9 KB] || deadzone_pre_searchweb.jpg (320x180) [19.5 KB] || a010056_seq.webmhd.webm (960x540) [5.1 MB] || 720x486_4x3_29.97p (720x486) [32.0 KB] || a010056_seq.mpg (720x480) [14.2 MB] || a010056_H264_640x480.mp4 (640x480) [7.5 MB] || deadzone.mpg (320x240) [3.1 MB] || ", "hits": 79 }, { "id": 20055, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/20055/", "result_type": "Animation", "release_date": "2005-03-11T12:00:00-05:00", "title": "Mississippi River Watershed", "description": "This animation illustrates how water flows from the middle of the United States down to the Mississippi River. Much of the nutrients, fertilizers and pollution that impact the health of the Mississippi River and Gulf of Mexico originate far up stream This sequence begins with a NASA satellite image of the United States. Then, the sequence highlights the Mississippi River. The sequence shows all the tributaries that feed into the Mississippi River. From there the animation expands to the whole drainage basin, everything between the Rockies and Appalachian Mountains drains through the Mississippi River. The concept of a watershed demonstates how human activities far from the ocean can have dramatic impact on life in the sea. || ", "hits": 160 }, { "id": 20030, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/20030/", "result_type": "Animation", "release_date": "2004-06-24T12:00:00-04:00", "title": "NASA Explains 'Dust Bowl' Drought", "description": "Abnormal sea surface temperatures (SST) in the Pacific and the Atlantic Ocean played a strong role in the 1930s dust bowl drought. Scientists used SST data acquired from old ship records to create starting conditions for the computer models. They let the model run on its own, driven only by the observed monthly global sea surface temperatures. The model was able to reconstruct the Dust Bowl drought quite closely, providing strong evidence that the Great Plains dry spell originated with abnormal sea surface temperatures. This sequence shows the warmer than normal SST (red-orange) in that the Atlantic Ocean and colder than normal SST (blues) in the Pacific Ocean, followed by a low level jet stream that shifted and weakened reducing the normal supply of moisture to the Great Plains. || ", "hits": 45 }, { "id": 20031, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/20031/", "result_type": "Animation", "release_date": "2004-06-24T12:00:00-04:00", "title": "NASA Explains 'Dust Bowl' Drought", "description": "This illustration shows how cooler than normal tropical Pacific Ocean temperatures (blues) and warmer than normal tropical Atlantic Ocean temperatures (red and orange) contributed to a weakened low level jet stream and changed its course. The jet stream normally flows westward over the Gulf of Mexico and then turns northward pulling up moisture and dumping rain onto the Great Plains. During the 1930s, this low level jet stream weakened, carrying less moisture, and shifted further south. The Great Plains land dried up and dust storms blew across the U.S. || ", "hits": 64 }, { "id": 20032, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/20032/", "result_type": "Animation", "release_date": "2004-06-24T12:00:00-04:00", "title": "NASA Explains 'Dust Bowl' Drought", "description": "This animation illustrates the dust storm caused by the drought in the 1930's. || ", "hits": 37 }, { "id": 20029, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/20029/", "result_type": "Animation", "release_date": "2004-06-23T12:00:00-04:00", "title": "Ocean Circulation Conveyor Belt Helps Balance Climate", "description": "As part of the ocean conveyor belt, warm water from the tropical Atlantic moves poleward near the surface where it gives up some of its heat to the atmosphere. This process partially moderates the cold temperatures at higher latitudes. As the warm water gives up its heat it becomes more dense and sinks. This circulation loop is closed as the cooled water makes its way slowly back toward the tropics at lower depths in the ocean.If the poles warm, it is possible that melt water from glaciers and the polar ice cap can shut off this circulation and interrupt this circulation system. The melt water is fresher and hence less dense than the ocean water it melts into, and thus the melt water will tend to accumulate near the surface. This layer of fresh water acts as an insulating barrier between the atmosphere and the normal ocean water. The water from the tropics can not release its heat to the atmosphere, and the circulation loop is interrupted. The mechanism has a positive feedback potential in that if the ocean circulation slows, then even less heat will make it to the higher latitudes re-enforcing an effect that will cool the climate at these higher latitudes. || ", "hits": 344 }, { "id": 20028, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/20028/", "result_type": "Animation", "release_date": "2004-06-21T12:00:00-04:00", "title": "Cold Water Upwelling Promotes Phytoplankton Blooms", "description": "Carbon is the root of all life on Earth, and as it circulates through our biosphere, the Earth's state of health responds. Whenever the size of phytoplankton colonies in the ocean changes, it affects the amount of carbon absorbed from the atmosphere. These blooms are highly dependent on surrounding environmental conditions. As a hurricane passes over the tropical waters of the Atlantic, it draws up cold water from deep below the warmer surface. As the cooler water rises, it brings with it phytoplankton and nutrients necessary for life. These microscopic plants then bloom in higher than average amounts. Bigger storms cause larger plankton blooms and more plankton absorb a greater amount of carbon from our atmosphere. Scientists are still trying to determine how much carbon dioxide might be removed by such a process. || ", "hits": 45 }, { "id": 20023, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/20023/", "result_type": "Animation", "release_date": "2004-02-09T12:00:00-05:00", "title": "Ice Albedo: Black Soot and Snow", "description": "Black soot may contribute to melting glaciers and other ice on the planet and eventually a warmer Earth. Traveling potentially thousands of miles from its sources on air currents, this pollution eventually settles out of the air, onto land and into the oceans. On ice and snow, it darkens normally bright surfaces. Just as a white shirt keeps a person cooler in the summer than a black shirt, the vast stretches of polar ice covering much of the planet's top and bottom reflect large amounts of solar radiation falling on the planet's surface, helping regulate Earth's temperature. Soot lowers this albedo, or reflectivity, and the ice retains more heat, leading to increased melting.Soot-darkened ice retains more light, contributing to the process. As light is absorbed, the environment is heated, thus intensifying a feedback loop: a warmer planet yields more ice melting and thus an even warmer planet. || ", "hits": 165 }, { "id": 20024, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/20024/", "result_type": "Animation", "release_date": "2004-02-09T12:00:00-05:00", "title": "ICESat Data Accumulation Animation", "description": "Accumulating Data: Glas Builds Its Facts One Point at a Time - The technology behind GLAS is called lidar. Lidar is a distance measuring system similar to radar, except that instead of radio waves it uses pulses of laser light for range finding. The name is a contraction based on the words light and radar: Light Detection And Ranging. A lidar system determines precise distances by measuring the amount of time necessary for a pulse of light to leave an emitter, hit a target, and return. In this case, distance measurements helped researchers determine changes in ice thickness, vegetation, cloud thickness, and much more. || ", "hits": 21 }, { "id": 20026, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/20026/", "result_type": "Animation", "release_date": "2004-02-09T12:00:00-05:00", "title": "Dust, Fire, Soot Inhibits Rainfall", "description": "Three Contributing Factors for Rainfall Inhibition - Dust is only one of three types of aerosols which can inhibit rainfall. Previous studies have shown that aerosols from biomass burning (i.e. burning of plant material such as forests, grasslands, and agricultural waste) and aerosols from man-made pollution also contribute to disturbing the rainfall process. This animation highlights the power of these three factors vs. the normal conditions of the rainfallprocess. In this virtual world, a dust storm rises from arid conditions. Biomass burning sends smoke and an industrial complex adds pollutants into clouds and the atmosphere, thus preventing any rainfall. The cloud on the left shows rainfall production in normal conditions. || ", "hits": 41 }, { "id": 20022, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/20022/", "result_type": "Animation", "release_date": "2004-02-05T12:00:00-05:00", "title": "Ice Albedo: Bright White Reflects Light", "description": "This animation provides a close perspective of the relationship between ice and solar reflectivity. As glaciers, the polar caps, and icebergs (shown here) melt, less sunlight gets reflected into space. Instead, the oceans and land absorb the light, thus raising the overall temperature and adding energy to a vicious circle. || ", "hits": 397 }, { "id": 20019, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/20019/", "result_type": "Animation", "release_date": "2003-12-12T12:00:00-05:00", "title": "Cold Water Upwelling", "description": "Deep Water Feast: Upwellings Bring Nutrients to The Surface- Large phytoplankton blooms tend to coincide with natural phenomena that drive cold, nutrient-rich water to the surface. The process is called upwelling. Here's what's happening: winds coming off principal land masses push surface layers of water away from the shore. Into the resulting wind-driven void deeper water underneath the surface layers rushes in toward the coast, bringing with it nutrients for life to bloom. It's different on the equator. There, water currents on either side of the hemispheric dividing line are generally moving in opposite directions — due to planetary rotation and the Coriolis effect. As those currents rush past each other they 'peel back' the surface of the ocean, creating a void for deeper water to rush into and take its place. || ", "hits": 203 }, { "id": 20020, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/20020/", "result_type": "Animation", "release_date": "2003-12-12T12:00:00-05:00", "title": "Ice Albedo-Close Up", "description": "This is a conceptual animation showing how melting ice on land and at sea, can affect the surrounding ocean water, changing both the chemistry and relative sea level. || ", "hits": 30 }, { "id": 20021, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/20021/", "result_type": "Animation", "release_date": "2003-12-12T12:00:00-05:00", "title": "Ice Albedo - Global View", "description": "This is a conceptual animation showing how polar ice reflects light from the sun. As this ice begins to melt, less sunlight gets reflected into space. It is instead absorbed into the oceans and land, raising the overall temperature, and fueling further melting. || ", "hits": 108 }, { "id": 20010, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/20010/", "result_type": "Animation", "release_date": "2003-12-09T12:00:00-05:00", "title": "Particulates Effect on Rainfall", "description": "Normal rainfall droplet creation involves water vapor condensing on particles in clouds. The droplets eventually coalesce together to form drops large enough to fall to Earth. However, as more and more pollution particles (aerosols) enter a rain cloud, the same amount of water becomes spread out. These smaller water droplets float with the air and are prevented from coalescing and growing large enough for a raindrop. Thus, the cloud yields less rainfall over the course of its liftime compared to a clean (non-polluted) cloud of the same size. The split screen compares a normal rain producing cloud (left) with the lack of rain produced from a cloud full of aerosols from pollution. || ", "hits": 270 }, { "id": 20011, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/20011/", "result_type": "Animation", "release_date": "2003-12-09T12:00:00-05:00", "title": "Pollution Reduces Winter Precipitation", "description": "In winter, moist air flows off the ocean and rises over the hills downwind of a coastal city, dropping its rain and snow mainly as it ascends the hills. As pollution from the city is pushed into the clouds by the hills downwind of the city, it interferes with droplet formation in the clouds as observed by NASA's satellites. The smaller cloud droplets convert more slowly into precipitation. Instead of precipitating, much of the water in the clouds evaporates, reducing the net rainfall downwind of the urban area by up to 15% to 25% on a seasonal basis. First is the unpolluted case. || ", "hits": 60 }, { "id": 20012, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/20012/", "result_type": "Animation", "release_date": "2003-12-09T12:00:00-05:00", "title": "Pollution Increases Summer Precipitation", "description": "In summer, weaker winds move the clouds more slowly. Heat absorbed by the city and pollution's interference with raindrop formation interact to cause the clouds to intensify before producing precipitation. The onset of rainfall from a cloud leads eventually to its demise by cooling off the air near the ground. the air pollution delays the onset of precipitation, so that the intense storm clouds can build higher and larger before they start precipitating and subsequently dissipating. Therefore, these larger and more intense thunderstorm clouds produce eventually heavier rainfall on the city and the downwind areas. First is the unpolluted, then the polluted case. || ", "hits": 31 }, { "id": 20013, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/20013/", "result_type": "Animation", "release_date": "2003-12-09T12:00:00-05:00", "title": "Urban Rainfall Effect on Coastal Cities", "description": "Cities tend to be 1-10 degrees Fahrenheit warmer than surrounding areas. The added heat destabilizes and changes air circulation around cities. During the warmer months, the added heat creates wind circulations and rising air that produces new clouds enhances existing ones. Under the right conditions, these clouds evolve into rain-producers or storms. Scientists suspect that converging air due to city surfaces of varying heights, like buildings, also promotes rising air needed to produce clouds and rainfall. || ", "hits": 46 }, { "id": 20014, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/20014/", "result_type": "Animation", "release_date": "2003-12-09T12:00:00-05:00", "title": "Earth's Atmosphere Layers", "description": "The Earth's layers of atmosphere differ in chemical composition and temperature. They combine to create a protective sheild that maintains our delicate energy balance essential for life on Earth. Most weather occures in the nearest layer, the troposphere (0-7 miles). The stratosphere is the level where jet airliners fly and the ozone layer resides (7-30 miles). Beyondthat is the coldest part of the atmosphere, the mesosphere where only large helium balloons fly (30-50 miles). Finally, the thermosphere gradually fades into space (50-180 miles). || ", "hits": 301 }, { "id": 20015, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/20015/", "result_type": "Animation", "release_date": "2003-12-09T12:00:00-05:00", "title": "Earth's Atmosphere Layers: Global View", "description": "The Earth's layers of atmosphere differ in chemical composition and temperature. They combine to create a protective sheild that maintains our delicate energy balance essential for life on Earth. Most weather occures in the nearest layer, the troposphere (0-7 miles). The stratosphere is the level where jet airliners fly and the ozone layer resides (7-30 miles). Beyond that is the coldest part of the atmosphere, the mesosphere where only large helium balloons fly (30-50 miles). Finally, the thermosphere gradually fades into space (50-180 miles). || ", "hits": 274 }, { "id": 20016, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/20016/", "result_type": "Animation", "release_date": "2003-12-09T12:00:00-05:00", "title": "Aqua Mission Science Objectives", "description": "The Water Cycle - Water falling from summer storm clouds onto a field of wheat today will someday fall again somewhere else. This is the essence of the water cycle. The first step in the cycle is evaporation. Heated by sunlight, liquid water turns to vapor and enters the atmosphere. Another source of atmospheric water vapor is the respiratory process of plants. Vapor leaves plants through tiny pores called stomata. This process is called transpiration. As moist air ascends into the atmosphere and encounters lower atmospheric pressure, the invisible water vapor transforms back into liquid water, and we see the next phase in the water cycle: condensation. Droplets of water coalesce from traces of vapor, and as they gain size by joining with other droplets, they yield the next part of the water cycle. This is called precipitation. The cycle is endless. As it's name suggests, the Aqua project will be intensely involved in studying the water cycle in its many forms.Evaporation - Depending on total ambient temperature, relative humidity, wind speed, and water temperature, some molecules of water are almost always passing from liquid to gaseous state at the surface. This is called evaporation. Evaporation is what puts moisture into the air, pulling water off the surface of lakes and streams and topsoil. Not only does water vapor enter the atmosphere, but also evaporating water pulls heat away from the surface. That heat will get redistributed to a different part of the atmosphere when the recently liberated water vapor re-condenses.Transpiration - Related to evaporation, this is the respiratory equivalent of breathing in plants. Transpiration is how plants lose water to the surrounding air. While some water directly evaporates through the walls of cells on the surface of plants, the majority of water lost happens through intercellular structures called stomata. These are like tiny pores. Transpiration helps pull nutrients from plant roots up to leaves. It's a natural process that's heavily influenced by ambient temperature, humidity, and other factors. Additionally, transpiration also helps properly circulate carbon dioxide and oxygen, diffusing the first into plant cells for growth, and carrying the second away from cells as waste gas.Condensation - The process that describes the change in physical state of a gas to a liquid is called condensation. Generally this is a phenomenon brought about by either of two processes: cooling of air to its dewpoint, or the addition of enough water vapor to bring the air to the point of saturation. But as that moisture either reaches high enough altitudes so that the air containing it is chilled by lower temperatures found there, or affected by increasing humidity from dynamic meteorological conditions, it condenses. The water molecules start moving more slowly, and the state of matter begins to change, as water molecules start hooking up. Gas becomes a liquid. Condensation can take many forms without necessarily falling from the sky. Dew, fog, mist, and clouds are all examples of condensed water.Precipitation - Simply speaking, precipitation is a function of water changing its material state from vapor to a liquid or a solid. But more specifically, two fundamental steps must take place for water to fall from the sky. The first is that basic precipitation components must develop. These include ice crystals that form around various minute particles in the atmosphere such as dust or salts. The second step is for those ice crystals or condensed droplets to grow. Because of their increasing size, larger droplets or ice crystals are more apt to collide with other particles of water, and thus more likely to fall or 'precipitate' out of a cloud. || ", "hits": 108 }, { "id": 20017, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/20017/", "result_type": "Animation", "release_date": "2003-12-09T12:00:00-05:00", "title": "Aqua Mission Science Objectives", "description": "Water Vapor And Climate Change - There is no more important greenhouse gas than water vapor. As one of the fundamental parts of Earth's atmosphere, water vapor affects global warming in both positive and negative terms, and offers a trail for scientists to follow towards a better understanding about how the planet functions as a whole. It's also one of the principal aspects of the Earth's climate targeted for study by the Aqua satellite. By applying integrated analytic tools to the study of climate and climate change, experts hope to learn more specifically how water vapor and other greenhouse gasses move and function throughout the atmosphere. || ", "hits": 38 }, { "id": 20018, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/20018/", "result_type": "Animation", "release_date": "2003-12-09T12:00:00-05:00", "title": "E01 - Hyperion Imaging Spectrometer", "description": "Beyond the Pale—Hyperion Imaging Spectrometer - It's not so much that the Hyperion instrument will be able to see the Earth more 'close up' or have a higher spatial resolution than previous instruments. Yet Hyperion's goals are nothing less than ambitious. The instrument is designed to gather highly complex data from a given region on the Earth by viewing the surface in terms of 220 distinct colors or 'bands' of light. Think of looking at a photograph in black and white and then comparing the exact same frame in color. Even though there is no greater resolution to the image, no change in perspective, lighting, or magnification, the amount of data presented to the viewer has greatly increased. Project managers designed Hyperion to fill in that kind of data in observed regions on the ground. The uses for an instrument than can make such fine spectral distinctions include studies of land use, changes in land cover, mineral resource assessment, research into coastal processes, changes in the atmosphere and more. || ", "hits": 33 }, { "id": 20003, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/20003/", "result_type": "Animation", "release_date": "2003-11-05T12:00:00-05:00", "title": "Soot Effects Rainfall", "description": "Heating Up the Atmosphere (Animation) - When soot absorbs sunlight, it heats the air and reduces the amount of sunlight reaching the ground, cooling the Earth's surface. The heated air makes the atmosphere unstable, creating rising air (convection) that forms clouds and brings rainfall to regions that are heavily polluted.The increase of rising air is balanced by an increase in sinking air (subsidence) and drying. When air sinks, clouds and thus rain, cannot form creating dry conditions. Soot or black carbon is the product of low temperature burning. It is generated from industrial pollution, traffic, outdoor fires and household burning of coal and biomass fuels. || ", "hits": 114 }, { "id": 20004, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/20004/", "result_type": "Animation", "release_date": "2003-11-05T12:00:00-05:00", "title": "SUV Rollovers: Center of Gravity", "description": "Center of Gravity—Why Rollovers Happen (animation) - A particular object's center of gravity—in this case an SUV—will always be contained within the geometric confines of that vehicle as it's oriented in space relative to the pull of gravity. If there's a change in a vehicle's spatial orientation due to the imposition of some external force, the vehicle's center of gravity will shift from its original position as long as that external force persists. That means that the tires, which had supported a vehicle's center of gravity, begin to lose their usefulness as supporting structures relative to the pull of gravity. As a result, the vehicle seeks a new structural support relative to the pull of gravity, like its side or roof. If this change happens fast enough, the vehicle will not only fall over: it will roll. || ", "hits": 38 }, { "id": 20005, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/20005/", "result_type": "Animation", "release_date": "2003-11-05T12:00:00-05:00", "title": "Arctic Vortex", "description": "Arctic Vortex - During winter, stratospheric winds (uppermost atmosphere) tend to form a vortex around the North Pole. These polar clouds lead to chemical reactions that affect the chemical form of chlorine in the stratosphere. In certain chemical forms, chlorine can deplete the ozone layer. || ", "hits": 29 }, { "id": 20006, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/20006/", "result_type": "Animation", "release_date": "2003-11-05T12:00:00-05:00", "title": "Carbon Cycle", "description": "The Carbon Cycle - The carbon cycle on land, acted out here show a tree taking in carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, and combined with water and nutrients from the soil, growing. In the fall and winter, parts of the growth die off and release some carbon back into the system. At some point, the tree is no longer able to take in carbon and begins to die. When that happens, all the carbon absorbed in its body is released back into the cycle as it decomposes. Fire can accelerate this, sending plumes of carbon-laden aerosols into the atmosphere, as well as leaving carbon-rich ash deposits on the ground for further decomposition and recycling. || ", "hits": 28 }, { "id": 20007, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/20007/", "result_type": "Animation", "release_date": "2003-11-05T12:00:00-05:00", "title": "Carbon Cycle", "description": "Carbon And The Ocean — The Slow Cycle - The oceans are vast, and their processes as complex as their waters are deep.Phytoplankton absorbs carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and nutrient rich waters and grows in wide colonies called blooms. These blooms are highly dependent on surrounding environmental conditions.As phytoplankton grows, it forms the foundation for the food chain, thus passing carbon up to higher life forms. But just as on land, links in the ocean's chain of life also break, and stored carbon settles out of the top layers of water. A portion of it gets swept back to the surface as upwellings, only to begin again, but a major portion sinks to the bottom, becoming what oceanographers call 'marine snow.' This decomposing biological matter literally precipitates through the water and builds up on the ocean bottom, essentially sequestered from the rest of the Earth for geologically long periods of time. || ", "hits": 203 }, { "id": 20008, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/20008/", "result_type": "Animation", "release_date": "2003-11-05T12:00:00-05:00", "title": "Microbes Hitch Ride on African Dust", "description": "Traveling Dust Animation - The dust comes every year during northern Africa's dry season, when storm activity in the Sahara Desert and Sahel generate clouds of dust. The dust originating from fine particles in the arid topsoil is transported into the atmosphere by winds and may be carried in excess of 10,000 feet high into the atmosphere by easterly trade winds. Typically, it takes one to two weeks for the dust clouds to cross the Atlantic Ocean and reach the continental United States..This animation illustrates microbes hitching rides across the Atlantic in the highly irregular nooks and crannies found in the surfaces of dust particles and how they are transported across the Atlantic Ocean. || dustparts_pre.00002_print.jpg (1024x768) [143.4 KB] || dustparts_thm.png (80x40) [18.1 KB] || dustparts_pre.jpg (320x240) [20.5 KB] || dustparts_pre_searchweb.jpg (320x180) [118.0 KB] || a010008_seq001.webmhd.webm (960x540) [2.9 MB] || 720x486_4x3_29.97p (720x486) [32.0 KB] || a010008_seq001.mpg (720x480) [13.2 MB] || a010008_H264_640x480.mp4 (640x480) [7.4 MB] || dustparts.mpg (320x240) [2.7 MB] || ", "hits": 23 }, { "id": 20009, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/20009/", "result_type": "Animation", "release_date": "2003-11-05T12:00:00-05:00", "title": "Dropsonde Hurricane Sensor", "description": "Dropsondes Away! - Described by a researcher as 'Pringles cans with parachutes', scientists dropped sensors called 'dropsondes' into 2001's Hurricane Erin to gain temperature, pressure, moisture and wind readings throughout different locations in the hurricane. An ER-2 allows for eight dropsondes deliveries, while the fully staffed DC-8 plane drops as many as 15 dropsondes within the hurricane. || ", "hits": 17 }, { "id": 20002, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/20002/", "result_type": "Animation", "release_date": "2003-11-04T12:00:00-05:00", "title": "Noctilucent Cloud Animation", "description": "Because of their high altitude, near the edge of space, noctilucent clouds shine at night when the Sun's rays hit them from below while the lower atmosphere is bathed in darkness. Also known as Polar Mesospheric Clouds or PMCs, they typically form in the cold, summer polar mesosphere and are made of water ice crystals. In April 2007 the Aeronomy of Ice in the Mesosphere (AIM) Mission was launched with the express purpose of studying noctilucent clouds. || ", "hits": 92 }, { "id": 20001, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/20001/", "result_type": "Animation", "release_date": "2003-11-03T12:00:00-05:00", "title": "Sensor Web: Smart Satellites", "description": "Smart Satellites Get a Closer Look - Along with semi-autonomous advancements in the RapidFire system, NASA is testing new integration techniques with the EO-1 spacecraft and its cutting edge ALI instrument. It works like this: when MODIS spots an area on the ground that may indicate fire, advanced software puts out an alert. That message essentially instructs ALI to point itself towards the zone of interest and get a close-up. If the resulting picture from this orbital dance shows risk for fire, the system can alert experts and officials to take action on the ground. The whole process is automated. That makes the observations and analysis fast, and in terms of fire management, speed counts. A system like this has the potential to greatly accelerate notification of potential trouble spots before they can get out of hand. || ", "hits": 18 }, { "id": 1605, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/1605/", "result_type": "Visualization", "release_date": "2000-05-03T12:00:00-04:00", "title": "Hurricanes as Heat Engines", "description": "See Conceptual Image Lab animation #10049 for additional Hurricane Heat Engines material. || ", "hits": 64 }, { "id": 1601, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/1601/", "result_type": "Visualization", "release_date": "1990-07-10T12:00:00-04:00", "title": "Supporting Media for MOLA release", "description": "How the spacecraft made the gravity map. Animation by Studio 13. || gravmapping_pre.jpg (320x240) [10.3 KB] || preview_made_from_dv.00070_print.png (320x240) [28.9 KB] || gravmapping.webmhd.webm (960x540) [567.8 KB] || gravmapping.mov (320x240) [1.7 MB] || ", "hits": 22 }, { "id": 1603, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/1603/", "result_type": "Visualization", "release_date": "1990-07-10T12:00:00-04:00", "title": "Support Animations/Stills for SOLVE", "description": "The polar vortex || Vortex.jpg (640x480) [47.7 KB] || newVORTEX_pre.jpg (320x240) [9.5 KB] || Vortex_thm.png (80x40) [5.5 KB] || newVORTEX_pre_searchweb.jpg (180x320) [66.0 KB] || newVORTEX.webmhd.webm (960x540) [1.6 MB] || Vortex.tif (640x480) [253.9 KB] || newVORTEX.mov (320x240) [4.2 MB] || ", "hits": 25 } ] }