{ "count": 150, "next": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/api/search/?limit=100&offset=100&series=WMS", "previous": null, "results": [ { "id": 3837, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/3837/", "result_type": "Visualization", "release_date": "2011-06-13T00:00:00-04:00", "title": "Components of the Water Cycle on a Flat Map for Science On a Sphere", "description": "Water regulates climate, predominately storing heat during the day and releasing it at night. Water in the ocean and atmosphere carry heat from the tropics to the poles. The process by which water moves around the earth, from the ocean, to the atmosphere, to the land and back to the ocean is called the water cycle. The animations below each portray a component of the water cycle. These animations of the components of the water cycle were created for the Science On a Sphere production \"Loop\" using data from the GEOS-5 atmospheric model on the cubed-sphere, run at 14-km global resolution for 25-days. Variables animated here include hourly clouds, precipitation, evaporation and water vapor. For more information on GEOS-5 see https://gmao.gsfc.nasa.gov/systems/geos5. Some of these visualizations are an orthographic view of the data used in Components of the Water Cycle. || ", "hits": 77 }, { "id": 3811, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/3811/", "result_type": "Visualization", "release_date": "2011-01-11T00:00:00-05:00", "title": "Components of the Water Cycle on a Flat Map", "description": "Water regulates climate, predominately storing heat during the day and releasing it at night. Water in the ocean and atmosphere carry heat from the tropics to the poles. The process by which water moves around the earth, from the ocean, to the atmosphere, to the land and back to the ocean is called the water cycle. The animations below each portray a component of the water cycle. The three animations of atmospheric phenomena were created using data from the GEOS-5 atmospheric model on the cubed-sphere, run at 14-km global resolution for 25-days. Variables animated here include hourly evaporation, water vapor and precipitation. For more information on GEOS-5 see http://gmao.gsfc.nasa.gov/systems/geos5 . For more information on the cubed-sphere work see http://science.gsfc.nasa.gov/610.3/cubedsphere.html.The animation of global sea surface temperature was created using data from a model run of ECCO's Ocean General Circulation Model. See http://www.ecco-group.org/model.htm for more information on ECCO.This group of animations are an orthographic view of the data used in Components of the Water Cycle. || ", "hits": 92 }, { "id": 3348, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/3348/", "result_type": "Visualization", "release_date": "2009-09-20T00:00:00-04:00", "title": "Aqua Satellite and MODIS Swath", "description": "NASA's Aqua satellite was launched on May 4, 2002 with six Earth-observing instruments on board. Aqua circles the Earth every 99 minutes and is in a polar orbit, passing within ten degrees of each pole on every orbit. The orbit is sun-synchronous, meaning that the satellite always passes over a particular part of the Earth at about the same local time each day. Aqua always crosses the equator from south to north at about 1:30 PM local time. One of the instruments on Aqua, MODIS, measures 36 spectral frequencies of light reflected off the Earth in a 2300-kilometer wide swath along this orbit, so that MODIS measures almost the entire surface of the Earth every day.The first animation shows the Aqua satellite orbiting for one day, August 27, 2005, showing a set of MODIS measurements taken that day that have been processed to look like a a true-color image of the Earth. Notice that MODIS only takes data during the dayside part of the orbit because it measures reflected light from the Sun, and that there is a bright band of reflected sunlight in the center of swaths over the ocean. Also visible in this animation are Hurricane Katrina, just to the west of Florida in the Gulf of Mexico, and Typhoon Talim, in the western Pacific between Japan and New Guinea.The second animation spans five days of Aqua orbits, from August 27, 2005 through August 31, 2005. For this animation, the orbits and data are shown over an Earth image that shows the day and night parts of the Earth at each time of the animation. The daylight part of the Earth is a cloud-free MODIS composite, while the nighttime regions show the 'city lights', the Earth's stable light sources. During the first day, August 27, the Aqua satellite is shown with a red line indicating the orbit of the satellite. Since the Earth's surface is stationary in this animation, the satellite orbit moves westward with the sun. During the second day, August 28, the most recent observation swath is shown in addition to the satellite orbit line. In this way , the drift of th orbit relative to the observations is illustrated. Starting with the third day, August 29, the orbit line disappears and the observation swaths accumulate. The observations cover the Earth during the third day except for small gaps at the equator, which are filled in during the fourth day, August 30. The animation continues to show the MODIS observations through August 31, the fifth day.The third animation shows the same composition as the second one, but the point of view has changed to that of the Sun. In this animation, the Earth rotates and the orbit is stationary. At this date, the North Pole of the Earth is tilted towards the Sun and in daylight, while the South Pole is tilted away and is in darkness. || ", "hits": 103 }, { "id": 3349, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/3349/", "result_type": "Visualization", "release_date": "2006-04-04T00:00:00-04:00", "title": "TRMM Satellite and TMI Swath", "description": "The Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite was launched on November 27, 1997, as a joint mission of NASA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, JAXA. TRMM has five Earth-observing instruments on board and circles the Earth every 92 minutes in an equatorial orbit between 35 degrees north and south latitude so that those instruments can measure precipitation in the tropics. One of the instruments, TMI, observes five frequencies of microwave emissions in a 780-kilometer wide swath along the orbit in order to measure the amount of rain and ice in the atmosphere. This animation shows the TRMM satellite orbiting for one day, August 27, 2005, showing a set of TRMM measurements at a frequency of 85.5 GHz. In this frequency band, atmospheric ice crystals scatter microwaves and so areas with ice crystals appear colder than areas with no ice. Both Hurricane Katrina, just to the west of Florida in the Gulf of Mexico, and Typhoon Talim, in the westerm Pacific between Japan and New Guinea, show up as bright swirling patterns. This measurement is just one of the TMI measurements that go into calculating the total instantaneous rainfall in the tropics. || ", "hits": 15 }, { "id": 3352, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/3352/", "result_type": "Visualization", "release_date": "2006-04-04T00:00:00-04:00", "title": "Before and During the Great Mississippi Flood of 1993", "description": "During the first half of 1993, heavy rains in the Midwest United States caused the greatest flood ever recorded on the Upper Mississippi. The Mississippi River remained above flood stage from April through September of that year, and many of the dykes and water control systems along the rivers in this region were overwhelmed. These images from the Landsat-5 Thematic Mapper clearly show the flooded regions near St. Louis. The pink areas near the flooded regions show the scoured land from which the flood waters have receded. A comparison of the image during the flood with an image from a year before clearly shows the preponderance of cultivated fields in the lowland flooded region, evidence that floods and river meanderings have deposited rich soil in these regions in the past. || ", "hits": 100 }, { "id": 3238, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/3238/", "result_type": "Visualization", "release_date": "2005-12-15T00:00:00-05:00", "title": "Progression of Hurricane Katrina, 2005 (WMS)", "description": "Low earth-orbiting satellites, such as Aqua and Terra, usually see any place on Earth no more than once a day. This sequence of color images from the MODIS instruments on Aqua and Terra shows the progression of Hurricane Katrina, from August 24 to August 31, 2005, whenever one of the two instruments captured the hurricane. || ", "hits": 23 }, { "id": 3248, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/3248/", "result_type": "Visualization", "release_date": "2005-10-19T00:00:00-04:00", "title": "TRMM Microwave Brightness Temperature Progression During Hurricane Katrina: Horizontal Polarization", "description": "The TMI instrument on the TRMM satellite measures microwaves emitted from the Earth's land and water. By comparing emission from different microwave frequencies, the characteristics of ice and water in the atmosphere can be determined. For example, 85 GHz microwaves are scattered by ice crystals in tropical cyclones, making cyclone rain bands appear 'colder' than the surrounding areas. By comparing 85 GHz temperatures in different polarizations with other frequency band measurements, accurate measurements of rainfall in the atmosphere can be made. This animation builds up four days of global TMI 85 GHz measurements. Hurricane Katrina was in the Gulf of Mexico at the time and clearly shows up in the measurements. || ", "hits": 9 }, { "id": 3216, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/3216/", "result_type": "Visualization", "release_date": "2005-10-05T00:00:00-04:00", "title": "GOES-12 Imagery of Hurricane Katrina: Longwave Infrared Close-up (WMS)", "description": "The GOES-12 satellite sits at 75 degrees west longitude at an altitude of 36,000 kilometers over the equator, in geosynchronous orbit. At this position its Imager instrument takes pictures of cloud patterns in several wavelengths for all of North and South America, a primary measurement used in weather forecasting. The Imager takes a pattern of pictures of parts of the Earth in several wavelengths all day, measurements that are vital in weather forecasting. This animation shows a four-day sequence of GOES-12 images in the longwave infrared wavelengths, from 10.2 to 11.2 microns, during the period that Hurricane Katrina passed through the Gulf of Mexico. This wavelength band is the most common one for observing cloud motions and severe storms throughout the day and night. Since GOES-12 takes images most often over the United States (every 5 to 10 minutes), the motion of the clouds in this close-up of the southeast US is very smooth. || ", "hits": 37 }, { "id": 3230, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/3230/", "result_type": "Visualization", "release_date": "2005-10-05T00:00:00-04:00", "title": "GOES-12 Imagery of Hurricane Katrina: Full Disk Visible (WMS)", "description": "The GOES-12 satellite sits at 75 degrees west longitude at an altitude of 36,000 kilometers over the equator, in geosynchronous orbit. At this position its Imager instrument takes pictures of cloud patterns in several wavelengths for all of North and South America, a primary measurement used in weather forecasting. Every three hours the Imager takes a picture of the full disk of the Earth. This animation shows a sequence of these full disk images in the visible wavelengths, 0.52 to 0.72 microns, during the period that Hurricane Katrina passed through the Gulf of Mexico. This wavelength band clearly shows the day-night cycle since the Earth is dark at night in the visible wavelengths. || ", "hits": 24 }, { "id": 3231, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/3231/", "result_type": "Visualization", "release_date": "2005-10-05T00:00:00-04:00", "title": "GOES-12 Imagery of Hurricane Katrina: Full Disk Shortwave Infrared (WMS)", "description": "The GOES-12 satellite sits at 75 degrees west longitude at an altitude of 36,000 kilometers over the equator, in geosynchronous orbit. At this position its Imager instrument takes pictures of cloud patterns in several wavelengths for all of North and South America, a primary measurement used in weather forecasting. Every three hours the Imager takes a picture of the full disk of the Earth. This animation shows a sequence of these full disk images in the shortwave infrared wavelengths, 3.78 to 4.03 microns, during the period that Hurricane Katrina passed through the Gulf of Mexico. This wavelength band shows the day-night cycle, and is useful for identifying fog at night and discriminating between water clouds and snow or ice clouds during the daytime. || ", "hits": 18 }, { "id": 3232, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/3232/", "result_type": "Visualization", "release_date": "2005-10-05T00:00:00-04:00", "title": "GOES-12 Imagery of Hurricane Katrina: Full Disk Water Vapor (WMS)", "description": "The GOES-12 satellite sits at 75 degrees west longitude at an altitude of 36,000 kilometers over the equator, in geosynchronous orbit. At this position its Imager instrument takes pictures of cloud patterns in several wavelengths for all of North and South America, a primary measurement used in weather forecasting. Every three hours the Imager takes a picture of the full disk of the Earth. This animation shows a sequence of these full disk images in the 6.47 to 7.02 micron wavelength band, during the period that Hurricane Katrina passed through the Gulf of Mexico. This wavelength band is useful for estimating mid-level water vapor content and for observing atmospheric motion in that level. || ", "hits": 29 }, { "id": 3233, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/3233/", "result_type": "Visualization", "release_date": "2005-10-05T00:00:00-04:00", "title": "GOES-12 Imagery of Hurricane Katrina: Full Disk Longwave Infrared (WMS)", "description": "The GOES-12 satellite sits at 75 degrees west longitude at an altitude of 36,000 kilometers over the equator, in geosynchronous orbit. At this position its Imager instrument takes pictures of cloud patterns in several wavelengths for all of North and South America, a primary measurement used in weather forecasting. Every three hours the Imager takes a picture of the full disk of the Earth. This animation shows a sequence of these full disk images in the longwave infrared wavelengths, from 10.2 to 11.2 microns, during the period that Hurricane Katrina passed through the Gulf of Mexico. This wavelength band is the most common one for observing cloud motions and severe storms throughout the day and night. || ", "hits": 21 }, { "id": 3234, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/3234/", "result_type": "Visualization", "release_date": "2005-10-05T00:00:00-04:00", "title": "GOES-12 Imagery of Hurricane Katrina: Full Disk Lower Level Temperature (WMS)", "description": "The GOES-12 satellite sits at 75 degrees west longitude at an altitude of 36,000 kilometers over the equator, in geosynchronous orbit. At this position its Imager instrument takes pictures of cloud patterns in several wavelengths for all of North and South America, a primary measurement used in weather forecasting. Every three hours the Imager takes a picture of the full disk of the Earth. This animation shows a sequence of these full disk images in the wavelength band from 12.9 to 13.8 microns, during the period that Hurricane Katrina passed through the Gulf of Mexico. This wavelength band is useful for determining cloud characteristics such as cloud top pressure. || ", "hits": 24 }, { "id": 3235, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/3235/", "result_type": "Visualization", "release_date": "2005-10-05T00:00:00-04:00", "title": "GOES-10 Imagery of Hurricane Katrina: Full Disk Longwave Infrared (WMS)", "description": "The GOES-10 satellite sits at 135 degrees west longitude at an altitude of 36,000 kilometers over the equator, in geosynchronous orbit. At this position its Imager instrument takes pictures of cloud patterns in several wavelengths for the Pacific Ocean, a primary measurement used in weather forecasting. Every three hours the Imager takes a picture of the full disk of the Earth. This animation shows a sequence of these full disk images in the longwave infrared wavelengths, from 10.2 to 11.2 microns, during the period that Hurricane Katrina passed through the Gulf of Mexico. This wavelength band is the most common one for observing cloud motions and severe storms throughout the day and night. || ", "hits": 19 }, { "id": 3236, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/3236/", "result_type": "Visualization", "release_date": "2005-10-05T00:00:00-04:00", "title": "GOES-12 Imagery of Hurricane Katrina: Longwave Infrared Overview (WMS)", "description": "The GOES-12 satellite sits at 75 degrees west longitude at an altitude of 36,000 kilometers over the equator, in geosynchronous orbit. At this position its Imager instrument takes pictures of cloud patterns in several wavelengths for all of North and South America, a primary measurement used in weather forecasting. The Imager takes a pattern of pictures of parts of the Earth in several wavelengths all day, measurements that are vital in weather forecasting. This animation shows a four-day sequence of GOES-12 images in the longwave infrared wavelengths, from 10.2 to 11.2 microns, during the period that Hurricane Katrina passed through the Gulf of Mexico. This wavelength band is the most common one for observing cloud motions and severe storms throughout the day and night. Note that most of the images are taken over the United States (about every 5 minutes) with full disk images every 3 hours and several specific images over South America every day. || ", "hits": 13 }, { "id": 3237, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/3237/", "result_type": "Visualization", "release_date": "2005-10-05T00:00:00-04:00", "title": "GOES-12 Imagery of Hurricane Katrina: Longwave Infrared Progression (WMS)", "description": "The GOES-12 satellite sits at 75 degrees west longitude at an altitude of 36,000 kilometers over the equator, in geosynchronous orbit. At this position its Imager instrument takes pictures of cloud patterns in several wavelengths for all of North and South America, a primary measurement used in weather forecasting. The Imager takes a pattern of pictures of parts of the Earth in several wavelengths all day, measurements that are vital in weather forecasting. This animation shows a four-day sequence of GOES-12 images in the longwave infrared wavelengths, from 10.2 to 11.2 microns, during the period that Hurricane Katrina passed through the Gulf of Mexico. This wavelength band is the most common one for observing cloud motions and severe storms throughout the day and night. Note that most of the images are taken over the United States (about every 5 minutes) with full disk images every 3 hours and several specific images over South America every day. In this animation, new images are placed over old images rather than replacing them, so different parts of the image update at different times as measurements are taken. || ", "hits": 21 }, { "id": 3242, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/3242/", "result_type": "Visualization", "release_date": "2005-10-05T00:00:00-04:00", "title": "TRMM Microwave Brightness Temperature Swath during Hurricane Katrina: Vertical Polarization", "description": "The TMI instrument on the TRMM satellite measures microwaves emitted from the Earth's land and water. By comparing emission from different microwave frequencies, the characteristics of ice and water in the atmosphere can be determined. For example, 85 GHz microwaves are scattered by ice crystals in tropical cyclones, making cyclone rain bands appear 'colder' than the surrounding areas. By comparing 85 GHz temperatures in different polarizations with other frequency band measurements, accurate measurements of rainfall in the atmosphere can be made. This animation shows four days of TMI 85 GHz measurements, one orbit at a time. Hurricane Katrina was in the Gulf of Mexico at the time and clearly shows up in the measurements. || ", "hits": 11 }, { "id": 3243, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/3243/", "result_type": "Visualization", "release_date": "2005-10-05T00:00:00-04:00", "title": "TRMM Microwave Brightness Temperature Swath during Hurricane Katrina: Horizontal Polarization", "description": "The TMI instrument on the TRMM satellite measures microwaves emitted from the Earth's land and water. By comparing emission from different microwave frequencies, the characteristics of ice and water in the atmosphere can be determined. For example, 85 GHz microwaves are scattered by ice crystals in tropical cyclones, making cyclone rain bands appear 'colder' than the surrounding areas. By comparing 85 GHz temperatures in different polarizations with other frequency band measurements, accurate measurements of rainfall in the atmosphere can be made. This animation shows four days of TMI 85 GHz measurements, one orbit at a time. Hurricane Katrina was in the Gulf of Mexico at the time and clearly shows up in the measurements. || ", "hits": 11 }, { "id": 3247, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/3247/", "result_type": "Visualization", "release_date": "2005-10-05T00:00:00-04:00", "title": "TRMM Microwave Brightness Temperature Progression during Hurricane Katrina: Vertical Polarization", "description": "The TMI instrument on the TRMM satellite measures microwaves emitted from the Earth's land and water. By comparing emission from different microwave frequencies, the characteristics of ice and water in the atmosphere can be determined. For example, 85 GHz microwaves are scattered by ice crystals in tropical cyclones, making cyclone rain bands appear 'colder' than the surrounding areas. By comparing 85 GHz temperatures in different polarizations with other frequency band measurements, accurate measurements of rainfall in the atmosphere can be made. This animation builds up four days of global TMI 85 GHz measurements. Hurricane Katrina was in the Gulf of Mexico at the time and clearly shows up in the measurements. || ", "hits": 10 }, { "id": 3249, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/3249/", "result_type": "Visualization", "release_date": "2005-10-05T00:00:00-04:00", "title": "TRMM Microwave Measurements during Hurricane Katrina: Vertical Polarization", "description": "The TMI instrument on the TRMM satellite measures microwaves emitted from the Earth's land and water. By comparing emission from different microwave frequencies, the characteristics of ice and water in the atmosphere can be determined. For example, 85 GHz microwaves are scattered by ice crystals in tropical cyclones, making cyclone rain bands appear 'colder' than the surrounding areas. By comparing 85 GHz temperatures in different polarizations with other frequency band measurements, accurate measurements of rainfall in the atmosphere can be made. This animation shows eight days of global TMI 85 GHz measurements in the Gulf of Mexico during Hurricane Katrina. The hurricane Katrina rainbands clearly show up in these images. || ", "hits": 7 }, { "id": 3250, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/3250/", "result_type": "Visualization", "release_date": "2005-10-05T00:00:00-04:00", "title": "TRMM Microwave Measurements during Hurricane Katrina: Horizontal Polarization", "description": "The TMI instrument on the TRMM satellite measures microwaves emitted from the Earth's land and water. By comparing emission from different microwave frequencies, the characteristics of ice and water in the atmosphere can be determined. For example, 85 GHz microwaves are scattered by ice crystals in tropical cyclones, making cyclone rain bands appear 'colder' than the surrounding areas. By comparing 85 GHz temperatures in different polarizations with other frequency band measurements, accurate measurements of rainfall in the atmosphere can be made. This animation shows eight days of global TMI 85 GHz measurements in the Gulf of Mexico during Hurricane Katrina. The hurricane Katrina rainbands clearly show up in these images. || ", "hits": 12 }, { "id": 3254, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/3254/", "result_type": "Visualization", "release_date": "2005-10-05T00:00:00-04:00", "title": "GOES-12 Imagery of Hurricane Katrina: Visible Close-up (WMS)", "description": "The GOES-12 satellite sits at 75 degrees west longitude at an altitude of 36,000 kilometers over the equator, in geosynchronous orbit. At this position its Imager instrument takes pictures of cloud patterns in several wavelengths for all of North and South America, a primary measurement used in weather forecasting. The Imager takes a pattern of pictures of parts of the Earth in several wavelengths all day, measurements that are vital in weather forecasting. This animation shows a daily sequence of GOES-12 images in the visible wavelengths, from 0.52 to 0.72 microns, during the period that Hurricane Katrina passed through the Gulf of Mexico. At one kilometer resolution, the visible band measurement is the highest resolution data from the Imager, which accounts for the very high level of detail in these images. For this animation, the cloud data was extracted from GOES image and laid over a background color image of the southeast United States. || ", "hits": 29 }, { "id": 3255, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/3255/", "result_type": "Visualization", "release_date": "2005-10-05T00:00:00-04:00", "title": "Aqua MODIS Imagery of Hurricane Katrina (WMS)", "description": "Low earth-orbiting satellites, such as Aqua, usually see any place on Earth no more than once a day. This daily sequence of color images from the MODIS instrument on Aqua shows the Gulf of Mexico during the period of Hurricane Katrina, from August 23 to August 30, 2005. The gaps in the MODIS imagery occur between successive orbits, about 90 minutes apart, and are filled in in this animation using high-resolution visible imagery from GOES-12. || ", "hits": 38 }, { "id": 3203, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/3203/", "result_type": "Visualization", "release_date": "2005-07-28T11:00:00-04:00", "title": "Global High Altitude Wind Speed during Hurricane Frances (WMS)", "description": "The Earth's atmosphere exerts pressure based on the weight of the air above. Differences in pressure from place-to-place cause winds to try to flow from high pressure to low pressure regions to even out the differences, but the Earth's rotation and wind friction with the surface act to slow or divert the winds. This animation shows the high altitude wind speeds for the whole globe from September 1, 2004, through September 5, 2004, during the period of Hurricane Frances in the western Atlantic Ocean and Typhoon Songda in the western Pacific Ocean. At high altitudes, the difference between between high pressures from warm tropical air and low pressures from cold polar air try to force air from the tropics toward the poles, but the Earth's rotation diverts this flow to the east, resulting in the high velocity west-to-east jet stream flows at mid-latitudes. The circular flows from Frances and Songda can barely be seen at this altitude. || ", "hits": 61 }, { "id": 3207, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/3207/", "result_type": "Visualization", "release_date": "2005-07-28T11:00:00-04:00", "title": "Global 300 hPa Geopotential Height during Hurricane Frances (WMS)", "description": "The Earth's atmosphere exerts pressure based on the weight of the air above, so the pressure reduces with rising altitude. This rate of pressure reduction with altitude is based on the temperature of the air, with the pressure of colder air reducing faster with altitude than warmer air. Therefore, a surface of constant pressure has a lower altitude at the poles than the equator. This animation shows the altitude above sea level (the geopotential height) of the 300 hectopascal (hPa) pressure surface for the whole globe from September 1, 2004, through September 5, 2004, during the period of Hurricane Frances in the western Atlantic Ocean and Typhoon Songda in the western Pacific Ocean. This pressure is about one-third of the normal pressure at sea level. The largest downward slope of this surface occurs in the mid-latitudes and is shown in yellow in the animation. At this region, air is trying to flow from the equator towards the poles to reduce the slope, but the rotation of the Earth forces the flow to divert to the east, forming the strong west-to-east jet stream flows in these regions. Frances and Songda can be seen as sharp yellow dots of reduced height in their respective locations. || ", "hits": 117 }, { "id": 3208, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/3208/", "result_type": "Visualization", "release_date": "2005-07-28T11:00:00-04:00", "title": "Global Cloud Cover during Hurricane Frances (WMS)", "description": "Water vapor is a small but significant constituent of the atmosphere, warming the planet due to the greenhouse effect and condensing to form clouds which both warm and cool the Earth in different circumstances. Warm, moisture-laden air moving out from the tropics brings clouds and rainfall to the temperate zones. This animation shows the cloud cover for the whole globe from September 1, 2004, through September 5, 2004, during the period of Hurricane Frances in the western Atlantic Ocean and Typhoon Songda in the western Pacific Ocean. The cloud cover in any region significantly affects the energy balance since sunlight reflected from the clouds is not available to heat the surface. The motion of clouds in this animation clearly indicates the speed and direction of winds around the globe. || ", "hits": 30 }, { "id": 3209, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/3209/", "result_type": "Visualization", "release_date": "2005-07-28T11:00:00-04:00", "title": "Global Convective Precipitation during Hurricane Frances (WMS)", "description": "Water vapor is a small but significant constituent of the atmosphere, warming the planet due to the greenhouse effect and condensing to form clouds. As moisture-laden air rises, the relative humidity increases until it saturates the air, at which time precipitation occurs. If the uplift of air is due to strong updrafts and unstable air systems, as in thunderstorms, then the precipitation is called convective. This animation shows the convective precipitation for the whole globe from September 1, 2004, through September 5, 2004, during the period of Hurricane Frances in the western Atlantic Ocean and Typhoon Songda in the western Pacific Ocean. Convective precipitation is more intense but less long-lasting than large-scale precipitation. || ", "hits": 13 }, { "id": 3210, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/3210/", "result_type": "Visualization", "release_date": "2005-07-28T11:00:00-04:00", "title": "Global Large-scale Precipitation during Hurricane Frances (WMS)", "description": "Water vapor is a small but significant constituent of the atmosphere, warming the planet due to the greenhouse effect and condensing to form clouds. As moisture-laden air rises, the relative humidity increases until it saturates the air, at which time precipitation occurs. If the uplift of air is due to large-scale atmospheric motion, then the precipitation is called large-scale, or dynamic. This animation shows the large-scale precipitation for the whole globe from September 1, 2004, through September 5, 2004, during the period of Hurricane Frances in the western Atlantic Ocean and Typhoon Songda in the western Pacific Ocean. Large-scale precipitation tends to be continuous and to come from decks of stratus clouds rather than from thunderstorms. || ", "hits": 13 }, { "id": 3182, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/3182/", "result_type": "Visualization", "release_date": "2005-07-27T11:00:00-04:00", "title": "Global Atmospheric Sea Level Pressure during Hurricane Frances (WMS)", "description": "The weight of the Earth's atmosphere exerts pressure on the surface of the Earth. This pressure varies from place-to-place due the variations in the Earth's surface since higher altitudes have less atmosphere above them than lower altitudes. Atmospheric pressure also varies from time-to-time due to the uneven heating of the atmosphere by the sun and the rotation of the Earth, causing weather. In order to see the changes in pressure which affect the weather, the variation due to altitude is removed from the surface pressure, creating a quantity called sea level pressure. This animation shows the atmospheric sea level pressure for the whole globe from September 1, 2004, through September 5, 2004, during the period of Hurricane Frances in the western Atlantic Ocean and Typhoon Songda in the western Pacific Ocean. The sharp, moving low pressures areas for Frances and Songda can be clearly seen in the oceans. Even with the direct effect of altitude removed, cold high-altitude regions such as the South Pole and the Himalayan Plateau still exhibit lower-than-normal pressures, probably due to the interaction of cold air over those regions with the warmer air in the surrounding regions. || ", "hits": 48 }, { "id": 3197, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/3197/", "result_type": "Visualization", "release_date": "2005-07-27T11:00:00-04:00", "title": "Global Atmospheric Surface Pressure during Hurricane Frances (WMS)", "description": "The weight of the Earth's atmosphere exerts pressure on the surface of the Earth. This pressure varies from place-to-place due the variations in the Earth's surface since higher altitudes have less atmosphere above them than lower altitudes. Atmospheric pressure also varies from time-to-time due to the uneven heating of the atmosphere by the sun and the rotation of the Earth, causing weather. This animation shows the atmospheric surface pressure for the whole globe from September 1, 2004, through September 5, 2004, during the period of Hurricane Frances in the western Atlantic Ocean and Typhoon Songda in the western Pacific Ocean. The major changes in pressure occur over land where the surface altitude varies, but the sharp, moving low pressures areas for Frances and Songda can be clearly seen in the oceans. Since changing surface pressure areas over land are hard to see in these images due to the strong altitude variations, plots of the atmospheric surface pressure are almost never used to study the weather. A different plot, of sea-level pressure, is used instead. || ", "hits": 26 }, { "id": 3198, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/3198/", "result_type": "Visualization", "release_date": "2005-07-27T11:00:00-04:00", "title": "Global Surface Air Temperature during Hurricane Frances (WMS)", "description": "As the Sun's energy reaches the Earth, it is either reflected, absorbed by the clouds, or absorbed by the Earth's surface. The part absorbed by the Earth's surface heats the Earth, which then heats the air just above the surface. This process occurs rapidly in the case of dry land and slowly in the case of the oceans. This animation shows the surface air temperature at an altitude of 2 meters for the whole globe from September 1, 2004, through September 5, 2004, during the period of Hurricane Frances in the western Atlantic Ocean and Typhoon Songda in the western Pacific Ocean. The animation clearly shows the air over land reacting rapidly to solar heating during the day and cooling at night, while the daily solar cycle is not visible in the temperature of the air over the ocean. A very dynamic region of changing air temperature is visible in the interaction between the cold air over Antarctica and the warmer mid-latitude air over the southern oceans during this region of polar night. Hurricane Frances and Typhhon Songda are just barely visible as circulating temperature patterns in the western Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. || ", "hits": 17 }, { "id": 3199, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/3199/", "result_type": "Visualization", "release_date": "2005-07-27T11:00:00-04:00", "title": "Global Surface Latent Heat Flux during Hurricane Frances (WMS)", "description": "As the Sun's energy reaches the Earth, it is either reflected, absorbed by the clouds, or absorbed by the Earth's surface. The part absorbed by the surface heats the Earth, which causes surface water to evaporate to the air, particularly over oceans or moist land. Similarly, a cold surface causes water to condense from the air onto the land or ocean. Latent heat flux is the amount of energy moving from the surface to the air due to evaporation (positive values) or from the air to the land due to condensation (negative values). This animation shows the latent heat flux for the whole globe from September 1, 2004, through September 5, 2004, during the period of Hurricane Frances in the western Atlantic Ocean and Typhoon Songda in the western Pacific Ocean. The animation clearly shows the evaporation over land only during the heat of the day, while the evaporation over the ocean is continuous throughout the day. The highest positive latent heat flux occurs during hurricanes and typhoons, as these events are powered by the movement of heat energy from the warm ocean to the atmosphere, seen here in Hurricane Frances and Typhoon Songda. Significant negative latent heat flux is somewhat rare and occurs over the ocean only during certain configurations of air and surface conditions. || ", "hits": 101 }, { "id": 3201, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/3201/", "result_type": "Visualization", "release_date": "2005-07-27T11:00:00-04:00", "title": "Global Surface Wind Speed during Hurricane Frances (WMS)", "description": "The weight of the Earth's atmosphere exerts pressure on the surface of the Earth. This pressure varies from place-to-place and from time-to-time due to surface irregularities, uneven heating of the atmosphere by the sun, and the Earth's rotation. Differences in pressure from place-to-place cause winds to try to flow from high pressure to low pressure regions to even out the differences, but the Earth's rotation and wind friction with the surface act to slow or divert the winds. This animation shows the surface wind speeds for the whole globe from September 1, 2004, through September 5, 2004, during the period of Hurricane Frances in the western Atlantic Ocean and Typhoon Songda in the western Pacific Ocean. The highest, smoothest winds occur over the oceans where there are no surface irregularities to break up the flow, while flows over land tend to be irregular and highly variable. The highest winds occur in Hurricane Frances and Typhoon Songda, but note that the hurricane's wind speeds reduce dramatically when crossing Florida. || ", "hits": 25 }, { "id": 3202, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/3202/", "result_type": "Visualization", "release_date": "2005-07-27T11:00:00-04:00", "title": "Global Atmospheric Water Vapor during Hurricane Frances (WMS)", "description": "Water vapor is a small but significant constituent of the atmosphere, warming the planet due to the greenhouse effect and condensing to form clouds which both warm and cool the Earth in different circumstances. Warm, moisture-laden air moving out from the tropics brings rainfall to the temperate zones. This animation shows the atmospheric water vapor for the whole globe from September 1, 2004, through September 5, 2004, during the period of Hurricane Frances in the western Atlantic Ocean and Typhoon Songda in the western Pacific Ocean. The band of water vapor over the tropics is the intertropical convergence zone, where converging trade winds and high temperatures force large amounts of water high into the atmosphere. Both Hurricane Frances and Typhoon Songda exhibit significant spiral bands of high water vapor. || ", "hits": 42 }, { "id": 3200, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/3200/", "result_type": "Visualization", "release_date": "2005-07-26T00:00:00-04:00", "title": "Progression of Hurricane Emily, 2005 (WMS)", "description": "Emily was a record-setting storm for many reasons. When it formed on July 11, Emily became the earliest fifth named storm on record. As it moved through the Caribbean, Emily intensified into a powerful Category 4 storm with winds over 250 kilometers per hour (150 mph) and gusts as high as 300 kilometers per hour (184 mph), making it the most powerful storm to form before August. The previous record was set by Hurricane Dennis, which ripped through the Caribbean during the first week of July 2005. Emily's Category 4 status also made 2005 the only year to produce two Category 4 storms before the end of July. || ", "hits": 46 }, { "id": 3194, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/3194/", "result_type": "Visualization", "release_date": "2005-07-18T00:00:00-04:00", "title": "Progression of Hurricane Dennis, 2005 (WMS)", "description": "The formation of Hurricane Dennis on July 5 made that the earliest date on record that four named storms formed in the Atlantic basin. Dennis proved to be a powerful and destructive storm in the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico. It crossed over Cuba on July 8 and 9, leaving at least 10 dead, and caused additional deaths in Haiti. After re-emerging over open water, Dennis re-strengthened into a dangerous Category 4 hurricane with top wind speeds of 233 kilometers per hour (145 mph). The storm passed within 90 kilometers (55 miles) of Pensacola, Florida, and hit land about 80 kilometers (50 miles) east of where Hurricane Ivan struck in September, 2004. A large storm surge of more than 10 feet was created in certain areas, and many homes and businesses in low-lying areas were flooded. || ", "hits": 914 }, { "id": 3193, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/3193/", "result_type": "Visualization", "release_date": "2005-07-13T00:00:00-04:00", "title": "Sea Surface Height Anomaly, 2003-2005 (WMS)", "description": "Changes in the normal height of the ocean's surface were observed by the TOPEX/Poseidon altimeter. || ", "hits": 17 }, { "id": 3191, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/3191/", "result_type": "Visualization", "release_date": "2005-07-11T00:00:00-04:00", "title": "Sea Surface Temperature, 2005 (WMS)", "description": "The temperature of the surface of the world's oceans provides a clear indication of the state of the Earth's climate and weather. In this visualization sequence covering the period from January to June, 2005, the most obvious effects are the north-south movement of warm regions across the equator due to the seasonal movement of the sun and the seasonal advance and retreat of the sea ice near the North and South poles. It is also possible to see the Gulf Stream, the warm river of water that parallels the east coast of the United States before heading towards northern Europe, in this data. || ", "hits": 18 }, { "id": 3192, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/3192/", "result_type": "Visualization", "release_date": "2005-07-11T00:00:00-04:00", "title": "Sea Surface Temperature Anomaly, 2005 (WMS)", "description": "The temperature of the surface of the world's oceans provides a clear indication of the state of the Earth's climate and weather. The sea surface temperature anomaly, or difference from the mean, can show climate indicators such as the El Niño oscillation, which manifests as a warmer-than-normal sea surface temperature in the Pacific Ocean west of Ecuador and Peru. This sequence shows a slight La Niña effect, or cooler-than-normal sea surface temperature in the eastern Pacific. || ", "hits": 20 }, { "id": 3185, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/3185/", "result_type": "Visualization", "release_date": "2005-07-01T00:00:00-04:00", "title": "Monthly Snow Climatology, 1979-2002 (WMS)", "description": "The extent of snow and ice that covers the earth's surface in the northern hemisphere grows and shrinks with the seasons. This animations shows the average snow and ice cover for a given month over a 24-year period, 1979 - 2002. It shows how often a particular point is covered with snow in a given month. The SVS Image Server gives each particular image in the animation the last date for which the data was used in creating that image, even though each of the images covers a span of years for a particular month. || ", "hits": 35 }, { "id": 3186, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/3186/", "result_type": "Visualization", "release_date": "2005-07-01T00:00:00-04:00", "title": "Minimum Sea Ice Extent (WMS)", "description": "Each year, the ice covering the Arctic Ocean grows during the northern hemisphere winter and shrinks with the northern hemisphere summer. The ice extent is usually greatest during the month of March and is the least during the month of September. This image shows the average minimum extent of sea ice over the northern hemisphere during the month of September over 24 seasons, from 1979 - 2002. The red line shows the area where the average sea ice concentration is 15%. || ", "hits": 12 }, { "id": 3175, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/3175/", "result_type": "Visualization", "release_date": "2005-06-21T00:00:00-04:00", "title": "Outgoing Shortwave Flux Compared to Clouds (WMS)", "description": "The Earth's climate is determined by energy transfer from the sun to the Earth's land, oceans, and atmosphere. As the Earth rotates, the sun lights up only part of the Earth at a time, and some of that incoming solar energy is reflected and some is absorbed, depending on type of area it lights. The amount of reflection and absorption is critical to the climate. An instrument named CERES orbits the Earth every 99 minutes and measures the reflected solar energy. This animation shows the reflected solar radiation measured by CERES during 29 orbits on June 20 and 21 of 2003 over infrared cloud images for the same period. Reflected solar radiation is shortwave radiation, and the most intense reflection comes from clouds. || ", "hits": 19 }, { "id": 3176, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/3176/", "result_type": "Visualization", "release_date": "2005-06-21T00:00:00-04:00", "title": "Outgoing Longwave Flux Compared to Clouds (WMS)", "description": "The Earth's climate is determined by energy transfer from the sun to the Earth's land, oceans, and atmosphere. As the Earth rotates, the sun lights up only part of the Earth at a time, and some of that incoming solar energy is reflected and some is absorbed, depending on type of area it lights. The amount of reflection and absorption is critical to the climate. An instrument named CERES orbits the Earth every 99 minutes and measures the reflected solar energy. This animation shows the outgoing thermal radiation measured by CERES during 29 orbits on June 20 and 21 of 2003 over global infrared cloud images. Thermal radiation is longwave radiation and depends on the temperature of the earth, with the most intense radiation coming from the warmest regions and the least from cold clouds in the atmosphere. Although cold clouds and the cold Antarctic night regions can be seen in this data, the Earth radiates pretty uniformly in the longwave bands because the atmosphere distributes the heat of the sun to the whole planet. || ", "hits": 33 }, { "id": 3177, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/3177/", "result_type": "Visualization", "release_date": "2005-06-21T00:00:00-04:00", "title": "Net Radiation Flux Compared to Clouds (WMS)", "description": "The Earth's climate is determined by energy transfer from the sun to the Earth's land, oceans, and atmosphere. As the Earth rotates, the sun lights up only part of the Earth at a time, and some of that incoming solar energy is reflected and some is absorbed, depending on type of area it lights. The amount of reflection and absorption is critical to the climate. An instrument named CERES orbits the Earth every 99 minutes and measures the reflected solar energy. This animation shows the net radiation flux within view of CERES during 29 orbits on June 20 and 21 of 2003. The net flux is the incoming solar flux minus the outgoing reflected (shortwave) and thermal (longwave) radiation. If the flux in a region is positive, the Earth is being warmed by the sun in that region, while cooling regions have a negative flux. It is clear from the animation that the most intensive heating occurs in ocean regions with few clouds, while the second most intense are cloud-free regions over vegetated land areas. Deserts, cloudy regions, and ice caps all reflect enough solar radiation to reduce the amount of heating. Regions of night are, of course, cooling regions because there is no incoming flux at all. || ", "hits": 77 }, { "id": 3178, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/3178/", "result_type": "Visualization", "release_date": "2005-06-21T00:00:00-04:00", "title": "Incoming Solar Flux Compared to Clouds (WMS)", "description": "The Earth's climate is determined by energy transfer from the sun to the Earth's land, oceans, and atmosphere. As the Earth rotates, the sun lights up only part of the Earth at a time, and some of that incoming solar energy is reflected and some is absorbed, depending on type of area it lights. The amount of reflection and absorption is critical to the climate. An instrument named CERES orbits the Earth every 99 minutes and measures the reflected solar energy. This animation shows the incoming solar radiation within view of CERES during 29 orbits on June 20 and 21 of 2003. Because this is incoming solar flux, its magnitude only depends on the position of the sun, and, because the orbit is synchronized with the sun, the orbit crosses the equator in the daylight at about 1:30 PM local time on every orbit. This data is not actually measured from CERES, but is calculated to compare with the outgoing radiation that CERES does measure. Note that the infrared cloud image shown under the solar data shows high infrared as dark (land) and low infrared as light (clouds). || ", "hits": 29 }, { "id": 3179, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/3179/", "result_type": "Visualization", "release_date": "2005-06-21T00:00:00-04:00", "title": "Scene Identification Compared to Clouds (WMS)", "description": "The Earth's climate is determined by energy transfer from the sun to the Earth's land, oceans, and atmosphere. As the Earth rotates, the sun lights up only part of the Earth at a time, and some of that incoming solar energy is reflected and some is absorbed, depending on type of area it lights. The amount of reflection and absorption is critical to the climate. An instrument named CERES orbits the Earth every 99 minutes and measures the reflected solar energy. This animation shows the scene identification as measured by CERES during 29 orbits on June 20 and 21 of 2003. By comparing the incoming solar radiation with the outgoing reflected and thermal radiation, it is possible to identify the type of area being viewed, whether it be land, clouds, ocean, or ice. This scene identification is used together with the radiation flux measurements to build up a complete picture of the Earth's energy budget over time. || ", "hits": 10 }, { "id": 3166, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/3166/", "result_type": "Visualization", "release_date": "2005-06-04T12:00:00-04:00", "title": "Monthly Sea Ice Climatology, 1979-2002 (WMS)", "description": "Sea ice is frozen seawater floating on the surface of the ocean. Some sea ice is permanent, persisting from year to year, and some is seasonal, melting and refreezing from season to season. Because the extent of the sea ice is important both for the Arctic marine ecology and for the role it plays in the Earth's climate, understanding the variation of this extent during the year and from year-to-year is vital. The first step in understanding the behavior of the sea ice is to calculate the average behavior of the sea ice over a single year. This behavior, called the climatology, is calculated by averaging the sea ice concentration over each month of a long period, in this case from October 1978 through September 2002. This animation shows the 23-year average sea ice concentration in the northern hemisphere for each particular month of the year. Generally, the minimum extent of sea ice occurs in September, and the maximum occurs in March. || ", "hits": 9 }, { "id": 3167, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/3167/", "result_type": "Visualization", "release_date": "2005-06-04T12:00:00-04:00", "title": "September Minimum Sea Ice Concentration, 1979-2004 (WMS)", "description": "Sea ice is frozen seawater floating on the surface of the ocean. Some sea ice is permanent, persisting from year to year, and some is seasonal, melting and refreezing from season to season. Because the extent of the sea ice is important both for the Arctic marine ecology and for the role it plays in the Earth's climate, understanding the variation of this extent during the year and from year-to-year is vital. Each year, the minimum sea ice extent in the northern hemisphere occurs at the end of summer, in September. By comparing the extent of the sea ice in September over many successive years, long term trends in the polar climate can be assessed. This animation shows the minimum sea ice concentration in the northern hemisphere in September between 1979 and 2004. Since 1999, this minimum has shown an ice extent that is consistently 10% to 15% smaller than the average extent over the past 20 years. || ", "hits": 8 }, { "id": 3168, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/3168/", "result_type": "Visualization", "release_date": "2005-06-04T12:00:00-04:00", "title": "Daily 89 MHz Brightness Temperature, 2002-2003 (WMS)", "description": "Sea ice is frozen seawater floating on the surface of the ocean. Some sea ice is permanent, persisting from year to year, and some is seasonal, melting and refreezing from season to season. Sea ice is almost always in motion, reacting to ocean currents and to winds. The AMSR-E instrument on the Aqua satellite acquires high resolution measurements of the 89 GHz brightness temperature near the poles. Because this is a passive microwave sensor and independent of atmospheric effects, this sensor is able to observe the entire polar region every day, even through clouds and snowfalls . This animation of AMSR-E 89 GHz brightness temperature in the northern hemisphere during late 2002 and early 2003 clearly shows the dynamic motion of the ice as well as its seasonal expansion and contraction. || ", "hits": 6 }, { "id": 3169, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/3169/", "result_type": "Visualization", "release_date": "2005-06-01T12:00:00-04:00", "title": "Sulfur Dioxide from the Mount Pinatubo Volcanic Eruption, 1991 (WMS)", "description": "This animation shows levels of sulfur dioxide in the atmosphere after the volcanic eruption of Mt. Pinatubo in the Philippines.This product is available through our Web Map Service. || background-bluemarble-equatorial.png (1024x256) [226.3 KB] || pinatubo_so2-thm.png (80x40) [3.9 KB] || pinatubo_so2-pre.png (320x160) [39.3 KB] || pinatubo_so2-pre_searchweb.png (320x180) [39.6 KB] || pinatubo_so2.webmhd.webm (960x540) [173.9 KB] || 1024x256 (1024x256) [4.0 KB] || pinatubo_so2.m2v (1024x256) [4.8 MB] || a003169_pinatubo_so2.mp4 (640x160) [987.3 KB] || ", "hits": 78 }, { "id": 3170, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/3170/", "result_type": "Visualization", "release_date": "2005-06-01T12:00:00-04:00", "title": "X-Ray Images of the North Polar Region (WMS)", "description": "Here are X-rays images (shown on the same brightness scale) of the north polar region obtained by Chandra HRC-I on different days, showing large variability in soft (0.1-10.0 keV) X-ray emissions from Earth s aurora. Note that the images are not snap shots, but are approximately 20-min scans of the northern auroral region in the HRC-I field-of-view. The brightness scale in Rayleighs (R) assumes an average effective area of 40 cm2. The day-night terminator at an altitude of 0 km is displayed with lighting. The day-night terminator at an altitude of 100 km is shown by the blue line. || ", "hits": 16 }, { "id": 3171, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/3171/", "result_type": "Visualization", "release_date": "2005-06-01T12:00:00-04:00", "title": "Wind Anomalies During El Niño/La Niña Event of 1997-1998 (WMS)", "description": "The El Niño/La Niña event in 1997-1999 was particularly intense, but was also very well observed by satellites and buoys. Deviations from normal winds speeds and directions were computed using data from the Special Sensor Microwave/Imager (SSMI) on the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite. || ", "hits": 23 }, { "id": 3152, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/3152/", "result_type": "Visualization", "release_date": "2005-05-27T12:00:00-04:00", "title": "Urban Signatures: Temperature (WMS)", "description": "Big cities influence the environment around them. For example, urban areas are typically warmer than their surroundings. Cities are strikingly visible in computer models that simulate the Earth's land surface. This visualization shows average surface temperature predicted by the Land Information System (LIS) for a day in June 2001. Only part of the global computation is shown, focusing on the highly urbanized northeast corridor in the United States, including the cities of Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Washington. || ", "hits": 12 }, { "id": 3154, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/3154/", "result_type": "Visualization", "release_date": "2005-05-27T12:00:00-04:00", "title": "Urban Signatures: Evaporation (WMS)", "description": "Big cities influence the environment around them. For example, urban areas are typically warmer than their surroundings. Cities are strikingly visible in computer models that simulate the Earth's land surface. This visualization shows evaporation rates predicted by the Land Information System (LIS) for a day in June 2001. Evaporation is lower in the cities because water tends to run off pavement and into drains, rather than being absorbed by soil and plants from which it later evaporates. Only part of the global computation is shown, focusing on the highly urbanized northeast corridor in the United States, including the cities of Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Washington. || ", "hits": 45 }, { "id": 3155, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/3155/", "result_type": "Visualization", "release_date": "2005-05-27T12:00:00-04:00", "title": "Urban Signatures: Thermal Radiation (WMS)", "description": "Big cities influence the environment around them. For example, urban areas are typically warmer than their surroundings. Cities are strikingly visible in computer models that simulate the Earth's land surface. This visualization shows outgoing thermal radiation predicted by the Land Information System (LIS) for a day in June 2001. Cities are warmer, so they emit more longwave (infrared) radiation. Only part of the global computation is shown, focusing on the highly urbanized northeast corridor in the United States, including the cities of Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Washington. || ", "hits": 22 }, { "id": 3156, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/3156/", "result_type": "Visualization", "release_date": "2005-05-27T12:00:00-04:00", "title": "Urban Signatures: Latent Heat Flux (WMS)", "description": "Big cities influence the environment around them. For example, urban areas are typically warmer than their surroundings. Cities are strikingly visible in computer models that simulate the Earth's land surface. This visualization shows latent heat flux predicted by the Land Information System (LIS) for a day in June 2001. (Latent heat flux refers to the transfer of energy from the Earth's surface to the air above by evaporation of water on the surface; for a more detailed explanation see http://www.uwsp.edu/geo/faculty/ritter/geog101/textbook/energy/energy_balance.html). Latent heat flux is lower in the cities because there is less evaporation there. Only part of the global computation is shown, focusing on the highly urbanized northeast corridor in the United States, including the cities of Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Washington. || ", "hits": 46 }, { "id": 3157, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/3157/", "result_type": "Visualization", "release_date": "2005-05-27T12:00:00-04:00", "title": "Urban Signatures: Sensible Heat Flux (WMS)", "description": "Big cities influence the environment around them. For example, urban areas are typically warmer than their surroundings. Cities are strikingly visible in computer models that simulate the Earth's land surface. This visualization shows sensible heat flux predicted by the Land Information System (LIS) for a day in June 2001. (Sensible heat flux refers to transfer of heat from the earth's surface to the air above; for further explanation see http://www.uwsp.edu/geo/faculty/ritter/geog101/textbook/energy/energy_balance.html). Sensible heat flux is higher in the cities—that is, they transfer more heat to the atmosphere—because the surface there is warmer than in the surroundings. Only part of the global computation is shown, focusing on the highly urbanized northeast corridor in the United States, including the cities of Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Washington. || ", "hits": 87 }, { "id": 3163, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/3163/", "result_type": "Visualization", "release_date": "2005-05-23T12:00:00-04:00", "title": "United States Mean Population Center, 1790-2000 (WMS)", "description": "The mean center of population, traditionally referred to as the center of population, is provided for each census in the United States since 1790. The mean center of population is the point at which an imaginary, flat, weightless, and rigid map of the United States would balance if weights of identical value were placed on it so that each weight represented the location of one person. The mean center of population based on the 2000 census results is located in Phelps County, Missouri. For a complete list of the mean center of population for each census since 1790, and for a more detailed description of how these values are calculated, see http://www.census.gov/geo/www/cenpop/calculate2k.pdf. || ", "hits": 16 }, { "id": 3164, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/3164/", "result_type": "Visualization", "release_date": "2005-05-23T12:00:00-04:00", "title": "United States Median Center of Population, 1880-2000 (WMS)", "description": "The median center of population is calculated from the intersection of two median lines. The first median line is the geographic line running north and south that divides the population into two equal halves, east and west. The second median line is the geographic line running east and west that divides the population into two equal halves, north and south. For the 2000 United States Census, the median center of population was located in Van Buren township, Daviess County, Indiana. For a complete list of the median center of population for each census since 1880, and for a more detailed description of how these values are calculated, see (http://www.census.gov/geo/www/cenpop/calculate2k.pdf). || ", "hits": 26 }, { "id": 3158, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/3158/", "result_type": "Visualization", "release_date": "2005-05-18T12:00:00-04:00", "title": "Progression of Hurricane Fabian, 2003 (WMS)", "description": "Hurricane Fabian threatened the Eastern Coast of the United States before it turned northward and hit the island of Bermuda instead. Fabian came within 50 miles to the west of Bermuda on September 5th, 2003, with sustained winds of 117 miles per hour and with gusts of up to 130 miles per hour. || ", "hits": 24 }, { "id": 2912, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/2912/", "result_type": "Visualization", "release_date": "2005-05-16T12:00:00-04:00", "title": "Population Density of the World, 1990-2015 (WMS)", "description": "This animation shows the population density of the world in the years 1990, 1995, 2000, as well as a population density estimated for the year 2015. These figures have been adjusted to match United Nations totals. The most dramatic differences in population are not readily visible in this animation because they are located in cities. The maximum population density in 1990 was about 79,000 people per square kilometer, while the estimated maximum population density in 2015 will be about 236,000 people per square kilometer. Developing areas in Africa, Latin America, and Asia change the most visibly. || ", "hits": 161 }, { "id": 3153, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/3153/", "result_type": "Visualization", "release_date": "2005-05-09T12:00:00-04:00", "title": "Progression of Hurricane Charley, 2004 (WMS)", "description": "Hurricane Charley was the first of four hurricanes to hit the United States in 2004. || Image Sequence for Hurricane Charley.This product is available through our Web Map Service. || charley-composite.png (1024x1024) [1.4 MB] || charley.thm.png (80x40) [6.9 KB] || charley-composite_web.jpg (320x320) [19.1 KB] || charley-composite_web_searchweb.jpg (320x180) [91.9 KB] || frames [4.0 KB] || ", "hits": 17 }, { "id": 3151, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/3151/", "result_type": "Visualization", "release_date": "2005-05-05T12:00:00-04:00", "title": "Progression of Hurricane Ivan, 2004 (WMS)", "description": "Hurricane Ivan was the third hurricane to hit Florida during the 2004 hurricane season. This set of images shows the progression of the hurricane as it approached the Gulf Coast across the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico. || Image Sequence for Hurricane Ivan.This product is available through our Web Map Service. || ivan-composite.png (1024x1024) [1.0 MB] || ivan-composite_web.jpg (320x320) [14.2 KB] || frames [4.0 KB] || ", "hits": 19 }, { "id": 3148, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/3148/", "result_type": "Visualization", "release_date": "2005-04-26T12:00:00-04:00", "title": "Heavy Rainfall Leads to Southern California Mudslides (WMS)", "description": "In January 2005, heavy rains in southern California caused flooding and mudslides. A flow of moisture known as a 'Pineapple Express' because it originates in the Pacific subtropics near Hawaii can cause severe winter storms in California when conditions are right. NASA's Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) observered heavy rainfall near San Diego during a five-day period in January 2005. This visualization shows accumulation of rainfall—each frame shows the total amount of rain since the start of the measurement period. || ", "hits": 8 }, { "id": 3147, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/3147/", "result_type": "Visualization", "release_date": "2005-04-21T12:00:00-04:00", "title": "Progression of Hurricane Frances, 2004 (WMS)", "description": "Hurricane Frances was the second hurricane to hit Florida during the 2004 hurricane season. This set of images shows the progression of the hurricane as it approached Florida from the Atlantic Ocean. || Image Sequence for Hurricane Frances.This product is available through our Web Map Service. || frances-composite.png (1024x1024) [1.4 MB] || frances-composite_web.jpg (320x320) [18.1 KB] || frames [4.0 KB] || ", "hits": 22 }, { "id": 3146, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/3146/", "result_type": "Visualization", "release_date": "2005-04-19T12:00:00-04:00", "title": "Rainfall Accumulation from Hurricane Isabel (WMS)", "description": "Hurricane Isabel generated large amounts of rain over the Atlantic ocean as it approached East coast of the United States in September 2003. In fact, unlike many hurricanes, most of the Isabel's rainfall did not occur over land; flooding on land was caused mainly by storm surge. This animation shows accumulation of rainfall from the hurricane—each frame shows the total amount of rain since the start of the measurement period. Rain from other sources has been masked out, so the hurricane track is clearly visible as the storm moves across the Atlantic. || ", "hits": 21 }, { "id": 3143, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/3143/", "result_type": "Visualization", "release_date": "2005-04-14T12:00:00-04:00", "title": "Global Lightning Accumulation (WMS)", "description": "Lightning is a brief but intense electrical discharge between positive and negative regions of a thunderstorm. The Lightning Imaging Sensor (LIS) on the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite was designed to study the distribution and variability of total lightning on a global basis. The Optical Transient Detector (OTD) was an earlier lightning detector flying aboard the Microlab-1 spacecraft. The data shown here are compiled from LIS (1998-2002) and OTD (1995-1999) observations. Because each satellite saw only a part of the Earth at any one time, these data use complex algorithms to estimate total flash rate based on the flashes observed and the amount of time the satellite views each area.NOTE: This animation is primarily designed to be used through the Web Mapping Services (WMS) protocol. Each frame in the animation actually represents an accumulation of a number of years of data up through a particular day of the year. Because of a limitation in the WMS protocol, each frame is marked only with a single date representing the last date for which the data was accumulated. || ", "hits": 37 }, { "id": 3144, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/3144/", "result_type": "Visualization", "release_date": "2005-04-14T12:00:00-04:00", "title": "Global Lightning Flash Rate Density (WMS)", "description": "Lightning is a brief but intense electrical discharge between positive and negative regions of a thunderstorm.The Lightning Imaging Sensor (LIS) on the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite was designed to study the distribution and variability of total lightning on a global basis. The Optical Transient Detector (OTD) was an earlier lightning detector flying aboard the Microlab-1 spacecraft. The data shown here are compiled from LIS (1998-2002) and OTD (1995-1999) observations. Because each satellite saw only a part of the Earth at any one time, these data use complex algorithms to estimate total flash rate density (number of flashes per square kilometer per year) based on the flashes observed and the amount of time the satellite views each area. || ", "hits": 250 }, { "id": 3142, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/3142/", "result_type": "Visualization", "release_date": "2005-04-01T12:00:00-05:00", "title": "Sea Surface Height Anomalies during El Niño/La Niña Event of 1997-1998 (WMS)", "description": "The El Niño/La Niña event in 1997-1999 was particularly intense, but was also very well observed by satellites and buoys. Changes in the normal height of the ocean's surface were observed by the TOPEX/Poseidon altimeter. || ", "hits": 131 }, { "id": 3135, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/3135/", "result_type": "Visualization", "release_date": "2005-03-31T12:00:00-05:00", "title": "Sea Surface Temperature Anomalies during El Niño/La Niña Event of 1997-1998 (WMS)", "description": "The El Niño/La Niña event in 1997-1999 was particularly intense, but was also very well observed by satellites and buoys. A strong upwelling of unusually warm water was observed in the Pacific Ocean during the El Niño phase, followed by unusually cold water in the La Niña phase. The Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) instrument on the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's NOAA-14 spacecraft observed the changes in sea surface temperature shown here. || ", "hits": 52 }, { "id": 3140, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/3140/", "result_type": "Visualization", "release_date": "2005-03-30T12:00:00-05:00", "title": "Jakobshavn Glacier Retreat (WMS)", "description": "Since measurements of Jakobshavn Isbrae were first taken in 1850, the glacier has gradually receded, finally coming to rest at a certain point for the past 5 decades. However, from 1997 to 2003, the glacier has begun to recede again, this time almost doubling in speed. The finding is important for many reasons. For starters, as more ice moves from glaciers on land into the ocean, it raises sea levels. Jakobshavn Isbrae is Greenland's largest outlet glacier, draining 6.5 percent of Greenland's ice sheet area. The ice stream's speed-up and near-doubling of ice flow from land into the ocean has increased the rate of sea level rise by about .06 millimeters (about .002 inches) per year, or roughly 4 percent of the 20th century rate of sea level increase. This animation shows the recession for three years, from 2001 through 2003. The line of recession shows the place where the glacier meets the ocean and where pieces calve off and flow away from land toward open water. || ", "hits": 8 }, { "id": 3141, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/3141/", "result_type": "Visualization", "release_date": "2005-03-30T12:00:00-05:00", "title": "Jakobshavn Glacier Ice Flow (WMS)", "description": "Since measurements of Jakobshavn Isbrae were first taken in 1850, the glacier has gradually receded, finally coming to rest at a certain point for the past 5 decades. However, from 1997 to 2003, the glacier has begun to recede again, this time almost doubling in speed. The finding is important for many reasons. For starters, as more ice moves from glaciers on land into the ocean, it raises sea levels. Jakobshavn Isbrae is Greenland's largest outlet glacier, draining 6.5 percent of Greenland's ice sheet area. The ice stream's speed-up and near-doubling of ice flow from land into the ocean has increased the rate of sea level rise by about .06 millimeters (about .002 inches) per year, or roughly 4 percent of the 20th century rate of sea level increase. This animation shows a time-lapse sequence of the ice flowing toward the ocean. In recent years, even ice that has traditionally remained in place is now being pulled down to the edge of land. || ", "hits": 13 }, { "id": 3138, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/3138/", "result_type": "Visualization", "release_date": "2005-03-28T12:00:00-05:00", "title": "QuikSCAT Antarctic Sea Ice (WMS)", "description": "The sea ice around Antarctica grows dramatically from late February, when large parts of the coast are ice-free, to October, when the amount of sea ice effectively doubles the size of the continent. The SeaWinds Scatterometer instrument on the QuikSCAT satellite captures this dramatic ebb and flow and shows the sea ice as dynamic and always moving, even in areas that are ice-bound. This animation shows the sea ice around Antarctica from SeaWinds during 2004. SeaWinds can see individual icebergs if they are large enough, and a large iceberg can be seen for most of the year south of South America as it moves from the Antarctic Peninsula to the South Sandwich Islands. Also visible are the very convoluted and dynamic border between the sea ice and the open sea and holes in the sea ice created by the movement around fixed land features such as islands. || ", "hits": 27 }, { "id": 3133, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/3133/", "result_type": "Visualization", "release_date": "2005-03-15T12:00:00-05:00", "title": "Transatlantic Dust from North Africa (WMS)", "description": "Desert storms in northern Africa raise dust that is carried in the upper atmosphere across the Atlantic Ocean. The dust, which may carry potentially hazardous bacteria and fungi, can land as far west as the Caribbean and the Americas. || ", "hits": 14 }, { "id": 3130, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/3130/", "result_type": "Visualization", "release_date": "2005-03-14T12:00:00-05:00", "title": "Continental Effects of 2004 Alaskan Fires (WMS)", "description": "Wildfires started by lightning burned more than 80,000 acres in Alaska in June 2004. The effects of these fires can be seen across North America with the Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS) instrument on the Earth Probe spacecraft. TOMS detects the presence of UV-absorbing tropospheric aerosols across the globe. || ", "hits": 8 }, { "id": 3132, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/3132/", "result_type": "Visualization", "release_date": "2005-03-14T12:00:00-05:00", "title": "Aerosols from 2003 Southern California Fires (WMS)", "description": "A devastating series of fires occurred in Southern California during October 2003. The effects of these fires were detectable from space. The Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS) instrument measures aerosol particles (microscopic airborne dust and smoke). TOMS was able to detect aerosols from these fires moving West over the Pacific Ocean and East over the continental United States. || ", "hits": 12 }, { "id": 3127, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/3127/", "result_type": "Visualization", "release_date": "2005-03-09T12:00:00-05:00", "title": "Pine Island Glacier Calving (WMS)", "description": "The Pine Island Glacier is the largest discharger of ice in Antarctica and the continent's fastest moving glacier. Even so, when a large crack formed across the glacier in mid 2000, it was surprising how fast the crack expanded, 15 meters per day, and how soon the resulting iceberg broke off, mid-November, 2001. This iceberg, called B-21, is 42 kilometers by 17 kilometers and contains seven years of glacier outflow released to the sea in a single event. This series of images from the MISR instrument on the Terra satellite not only shows the crack expanding and the iceberg breaking off, but the seaward moving glacial flow in the parts of the Pine Island Glacier upstream of the crack. || ", "hits": 60 }, { "id": 3126, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/3126/", "result_type": "Visualization", "release_date": "2005-03-08T12:00:00-05:00", "title": "Daily Erythemal Index (UV exposure) for 2000-2001 (WMS)", "description": "The Erythemal Index is a measure of ultraviolet (UV) radiation at ground level on the Earth. (The word 'erythema' means an abnormal redness of the skin, such as is caused by spending too much time in the sun—a sunburn is damage to your skin cells caused by UV radiation.) Atmospheric ozone shields life at the surface from most of the harmful components of solar radiation. Chemical processes in the atmosphere can affect the level of protection provided by the ozone in the upper atmosphere. This thinning of the atmospheric ozone in the stratosphere leads to elevated levels of UV at ground level and increases the risks of DNA damage in living organisms. || ", "hits": 9 }, { "id": 3114, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/3114/", "result_type": "Visualization", "release_date": "2005-03-07T12:00:00-05:00", "title": "Daily Erythemal Index (UV exposure) Measurements for 2000-2001 (WMS)", "description": "The Erythemal Index is a measure of ultraviolet (UV) radiation at ground level on the Earth. (The word 'erythema' means an abnormal redness of the skin, such as is caused by spending too much time in the sun—a sunburn is damage to your skin cells caused by UV radiation.) Atmospheric ozone shields life at the surface from most of the harmful components of solar radiation. Chemical processes in the atmosphere can affect the level of protection provided by the ozone in the upper atmosphere. This thinning of the atmospheric ozone in the stratosphere leads to elevated levels of UV at ground level and increases the risks of DNA damage in living organisms. || ", "hits": 51 }, { "id": 3124, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/3124/", "result_type": "Visualization", "release_date": "2005-03-07T12:00:00-05:00", "title": "Monthly Average Erythemal Index (UV exposure) for 2000-2001 (WMS)", "description": "The Erythemal Index is a measure of ultraviolet (UV) radiation at ground level on the Earth. (The word 'erythema' means an abnormal redness of the skin, such as is caused by spending too much time in the sun—a sunburn is damage to your skin cells caused by UV radiation.) Atmospheric ozone shields life at the surface from most of the harmful components of solar radiation. Chemical processes in the atmosphere can affect the level of protection provided by the ozone in the upper atmosphere. This thinning of the atmospheric ozone in the stratosphere leads to elevated levels of UV at ground level and increases the risks of DNA damage in living organisms. || ", "hits": 10 }, { "id": 3123, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/3123/", "result_type": "Visualization", "release_date": "2005-03-04T12:00:00-05:00", "title": "Larsen Ice Shelf Collapse (WMS)", "description": "The Larsen ice shelf at the northern end of the Antarctic Peninsula experienced a dramatic collapse between January 31 and March 7, 2002. First, melt ponds appeared on the ice shelf during these summer months (seen in blue on the shelf), then a minor collapse of about 800 square kilometers occurred. Finally, a 2600 square kilometer collapse took place, leaving thousands of sliver icebergs and berg fragments where the shelf formerly lay. Brownish streaks within the floating chunks mark areas where rocks and morainal debris are exposed from the former underside and interior of the shelf. These images were acquired by the MODIS instrument on the Terra satellite. || ", "hits": 29 }, { "id": 3116, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/3116/", "result_type": "Visualization", "release_date": "2005-03-02T12:00:00-05:00", "title": "Mount St. Helens Before, During, and After (WMS)", "description": "Mount St. Helens erupted on May 18, 1980, devastating more than 150 square miles of forest in southwestern Washington state. This animation shows Landsat images of the Mount St. Helens area in 1973, 1983, and 2000, illustrating the destruction and regrowth of the forest. The 1983 image clearly shows the new crater on the northern slope where the eruption occurred, the rivers and lakes covered with ash, and the regions of deforestation. The 2000 image, taken twenty years after the eruption, still shows the changed crater, but much of the devastated area is covered by new vegetation growth. || ", "hits": 128 }, { "id": 3113, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/3113/", "result_type": "Visualization", "release_date": "2005-02-17T12:00:00-05:00", "title": "Rondonia Deforestation (WMS)", "description": "A animation of deforestation in Rondonia from 1975 through 2001 from Landsat imageryThis product is available through our Web Map Service. || rondonia.0002.png (1024x1024) [1.7 MB] || hw_a003113.png (640x27) [13.4 KB] || rondonia_pre.jpg (320x160) [12.1 KB] || rondonia_thm.png (80x40) [6.1 KB] || rondonia_pre_searchweb.jpg (320x180) [21.6 KB] || 1024x1024 (1024x1024) [0 Item(s)] || rondonia.webmhd.webm (960x540) [282.8 KB] || rondonia.mp4 (720x720) [606.2 KB] || rondonia.mpg (320x320) [737.0 KB] || ", "hits": 29 }, { "id": 3110, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/3110/", "result_type": "Visualization", "release_date": "2005-02-16T12:00:00-05:00", "title": "Vegetation Images Show Drought in Western US (WMS)", "description": "Satellite data can gauge the health of plants, which is a good indicator of drought. The Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) measures how dense and green plant leaves are. NDVI images are useful as a measure of drought when compared to 'normal' plant health. Scientists calculate average NDVI values for an area to find out what is normal at a particular time of year. This animation uses satellite imagery to show changes in vegetation between 1999 and 2003. In 2002, drought had settled across the Midwest. Large dark brown sections of eastern Colorado show where vegetation was less lush and healthy than normal. This version of the visualization is a wide view showing the western United States. The data were measured by the vegetation instrument on Europe's SPOT-4 satellite, and were provided by DigitalGlobe/SPOT under agreement with the U.S. Department of Agriculture Foreign Agricultural Service (USDA/FAS). || ", "hits": 12 }, { "id": 3112, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/3112/", "result_type": "Visualization", "release_date": "2005-02-15T12:00:00-05:00", "title": "Aral Sea Evaporation (WMS)", "description": "The Aral Sea is actually not a sea at all, but an immense fresh water lake. In the last thirty years, more than sixty percent of the lake has disappeared because much of the river flow feeding the lake was diverted to irrigate cotton fields and rice paddies. Concentrations of salts and minerals began to rise in the shrinking body of water, leading to staggering alterations in the lake's ecology and precipitous drops in the Aral's fish population. Powerful winds that blow across this part of Asia routinely pick up and deposit the now exposed lake bed soil. This has contributed to a significant reduction in breathable air quality, and crop yields have been appreciably affected due to heavily salt laden particles falling on arable land. This series of Landsat images taken in 1973, 1987 and 2000 show the profound reduction in overall area at the north end of the Aral, and a commensurate increase in land area as the floor of the sea now lies exposed. || ", "hits": 34 }, { "id": 3089, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/3089/", "result_type": "Visualization", "release_date": "2005-02-01T12:00:00-05:00", "title": "Average Clear-sky Albedo (WMS)", "description": "The Earth's climate is determined by energy transfer from the sun to the Earth's land, oceans, and atmosphere. As the Earth rotates, the sun lights up only part of the Earth at a time, and some of that incoming solar energy is reflected and some is absorbed, depending on type of area it lights. The average amount of reflection and absorption is critical to the climate, because the absorbed energy heats up the Earth until it is radiated away as thermal radiation. This animation shows the monthly average clear-sky albedo from July, 2002 through June, 2004 as measured by the CERES instrument. This is the fraction of the incoming solar radiation that is reflected back into space by regions of the Earth on cloud-free days. The regions of highest albedo are regions of snow and ice, followed by desert regions. Oceans have the lowest albedo, and reflect very little of the incoming solar radiation. It is not possible to measure the albedo during the winter months at the poles, since there is no incoming solar radiation during these times. || ", "hits": 39 }, { "id": 3090, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/3090/", "result_type": "Visualization", "release_date": "2005-02-01T12:00:00-05:00", "title": "Average Total-sky Albedo (WMS)", "description": "The Earth's climate is determined by energy transfer from the sun to the Earth's land, oceans, and atmosphere. As the Earth rotates, the sun lights up only part of the Earth at a time, and some of that incoming solar energy is reflected and some is absorbed, depending on type of area it lights. The average amount of reflection and absorption is critical to the climate, because the absorbed energy heats up the Earth until it is radiated away as thermal radiation. This animation shows the monthly average albedo from July, 2002 through June, 2004 as measured by the CERES instrument. This is the fraction of the incoming solar radiation that is reflected back into space by regions of the Earth. The regions of highest albedo are regions of snow and ice, followed by desert regions and regions where there is significant cloud cover during the year. Oceans have the lowest albedo. It is not possible to measure the albedo during the winter months at the poles, since there is no incoming solar radiation during these times. || ", "hits": 96 }, { "id": 3091, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/3091/", "result_type": "Visualization", "release_date": "2005-02-01T12:00:00-05:00", "title": "Average Clear-sky Outgoing Longwave Flux (WMS)", "description": "The Earth's climate is determined by energy transfer from the sun to the Earth's land, oceans, and atmosphere. As the Earth rotates, the sun lights up only part of the Earth at a time, and some of that incoming solar energy is reflected and some is absorbed, depending on type of area it lights. The average amount of reflection and absorption is critical to the climate, because the absorbed energy heats up the Earth until it is radiated away as thermal radiation. This animation shows the monthly average clear-sky outgoing longwave radiation from July, 2002 through June, 2004 as measured by the CERES instrument. This is the thermal radiation given off by the warm Earth when the sky is cloud free. The Earth's rotation and the movement of warm air from the equator to the poles make the Earth roughly uniformin temperature. The most visible features are the cold poles in winter and the significant regions of snow coverage in the northern hemisphere, also in winter. || ", "hits": 25 }, { "id": 3092, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/3092/", "result_type": "Visualization", "release_date": "2005-02-01T12:00:00-05:00", "title": "Average Total-sky Outgoing Longwave Flux (WMS)", "description": "The Earth's climate is determined by energy transfer from the sun to the Earth's land, oceans, and atmosphere. As the Earth rotates, the sun lights up only part of the Earth at a time, and some of that incoming solar energy is reflected and some is absorbed, depending on type of area it lights. The average amount of reflection and absorption is critical to the climate, because the absorbed energy heats up the Earth until it is radiated away as thermal radiation. This animation shows the monthly average outgoing longwave radiation from July, 2002 through June, 2004 as measured by the CERES instrument. This is the thermal radiation given off by the warm Earth. The Earth's rotation and the movement of warm air from the equator to the poles make the Earth roughly uniform in temperature. The most visible features are the cold poles in winter and the cold clouds along the equator which trap the outgoing thermal radiation. || ", "hits": 11 }, { "id": 3093, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/3093/", "result_type": "Visualization", "release_date": "2005-02-01T12:00:00-05:00", "title": "Average Clear-sky Net Radiant Flux (WMS)", "description": "The Earth's climate is determined by energy transfer from the sun to the Earth's land, oceans, and atmosphere. As the Earth rotates, the sun lights up only part of the Earth at a time, and some of that incoming solar energy is reflected and some is absorbed, depending on type of area it lights. The average amount of reflection and absorption is critical to the climate, because the absorbed energy heats up the Earth until it is radiated away as thermal radiation. This animation shows the monthly clear-sky average net radiant flux from July, 2002 through June, 2004 as measured by the CERES instrument. This is the incoming radiation minus the outgoing reflected or thermal energy given off by areas of the Earth when the sky is cloud-free. Regions in red and yellow have a net incoming flux and are being heated. Regions in blue have a net outgoing flux and are being cooled. Regions in black are in rough equilibrium. Summertime oceans are heated the most, while high latitude winter regions are cooled the most, probably because of the longer winter nights. Note that the Earth's ice sheets are almost always regions of cooling. On average, the heating and cooling amounts must balance, or the Earth will change temperature and the climate will change. || ", "hits": 45 }, { "id": 3094, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/3094/", "result_type": "Visualization", "release_date": "2005-02-01T12:00:00-05:00", "title": "Average Total-sky Net Radiant Flux (WMS)", "description": "The Earth's climate is determined by energy transfer from the sun to the Earth's land, oceans, and atmosphere. As the Earth rotates, the sun lights up only part of the Earth at a time, and some of that incoming solar energy is reflected and some is absorbed, depending on type of area it lights. The average amount of reflection and absorption is critical to the climate, because the absorbed energy heats up the Earth until it is radiated away as thermal radiation. This animation shows the monthly average net radiant flux from July, 2002 through June, 2004 as measured by the CERES instrument. This is the incoming radiation minus the outgoing reflected or thermal energy given off by areas of the Earth. Regions in red and yellow have a net incoming flux and are being heated. Regions in blue have a net outgoing flux and are being cooled. Regions in black are in rough equilibrium. Cloud-free summertime oceans are heated the most, while high latitude winter regions are cooled the most, probably because of the longer winter nights. Note that regions that reflect a lot of sunlight, such as the polar ice sheets and the Sahara desert are almost always in equilibrium or are cooling regions. || ", "hits": 36 }, { "id": 3095, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/3095/", "result_type": "Visualization", "release_date": "2005-02-01T12:00:00-05:00", "title": "Average Total-sky Incoming Solar Flux (WMS)", "description": "The Earth's climate is determined by energy transfer from the sun to the Earth's land, oceans, and atmosphere. As the Earth rotates, the sun lights up only part of the Earth at a time, and some of that incoming solar energy is reflected and some is absorbed, depending on type of area it lights. The average amount of reflection and absorption is critical to the climate, because the absorbed energy heats up the Earth until it is radiated away as thermal radiation. This animation shows the monthly average incoming solar radiation from July, 2002 through June, 2004 as measured by the CERES instrument. This average data set is constant in longitude because of the Earth's rotation, but clearly shows the seasonal cycle as the sun heats the Northern Hemisphere more in summer than in winter. Note that the polar regions are abnormally bright in the local summer and dark in the local winter because whole day is either light or dark in those seasons. || ", "hits": 34 }, { "id": 3096, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/3096/", "result_type": "Visualization", "release_date": "2005-02-01T12:00:00-05:00", "title": "Average Clear-sky Outgoing Shortwave Flux (WMS)", "description": "The Earth's climate is determined by energy transfer from the sun to the Earth's land, oceans, and atmosphere. As the Earth rotates, the sun lights up only part of the Earth at a time, and some of that incoming solar energy is reflected and some is absorbed, depending on type of area it lights. The average amount of reflection and absorption is critical to the climate, because the absorbed energy heats up the Earth until it is radiated away as thermal radiation. This animation shows the monthly average clear-sky outgoing shortwave radiation from July, 2002 through June, 2004 as measured by the CERES instrument. This is the sunlight that is directly reflected back into space by ice, desert, and other physical areas on the Earth when the sky is cloud-free. The ice sheets can be clearly seen to reflect the most sunlight, with desert areas next. Oceans absorb the most sunlight, more than the vegetated land areas such as the tropical rain forest and temperate forests and plains. || ", "hits": 23 }, { "id": 3097, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/3097/", "result_type": "Visualization", "release_date": "2005-02-01T12:00:00-05:00", "title": "Average Total-sky Outgoing Shortwave Flux (WMS)", "description": "The Earth's climate is determined by energy transfer from the sun to the Earth's land, oceans, and atmosphere. As the Earth rotates, the sun lights up only part of the Earth at a time, and some of that incoming solar energy is reflected and some is absorbed, depending on type of area it lights. The average amount of reflection and absorption is critical to the climate, because the absorbed energy heats up the Earth until it is radiated away as thermal radiation. This animation shows the monthly average outgoing shortwave radiation from July, 2002 through June, 2004 as measured by the CERES instrument. This is the sunlight that is directly reflected back into space by clouds, ice, desert, and other physical areas on the Earth. Although clouds are very reflective, they come and going during the month, so more reflection is seen on average from ice sheets, which change very little during a monthly period. Note that the cloud-free parts of the ocean are relatively dark, indicating that oceans absorb more sunlight than they reflect. || ", "hits": 21 }, { "id": 3098, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/3098/", "result_type": "Visualization", "release_date": "2005-02-01T12:00:00-05:00", "title": "Polar Vortex (WMS)", "description": "The polar vortex is an atmospheric regional event that isolates polar air from the air at temperate latitudes, producing conditions favorable for wintertime polar ozone depletion and other chemical perturbations. The location, size, and shape of the polar vortex is derived from potential vorticity (PV) data. || ", "hits": 28 }, { "id": 3104, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/3104/", "result_type": "Visualization", "release_date": "2005-02-01T12:00:00-05:00", "title": "Instantaneous Scene Identification (WMS)", "description": "The Earth's climate is determined by energy transfer from the sun to the Earth's land, oceans, and atmosphere. As the Earth rotates, the sun lights up only part of the Earth at a time, and some of that incoming solar energy is reflected and some is absorbed, depending on type of area it lights. The amount of reflection and absorption is critical to th e climate. An instrument named CERES orbits the Earth every 99 minutes and measures the reflected solar energy. This animation shows the scene identification as measured by CERES during 29 orbits on June 20 and 21 of 2003. By comparing the incoming solar radiation with the outgoing reflected and thermal radiation, it is possible to identify the type of area being viewed, whether it be land, clouds, ocean, or ice. This scene identification is used together with the radiation flux measurements to build up a complete picture of the Earth's energy budget over time. || ", "hits": 20 }, { "id": 3105, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/3105/", "result_type": "Visualization", "release_date": "2005-02-01T12:00:00-05:00", "title": "Instantaneous Incoming Solar Flux (WMS)", "description": "The Earth's climate is determined by energy transfer from the sun to the Earth's land, oceans, and atmosphere. As the Earth rotates, the sun lights up only part of the Earth at a time, and some of that incoming solar energy is reflected and some is absorbed, depending on type of area it lights. The amount of reflection and absorption is critical to the climate. An instrument named CERES orbits the Earth every 99 minutes and measures the reflected solar energy. This animation shows the incoming solar radiation within view of CERES during 29 orbits on June 20 and 21 of 2003. Because this is incoming solar flux, its magnitude only depends on the position of the sun, and, because the orbit is synchronized with the sun, the orbit crosses the equator in the daylight at about 1:30 PM local time on every orbit. This data is not actually measured from CERES, but is calculated to compare with the outgoing radiation that CERES does measure. || ", "hits": 104 }, { "id": 3106, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/3106/", "result_type": "Visualization", "release_date": "2005-02-01T12:00:00-05:00", "title": "Instantaneous Net Radiation Flux (WMS)", "description": "The Earth's climate is determined by energy transfer from the sun to the Earth's land, oceans, and atmosphere. As the Earth rotates, the sun lights up only part of the Earth at a time, and some of that incoming solar energy is reflected and some is absorbed, depending on type of area it lights. The amount of reflection and absorption is critical to the climate. An instrument named CERES orbits the Earth every 99 minutes and measures the reflected solar energy. This animation shows the net radiation flux within view of CERES during 29 orbits on June 20 and 21 of 2003. The net flux is the incoming solar flux minus the outgoing reflected (shortwave) and thermal (longwave) radiation. If the flux in a region is positive, the Earth is being warmed by the sun in that region, while cooling regions have a negative flux. It is clear from the animation that the most intensive heating occurs in ocean regions with few clouds, while the second most intense are cloud-free regions over vegetated land areas. Deserts, cloudy regions, and ice caps all reflect enough solar radiation to reduce the amount of heating. Regions of night are, of course, cooling regions because there is no incoming flux at all. || ", "hits": 28 }, { "id": 3107, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/3107/", "result_type": "Visualization", "release_date": "2005-02-01T12:00:00-05:00", "title": "Instantaneous Outgoing Longwave Flux (WMS)", "description": "The Earth's climate is determined by energy transfer from the sun to the Earth's land, oceans, and atmosphere. As the Earth rotates, the sun lights up only part of the Earth at a time, and some of that incoming solar energy is reflected and some is absorbed, depending on type of area it lights. The amount of reflection and absorption is critical to the climate. An instrument named CERES orbits the Earth every 99 minutes and measures the reflected solar energy. This animation shows the outgoing thermal radiation measured by CERES during 29 orbits on June 20 and 21 of 2003. Thermal radiation is longwave radiation and depends on the temperature of the earth, with the most intense radiation coming from the warmest regions and the least from cold clouds in the atmosphere. Although cold clouds and the cold Antarctic night regions can be seen in this data, the Earth radiates pretty uniformly in the longwave bands because the atmosphere distributes the heat of the sun to the whole planet. || ", "hits": 12 }, { "id": 3108, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/3108/", "result_type": "Visualization", "release_date": "2005-02-01T12:00:00-05:00", "title": "Instantaneous Outgoing Shortwave Flux (WMS)", "description": "The Earth's climate is determined by energy transfer from the sun to the Earth's land, oceans, and atmosphere. As the Earth rotates, the sun lights up only part of the Earth at a time, and some of that incoming solar energy is reflected and some is absorbed, depending on type of area it lights. The amount of reflection and absorption is critical to the climate. An instrument named CERES orbits the Earth every 99 minutes and measures the reflected solar energy. This animation shows the reflected solar radiation measured by CERES during 29 orbits on June 20 and 21 of 2003. Reflected solar radiation is shortwave radiation, and the most intense reflection comes from clouds, followed by ice. Land reflects only a small amount of radiation, but ocean reflects the least, which is the reason that the sun heats the oceans so effectively. Of course, there is no reflected solar radiation in regions of night. || ", "hits": 19 } ] }