Earth  ID: 3208

Global Cloud Cover during Hurricane Frances (WMS)

Visualizations by Horace Mitchell Released on July 28, 2005
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.
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Global cloud cover from the 0.25 degree resolution fvGCM atmospheric model for the period 9/1/2005 through 9/5/2005.

This product is available through our Web Map Service.
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Legend for the total cloud cover.

Visualization Credits

Horace Mitchell (NASA/GSFC): Lead Animator
William Putman (NASA/GSFC): Scientist
Please give credit for this item to:
NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio

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https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/3208

Data Used:
fvGCM/Global Cloud Cover
Model - NASA - 2005-09-01T03:00 -- 2005-09-05T24:00
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This item is part of these series:
fvGCM
WMS

Keywords:
DLESE >> Atmospheric science
SVS >> HDTV
DLESE >> Natural hazards
GCMD >> Earth Science >> Atmosphere >> Atmospheric Phenomena >> Hurricanes
GCMD >> Earth Science >> Atmosphere >> Atmospheric Phenomena >> Typhoons
GCMD >> Earth Science >> Atmosphere >> Clouds >> Cloud Amount/Frequency
GCMD >> Earth Science >> Human Dimensions >> Natural Hazards >> Meteorological Hazards
GCMD >> Location >> Global
SVS >> Hurricane Frances
NASA Science >> Earth

GCMD keywords can be found on the Internet with the following citation: Olsen, L.M., G. Major, K. Shein, J. Scialdone, S. Ritz, T. Stevens, M. Morahan, A. Aleman, R. Vogel, S. Leicester, H. Weir, M. Meaux, S. Grebas, C.Solomon, M. Holland, T. Northcutt, R. A. Restrepo, R. Bilodeau, 2013. NASA/Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Earth Science Keywords. Version 8.0.0.0.0