Earth  ID: 3388

MODIS Sea Surface Temperature from 2002 to 2006

Visualizations by Alex Kekesi Released on December 5, 2006
A recent study indicates there is a correlation between ocean nutrients and changes in sea surface temperature (SST). The results show that when ocean water warms, marine plant life in the form of microscopic phytoplankton tend to decline. When water cools, plant life flourishes. Changes in phytoplankton growth influence fishery yields and the amount of carbon dioxide the oceans remove from the atmosphere. This could have major implications on the future of our ocean's food web and how it relates to climate change.

The temperature data in this visualization comes from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) onboard NASA's Terra and Aqua spacecraft.

In order to see the correlation between SST and SeaWiFS data, this animation can be compared to the latter part of the 'SeaWiFS Biosphere from 1997 to 2006' animation.

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This animation shows a 32-day moving average of SST data over the Pacific spanning July 4, 2002 to October 23, 2006.

This product is available through our Web Map Service.
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Sea Surface Temperature in Degrees Celsius.
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A 32-day average of SST data over the Pacific Ocean averaged over September 22, 2006 to October 23, 2006.

For More Information

http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/news/topstory/2006/warm_marine.html

Visualization Credits

Alex Kekesi (Global Science and Technology, Inc.): Lead Animator
Stuart A. Snodgrass (GST): Animator
Lori Perkins (NASA/GSFC): Animator
Gene Feldman (NASA/GSFC): Scientist
Please give credit for this item to:
NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio

Science Paper:
'Climate-Driven Trends in Contemporary Ocean Productivity', Nature, Dec. 7

Short URL to share this page:
https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/3388

Mission:
Terra

Data Used:
Aqua/MODIS/Sea Surface Temperature
07/04/2002 - 10/23/2006
view all stories where this data set is used
Terra/MODIS/Sea Surface Temperature
07/04/2002 - 10/23/2006
view all stories where this data set is used
Note: While we identify the data sets used in these visualizations, we do not store any further details nor the data sets themselves on our site.

This item is part of this series:
Ocean Productivity

Goddard TV Tape:
G2007-001HD -- NASA's HD Climate Change Resource Tape

Keywords:
DLESE >> Biology
DLESE >> Ecology
SVS >> HDTV
DLESE >> Physical oceanography
GCMD >> Earth Science >> Biosphere
GCMD >> Earth Science >> Climate Indicators
GCMD >> Earth Science >> Biosphere >> Ecological Dynamics >> Food-web Dynamics
SVS >> Copenhagen
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