Earth  ID: 3510

MODIS Sea Surface Temperature from 2002 to 2006 around Australia

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 'SeaWiFS Biosphere Data over Australia'. Please click here to see this other animation.

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This animation shows a 32-day moving average of SST data around the world and around Australia. This data continuously loops from July 4, 2002 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
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/3510

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

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 >> Climate Change
SVS >> For Educators
SVS >> Producer
SVS >> Oceanic Food Web
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