Earth  ID: 3780

2009 El Niño & 2010 La Niña (Science On a Sphere Version)

Sea Surface Height Anomalies (SSHA) are differences above and below normally observed sea surface heights. Large sustained above average areas (shown in orange and red) off the western coast of South America are an indicator of an El Niño event. In contrast, large sustained below average areas (shown in blue and violet) off the western South American coast are indicators of a La Niña event. This visualization shows the formation of an El Niño event towards the end of 2009 followed by a 2010 La Niña event.

Visualization Credits

Alex Kekesi (Global Science and Technology, Inc.): Lead Animator
Greg Shirah (NASA/GSFC): Animator
Trent L. Schindler (UMBC): Animator
Jefferson Beck (UMBC): Producer
Jennifer A. Shoemaker (UMBC): Producer
Josh Willis (JPL): Scientist
William C. Patzert Ph.D. (NASA/JPL CalTech): Scientist
James W. Williams (GST): Project Support
Shiloh Heurich (GST): Project Support
Mike Carlowicz (Wyle Information Systems): Writer
Please give credit for this item to:
NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio Generated using AVISO Products

Short URL to share this page:
https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/3780

Data Used:
AVISO: Near Real Time - Merged Sea Level Anomalies also referred to as: AVISO: NRT-MSLA
Data Compilation - CNES, CLS - 3/1/2009-7/31/2010
Combined product from data taken by Envisat, Jason-1, and Jason-2
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.

Keywords:
SVS >> El Nino
SVS >> La Nina
DLESE >> Physical oceanography
GCMD >> Earth Science >> Oceans >> Sea Surface Topography
GCMD >> Earth Science >> Climate Indicators >> Teleconnections >> El Nino Southern Oscillation
GCMD >> Earth Science >> Oceans >> Coastal Processes >> Sea Surface Height
GCMD >> Earth Science >> Oceans >> Sea Surface Topography >> Sea Surface Height
SVS >> Hyperwall
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