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Browse All : Altimeter of United States of America and Alaska from 1997

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TOPEX/El Niño Watch - Octobe …
PIA00741
Sol (our sun)
Altimeter
Title TOPEX/El Niño Watch - October 3, 1997
Original Caption Released with Image This image of the Pacific Ocean was produced using sea surface height measurements taken by the U.S./French TOPEX/Poseidon satellite. The image shows sea surface height relative to normal ocean conditions on Oct. 3, 1997 as the warm water associated with El Niño (in white) spreads northward along the entire coast of North America from the equator all the way to Alaska. The warm water pool in tropical Pacific resulting from El Niño seems to have stabilized. The white and red areas indicate unusual patterns of heat storage, in the white areas, the sea surface is between 14 and 32 centimeters (6 to 13 inches) above normal, in the red areas, it's about 10 centimeters (4 inches) above normal. The surface area covered by the warm water mass is about one and one-half times the size of the continental United States. The added amount of oceanic warm water near the Americas, with a temperature between 21 and 30 C (70 to 85 F), carries the amount of heat equal to 100 times the amount of fossil fuel energy consumed by the entire U.S. population during one year. The green areas indicate normal conditions, while purple (the western Pacific) means at least 18 centimeters (7 inches) below normal sea level. The El Niño phenomenon is thought to be triggered when the steady westward blowing trade winds weaken and even reverse direction. This change in the winds allows a large mass of warm water (the red and white area) that is normally located near Australia to move eastward along the equator until it reaches the coast of South America. The displacement of so much warm water affects evaporation, where rain clouds form and, consequently, alters the typical atmospheric jet stream patterns around the world. Using these global data, limited regional measurements from buoys and ships, and a forecasting model of the ocean-atmosphere system, the National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has issued an advisory indicating the presence of a strong El Niño condition throughout the coming winter. For more information, please visit the TOPEX/Poseidon project web page at http://topex-www.jpl.nasa.gov/
TOPEX/El Niño Watch - Strong …
PIA02935
Sol (our sun)
Altimeter
Title TOPEX/El Niño Watch - Strong, Long-lasting La Niña Just Fading Away, June 19, 2000
Original Caption Released with Image ."Let's not forget that the legacy of two years of La Niña will be with us this summer and into the fall," said JPL oceanographer Dr. William Patzert. "Much of the nation's farmland is really dry in many regions. The reality is that the atmosphere is still acting as though La Niña remains." The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) National Weather Service has forecasted continuing drought for much of the midwestern and southeastern United States and an active hurricane season for our coming summer. NOAA seasonal forecasts can be found at http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov [ http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov ] . The U.S.-French TOPEX/Poseidon mission is managed by JPL for the NASA's Earth Science Enterprise, Washington, D.C. JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. For more information on the TOPEX/Poseidon project, see http://topex-www.jpl.nasa.gov [ http://topex-www.jpl.nasa.gov ], After dominating the tropical Pacific Ocean for more than two years, the 1998-2000 La Niña "cool pool" is continuing its slow fade and seems to be retiring from the climate stage, according to the latest satellite data from the U.S.-French TOPEX/Poseidon mission. These data, taken during a 10-day cycle of collection ending June 9, show that the equatorial Pacific continues to warm up and is returning to normal (green) as this latest, persistent, two-year La Niña episode is coming to an end. Only a few patches of cooler, lower sea levels (seen in blue and purple) remain across the tropics. It should be noted that in June 1999, La Niña barely had a pulse, but was resuscitated in fall 1999. (See June 1999 press release on that topic at http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/elnino/990629.html [ http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/elnino/990629.html ] .) The blue areas are between 5 and 13 centimeters (2 and 5 inches) below normal, whereas the purple areas range from 14 to 18 centimeters (6 to 7 inches) below normal. In the far-western tropical Pacific Ocean, the ocean remains higher and warmer than normal. In summary, it appears that the global climate system is finally emerging from the past three years of dramatic swings from the extra-large El Niño of 1997/1998, which was followed by two unusually cool and persistent La Niña years, according to scientists at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. But as the northern hemisphere summer begins, above-normal sea surface heights and warmer ocean temperatures (indicated by the red and white areas) still blanket the western equatorial Pacific and much of the north and south mid-Pacific. Red areas are about 10 centimeters (4 inches) above normal, white areas show the sea surface height is between 14 and 32 centimeters (6 to 13 inches) above normal. This contrasts with the Bering Sea and Gulf of Alaska region southward along the western coast of North America, where lower-than-normal sea levels and cool ocean temperatures continue, although this pattern is also weakening. A possible switch in this larger-than-El Niño/La Niña, slower-changing pattern -- the Pacific Decadal Oscillation -- was first noticed by many scientists in late 1998. See a January 2000 press release on that topic at http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/elnino/20000118.html [ http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/elnino/20000118.html ] , or for further information and graphics about the Pacific Decadal Oscillation, see http://topex-www.jpl.nasa.gov/discover/PDO.html [ http://topex-www.jpl.nasa.gov/discover/PDO.html ]
TOPEX/El Niño Watch - Los Ni …
PIA02969
Sol (our sun)
Altimeter
Title TOPEX/El Niño Watch - Los Niños may be Gone, But Pacific Pattern Remains August 14, 2000
Original Caption Released with Image After three years of El Niño and La Niña with their often devastating climate consequences, the Pacific is finally calming down in the tropics but still shows signs of being abnormal elsewhere, according to the latest satellite data from the U.S.-French TOPEX/Poseidon mission. These data, taken during a 10-day cycle of collection ending August 17, show that tropical Pacific sea levels, which indicate how much heat is stored in the ocean, have returned to near-normal (green) after three years of dramatic fluctuations. See http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/elnino/ . But as summer ends in the Northern Hemisphere, remnants of the past few years remain embedded in the upper ocean. Above-normal sea surface heights and warmer ocean temperatures (indicated by the red and white areas) still blanket the far-western tropical Pacific and much of the north (and south) mid-Pacific. Red areas are about 10 centimeters (4 inches) above normal, white areas show the sea surface height is between 14 and 32 centimeters (6 to 13 inches) above normal. This contrasts with the Bering Sea and Gulf of Alaska where lower-than-normal sea levels and cool ocean temperatures continue (indicated by blue areas), although this pattern is also weakening. The blue areas are between 5 and 13 centimeters (2 and 5 inches) below normal, whereas the purple areas range from 14 to 18 centimeters (6 to 7 inches) below normal. Looking at the entire Pacific basin, the Pacific Decadal Oscillation's (PDO) characteristic warm horseshoe and cool wedge pattern is still evident in this sea-level height image. The PDO is a long-term ocean temperature fluctuation of the Pacific Ocean that waxes and wanes approximately every 10 to 20 years. Most recent National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) sea-surface temperature date also clearly illustrate the persistence of this basin-wide pattern. They are available at: http://psbsgi1.nesdis.noaa.gov:8080/PSB/EPS/SST/climo.html."The present calming started three to four months ago when the La Niña faded away," said oceanographer Dr. William Patzert of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. "It appears that the global climate system is finally recovering from the past three years of dramatic swings from the extra-large El Niño of 1997/1998, which was followed by two unusually cool and persistent La Niña years.""The good news is that we're finally out from under the El Niño and La Niña of the past three years," Patzert said. "Unfortunately, in the longer term, the reality is that the PDO pattern still dominates the Pacific and, in the short term, the atmosphere is still acting as though La Niña remains. The western United States continues hot and dry, and a larger than normal number of hurricanes are forecast by NOAA for both the Pacific and the Atlantic. Also for the remainder of the summer and into the fall, we are continuing to experience the legacy or hangover from El Niño and La Niña -- the devastating Western U.S. fires from the, Canadian to Mexican borders are one example." National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) National Weather Service has forecasted continuing heat in the Western United States and an active hurricane season for the end of summer and into the fall. NOAA seasonal forecasts can be found at: http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov. This month marks the eighth anniversary of the launch of TOPEX/Poseidon, a mission that had been planned to last only three to five years. The satellite has orbited Earth more than 37,400 times and completed 290 10-day data collection cycles. More than 99 percent of all available mission data has been collected and archived by the operations team at JPL. The U.S.-French TOPEX/Poseidon mission is managed by JPL for the NASA's Earth Science Enterprise, Washington, D.C. JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. For more information on the TOPEX/Poseidon project, see http://topex-www.jpl.nasa.gov [ http://topex-www.jpl.nasa.gov ]
TOPEX/El Niño Watch - Octobe …
PIA01053
Sol (our sun)
Altimeter
Title TOPEX/El Niño Watch - October 23, 1997
Original Caption Released with Image This image of the Pacific Ocean was produced using sea surface height measurements taken by the U.S./French TOPEX/POSEIDON satellite. The image shows sea surface height relative to normal ocean conditions on Oct. 23, 1997 as the warm water associated with El Niño (in white) spreads northward along the entire coast of North America from the equator all the way to Alaska. The warm water pool associated with the El Niño has returned to the volume it was in mid-September after dropping to a temporary low at the beginning of October. The sea surface elevation just north of the El Niño warm pool continues to drop (purple area), enhancing the eastward flowing North Equatorial Counter Current. The intensification of this current is another tell-tale sign of the El Niño phenomenon. This flow contributes to the rise in sea level along the western coasts of the Americas that will progress towards both the north and south poles over the next several months. The white and red areas indicate unusual patterns of heat storage, in the white areas, the sea surface is between 14 and 32 centimeters (6 to 13 inches) above normal, in the red areas, it's about 10 centimeters (4 inches) above normal. The surface area covered by the warm water mass is about one and one-half times the size of the continental United States. The added amount of oceanic warm water near the Americas, with a temperature between 21-30 degrees Celsius (70- 85 degrees Fahrenheit), is about 30 times the volume of water in all the U.S. Great Lakes combined. The green areas indicate normal conditions, while purple (the western Pacific) means at least 18 centimeters (7 inches) below normal sea level. The El Niño phenomenon is thought to be triggered when the steady westward blowing trade winds weaken and even reverse direction. This change in the winds allows a large mass of warm water (the red and white area) that is normally located near Australia to move eastward along the equator until it reaches the coast of South America. The displacement of so much warm water affects evaporation, where rain clouds form and, consequently, alters the typical atmospheric jet stream patterns around the world. Using these global data, limited regional measurements from buoys and ships, and a forecasting model of the ocean-atmosphere system, the National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, (NOAA), has issued an advisory indicating the presence of a strong El Niño condition throughout the winter. For more information, please visit the TOPEX/Poseidon project web page at http://topex-www.jpl.nasa.gov/
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