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Net Radiation Flux Compared
…
| Title |
Net Radiation Flux Compared to Clouds (WMS) |
| Abstract |
The Earth's climate is determined by energy transfer from the sun to the Earth's land, oceans, and atmosphere. As the Earth rotates, the sun lights up only part of the Earth at a time, and some of that incoming solar energy is reflected and some is absorbed, depending on type of area it lights. The amount of reflection and absorption is critical to the climate. An instrument named CERES orbits the Earth every 99 minutes and measures the reflected solar energy. This animation shows the net radiation flux within view of CERES during 29 orbits on June 20 and 21 of 2003. The net flux is the incoming solar flux minus the outgoing reflected (shortwave) and thermal (longwave) radiation. If the flux in a region is positive, the Earth is being warmed by the sun in that region, while cooling regions have a negative flux. It is clear from the animation that the most intensive heating occurs in ocean regions with few clouds, while the second most intense are cloud-free regions over vegetated land areas. Deserts, cloudy regions, and ice caps all reflect enough solar radiation to reduce the amount of heating. Regions of night are, of course, cooling regions because there is no incoming flux at all. |
| Completed |
2005-06-21 |
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Net Radiation Flux Compared
…
| Title |
Net Radiation Flux Compared to Clouds (WMS) |
| Abstract |
The Earth's climate is determined by energy transfer from the sun to the Earth's land, oceans, and atmosphere. As the Earth rotates, the sun lights up only part of the Earth at a time, and some of that incoming solar energy is reflected and some is absorbed, depending on type of area it lights. The amount of reflection and absorption is critical to the climate. An instrument named CERES orbits the Earth every 99 minutes and measures the reflected solar energy. This animation shows the net radiation flux within view of CERES during 29 orbits on June 20 and 21 of 2003. The net flux is the incoming solar flux minus the outgoing reflected (shortwave) and thermal (longwave) radiation. If the flux in a region is positive, the Earth is being warmed by the sun in that region, while cooling regions have a negative flux. It is clear from the animation that the most intensive heating occurs in ocean regions with few clouds, while the second most intense are cloud-free regions over vegetated land areas. Deserts, cloudy regions, and ice caps all reflect enough solar radiation to reduce the amount of heating. Regions of night are, of course, cooling regions because there is no incoming flux at all. |
| Completed |
2005-06-21 |
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Global Atmospheric Surface P
…
| Title |
Global Atmospheric Surface Pressure during Hurricane Frances (WMS) |
| Abstract |
The weight of the Earth's atmosphere exerts pressure on the surface of the Earth. This pressure varies from place-to-place due the variations in the Earth's surface since higher altitudes have less atmosphere above them than lower altitudes. Atmospheric pressure also varies from time-to-time due to the uneven heating of the atmosphere by the sun and the rotation of the Earth, causing weather. This animation shows the atmospheric surface pressure 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 major changes in pressure occur over land where the surface altitude varies, but the sharp, moving low pressures areas for Frances and Songda can be clearly seen in the oceans. Since changing surface pressure areas over land are hard to see in these images due to the strong altitude variations, plots of the atmospheric surface pressure are almost never used to study the weather. A different plot, of sea-level pressure, is used instead. |
| Completed |
2005-07-25 |
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Global Atmospheric Surface P
…
| Title |
Global Atmospheric Surface Pressure during Hurricane Frances (WMS) |
| Abstract |
The weight of the Earth's atmosphere exerts pressure on the surface of the Earth. This pressure varies from place-to-place due the variations in the Earth's surface since higher altitudes have less atmosphere above them than lower altitudes. Atmospheric pressure also varies from time-to-time due to the uneven heating of the atmosphere by the sun and the rotation of the Earth, causing weather. This animation shows the atmospheric surface pressure 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 major changes in pressure occur over land where the surface altitude varies, but the sharp, moving low pressures areas for Frances and Songda can be clearly seen in the oceans. Since changing surface pressure areas over land are hard to see in these images due to the strong altitude variations, plots of the atmospheric surface pressure are almost never used to study the weather. A different plot, of sea-level pressure, is used instead. |
| Completed |
2005-07-25 |
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Global Surface Air Temperatu
…
| Title |
Global Surface Air Temperature during Hurricane Frances (WMS) |
| Abstract |
As the Sun's energy reaches the Earth, it is either reflected, absorbed by the clouds, or absorbed by the Earth's surface. The part absorbed by the Earth's surface heats the Earth, which then heats the air just above the surface. This process occurs rapidly in the case of dry land and slowly in the case of the oceans. This animation shows the surface air temperature at an altitude of 2 meters 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 animation clearly shows the air over land reacting rapidly to solar heating during the day and cooling at night, while the daily solar cyle is not visible in the temperature of the air over the ocean. A very dynamic region of changing air temperature is visible in the interaction between the cold air over Antarctica and the warmer mid-latitude air over the southern oceans during this region of polar night. Hurricane Frances and Typhhon Songda are just barely visible as circulating temperature patterns in the western Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. |
| Completed |
2005-07-25 |
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Global Surface Air Temperatu
…
| Title |
Global Surface Air Temperature during Hurricane Frances (WMS) |
| Abstract |
As the Sun's energy reaches the Earth, it is either reflected, absorbed by the clouds, or absorbed by the Earth's surface. The part absorbed by the Earth's surface heats the Earth, which then heats the air just above the surface. This process occurs rapidly in the case of dry land and slowly in the case of the oceans. This animation shows the surface air temperature at an altitude of 2 meters 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 animation clearly shows the air over land reacting rapidly to solar heating during the day and cooling at night, while the daily solar cyle is not visible in the temperature of the air over the ocean. A very dynamic region of changing air temperature is visible in the interaction between the cold air over Antarctica and the warmer mid-latitude air over the southern oceans during this region of polar night. Hurricane Frances and Typhhon Songda are just barely visible as circulating temperature patterns in the western Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. |
| Completed |
2005-07-25 |
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Monthly Average Erythemal In
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| Title |
Monthly Average Erythemal Index (UV exposure) for 2000-2001 (WMS) |
| Abstract |
The Erythemal Index is a measure of ultraviolet (UV) radiation at ground level on the Earth. (The word 'erythema' means an abnormal redness of the skin, such as is caused by spending too much time in the sun--a sunburn is damage to your skin cells caused by UV radiation.) Atmospheric ozone shields life at the surface from most of the harmful components of solar radiation. Chemical processes in the atmosphere can affect the level of protection provided by the ozone in the upper atmosphere. This thinning of the atmospheric ozone in the stratosphere leads to elevated levels of UV at ground level and increases the risks of DNA damage in living organisms. |
| Completed |
2005-03-04 |
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Monthly Average Erythemal In
…
| Title |
Monthly Average Erythemal Index (UV exposure) for 2000-2001 (WMS) |
| Abstract |
The Erythemal Index is a measure of ultraviolet (UV) radiation at ground level on the Earth. (The word 'erythema' means an abnormal redness of the skin, such as is caused by spending too much time in the sun--a sunburn is damage to your skin cells caused by UV radiation.) Atmospheric ozone shields life at the surface from most of the harmful components of solar radiation. Chemical processes in the atmosphere can affect the level of protection provided by the ozone in the upper atmosphere. This thinning of the atmospheric ozone in the stratosphere leads to elevated levels of UV at ground level and increases the risks of DNA damage in living organisms. |
| Completed |
2005-03-04 |
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Average Total-sky Outgoing L
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| Title |
Average Total-sky Outgoing Longwave Flux (WMS) |
| Abstract |
The Earth's climate is determined by energy transfer from the sun to the Earth's land, oceans, and atmosphere. As the Earth rotates, the sun lights up only part of the Earth at a time, and some of that incoming solar energy is reflected and some is absorbed, depending on type of area it lights. The average amount of reflection and absorption is critical to the climate, because the absorbed energy heats up the Earth until it is radiated away as thermal radiation. This animation shows the monthly average outgoing longwave radiation from July, 2002 through June, 2004 as measured by the CERES instrument. This is the thermal radiation given off by the warm Earth. The Earth's rotation and the movement of warm air from the equator to the poles make the Earth roughly uniform in temperature. The most visible features are the cold poles in winter and the cold clouds along the equator which trap the outgoing thermal radiation. |
| Completed |
2005-02-01 |
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Average Total-sky Outgoing L
…
| Title |
Average Total-sky Outgoing Longwave Flux (WMS) |
| Abstract |
The Earth's climate is determined by energy transfer from the sun to the Earth's land, oceans, and atmosphere. As the Earth rotates, the sun lights up only part of the Earth at a time, and some of that incoming solar energy is reflected and some is absorbed, depending on type of area it lights. The average amount of reflection and absorption is critical to the climate, because the absorbed energy heats up the Earth until it is radiated away as thermal radiation. This animation shows the monthly average outgoing longwave radiation from July, 2002 through June, 2004 as measured by the CERES instrument. This is the thermal radiation given off by the warm Earth. The Earth's rotation and the movement of warm air from the equator to the poles make the Earth roughly uniform in temperature. The most visible features are the cold poles in winter and the cold clouds along the equator which trap the outgoing thermal radiation. |
| Completed |
2005-02-01 |
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Global Surface Latent Heat F
…
| Title |
Global Surface Latent Heat Flux during Hurricane Frances (WMS) |
| Abstract |
As the Sun's energy reaches the Earth, it is either reflected, absorbed by the clouds, or absorbed by the Earth's surface. The part absorbed by the surface heats the Earth, which causes surface water to evaporate to the air, particularly over oceans or moist land. Similarly, a cold surface causes water to condense from the air onto the land or ocean. Latent heat flux is the amount of energy moving from the surface to the air due to evapolation (positive values) or from the air to the land due to condensation (negative values). This animation shows the latent heat flux 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 animation clearly shows the evaporation over land only during the heat of the day, while the evaporation over the ocean is continuous throughout the day. The highest positive latent heat flux occurs during hurricanes and typhoons, as these events are powered by the movement of heat energy from the warm ocean to the atmosphere, seen here in Hurricane Frances and Typhoon Songda. Significant negative latent heat flux is somewhat rare and occurs over the ocean only during certain configurations of air and surface conditions. |
| Completed |
2005-07-25 |
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Global Surface Latent Heat F
…
| Title |
Global Surface Latent Heat Flux during Hurricane Frances (WMS) |
| Abstract |
As the Sun's energy reaches the Earth, it is either reflected, absorbed by the clouds, or absorbed by the Earth's surface. The part absorbed by the surface heats the Earth, which causes surface water to evaporate to the air, particularly over oceans or moist land. Similarly, a cold surface causes water to condense from the air onto the land or ocean. Latent heat flux is the amount of energy moving from the surface to the air due to evapolation (positive values) or from the air to the land due to condensation (negative values). This animation shows the latent heat flux 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 animation clearly shows the evaporation over land only during the heat of the day, while the evaporation over the ocean is continuous throughout the day. The highest positive latent heat flux occurs during hurricanes and typhoons, as these events are powered by the movement of heat energy from the warm ocean to the atmosphere, seen here in Hurricane Frances and Typhoon Songda. Significant negative latent heat flux is somewhat rare and occurs over the ocean only during certain configurations of air and surface conditions. |
| Completed |
2005-07-25 |
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Global Atmospheric Sea Level
…
| Title |
Global Atmospheric Sea Level Pressure during Hurricane Frances (WMS) |
| Abstract |
The weight of the Earth's atmosphere exerts pressure on the surface of the Earth. This pressure varies from place-to-place due the variations in the Earth's surface since higher altitudes have less atmosphere above them than lower altitudes. Atmospheric pressure also varies from time-to-time due to the uneven heating of the atmosphere by the sun and the rotation of the Earth, causing weather. In order to see the changes in pressure which affect the weather, the variation due to altitude is removed from the surface pressure, creating a quantity called sea level pressure. This animation shows the atmospheric sea level pressure 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 sharp, moving low pressures areas for Frances and Songda can be clearly seen in the oceans. Even with the direct effect of altitude removed, cold high-altitude regions such as the South Pole and the Himalayan Plateau still exhibit lower-than-normal pressures, probably due to the interaction of cold air over those regions with the warmer air in the surrounding regions. |
| Completed |
2005-06-22 |
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Global Atmospheric Sea Level
…
| Title |
Global Atmospheric Sea Level Pressure during Hurricane Frances (WMS) |
| Abstract |
The weight of the Earth's atmosphere exerts pressure on the surface of the Earth. This pressure varies from place-to-place due the variations in the Earth's surface since higher altitudes have less atmosphere above them than lower altitudes. Atmospheric pressure also varies from time-to-time due to the uneven heating of the atmosphere by the sun and the rotation of the Earth, causing weather. In order to see the changes in pressure which affect the weather, the variation due to altitude is removed from the surface pressure, creating a quantity called sea level pressure. This animation shows the atmospheric sea level pressure 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 sharp, moving low pressures areas for Frances and Songda can be clearly seen in the oceans. Even with the direct effect of altitude removed, cold high-altitude regions such as the South Pole and the Himalayan Plateau still exhibit lower-than-normal pressures, probably due to the interaction of cold air over those regions with the warmer air in the surrounding regions. |
| Completed |
2005-06-22 |
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Sea Ice Surface Temperature
…
| Title |
Sea Ice Surface Temperature with Alternate Color Scale (WMS) |
| Abstract |
This animation shows the daily sea ice surface temperature over the northern hemisphere from September 2002 through May 2003. The sea ice surface temperature was measured by the MODIS instrument on the Aqua satellite. Since this instrument cannot take measurements through clouds, in cloud-covered regions or areas with suspect data quality, previous values are retained until valid data is obtained. The satellite instruments are also unable to collect data in the dark, so the data values in polar darkness are not updated during the winter until the sun moves northwards in the spring. The color of the sea ice depicts the sea ice surface temperature. |
| Completed |
2006-03-08 |
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Sea Ice Surface Temperature
…
| Title |
Sea Ice Surface Temperature with Alternate Color Scale (WMS) |
| Abstract |
This animation shows the daily sea ice surface temperature over the northern hemisphere from September 2002 through May 2003. The sea ice surface temperature was measured by the MODIS instrument on the Aqua satellite. Since this instrument cannot take measurements through clouds, in cloud-covered regions or areas with suspect data quality, previous values are retained until valid data is obtained. The satellite instruments are also unable to collect data in the dark, so the data values in polar darkness are not updated during the winter until the sun moves northwards in the spring. The color of the sea ice depicts the sea ice surface temperature. |
| Completed |
2006-03-08 |
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Outgoing Longwave Flux Compa
…
| Title |
Outgoing Longwave Flux Compared to Clouds (WMS) |
| Abstract |
The Earth's climate is determined by energy transfer from the sun to the Earth's land, oceans, and atmosphere. As the Earth rotates, the sun lights up only part of the Earth at a time, and some of that incoming solar energy is reflected and some is absorbed, depending on type of area it lights. The amount of reflection and absorption is critical to the climate. An instrument named CERES orbits the Earth every 99 minutes and measures the reflected solar energy. This animation shows the outgoing thermal radiation measured by CERES during 29 orbits on June 20 and 21 of 2003 over global infrared cloud images. Thermal radiation is longwave radiation and depends on the temperature of the earth, with the most intense radiation coming from the warmest regions and the least from cold clouds in the atmosphere. Although cold clouds and the cold Antarctic night regions can be seen in this data, the Earth radiates pretty uniformly in the longwave bands because the atmosphere distributes the heat of the sun to the whole planet. |
| Completed |
2005-06-21 |
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Outgoing Longwave Flux Compa
…
| Title |
Outgoing Longwave Flux Compared to Clouds (WMS) |
| Abstract |
The Earth's climate is determined by energy transfer from the sun to the Earth's land, oceans, and atmosphere. As the Earth rotates, the sun lights up only part of the Earth at a time, and some of that incoming solar energy is reflected and some is absorbed, depending on type of area it lights. The amount of reflection and absorption is critical to the climate. An instrument named CERES orbits the Earth every 99 minutes and measures the reflected solar energy. This animation shows the outgoing thermal radiation measured by CERES during 29 orbits on June 20 and 21 of 2003 over global infrared cloud images. Thermal radiation is longwave radiation and depends on the temperature of the earth, with the most intense radiation coming from the warmest regions and the least from cold clouds in the atmosphere. Although cold clouds and the cold Antarctic night regions can be seen in this data, the Earth radiates pretty uniformly in the longwave bands because the atmosphere distributes the heat of the sun to the whole planet. |
| Completed |
2005-06-21 |
|
Global Surface Wind Speed du
…
| Title |
Global Surface Wind Speed during Hurricane Frances (WMS) |
| Abstract |
The weight of the Earth's atmosphere exerts pressure on the surface of the Earth. This pressure varies from place-to-place and from time-to-time due to surface irregularities, uneven heating of the atmosphere by the sun, and the Earth's rotation. Differences in pressure from place-to-place cause winds to try to flow from high pressure to low pressure regions to even out the differences, but the Earth's rotation and wind friction with the surface act to slow or divert the winds. This animation shows the surface wind speeds 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 highest, smoothest winds occur over the oceans where there are no surface irregularities to break up the flow, while flows over land tend to be irregular and highly variable. The highest winds occur in Hurricane Frances and Typhoon Songda, but note that the hurricane's wind speeds reduce dramatically when crossing Florida. |
| Completed |
2005-07-25 |
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Global Surface Wind Speed du
…
| Title |
Global Surface Wind Speed during Hurricane Frances (WMS) |
| Abstract |
The weight of the Earth's atmosphere exerts pressure on the surface of the Earth. This pressure varies from place-to-place and from time-to-time due to surface irregularities, uneven heating of the atmosphere by the sun, and the Earth's rotation. Differences in pressure from place-to-place cause winds to try to flow from high pressure to low pressure regions to even out the differences, but the Earth's rotation and wind friction with the surface act to slow or divert the winds. This animation shows the surface wind speeds 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 highest, smoothest winds occur over the oceans where there are no surface irregularities to break up the flow, while flows over land tend to be irregular and highly variable. The highest winds occur in Hurricane Frances and Typhoon Songda, but note that the hurricane's wind speeds reduce dramatically when crossing Florida. |
| Completed |
2005-07-25 |
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Instantaneous Net Radiation
…
| Title |
Instantaneous Net Radiation Flux (WMS) |
| Abstract |
The Earth's climate is determined by energy transfer from the sun to the Earth's land, oceans, and atmosphere. As the Earth rotates, the sun lights up only part of the Earth at a time, and some of that incoming solar energy is reflected and some is absorbed, depending on type of area it lights. The amount of reflection and absorption is critical to the climate. An instrument named CERES orbits the Earth every 99 minutes and measures the reflected solar energy. This animation shows the net radiation flux within view of CERES during 29 orbits on June 20 and 21 of 2003. The net flux is the incoming solar flux minus the outgoing reflected (shortwave) and thermal (longwave) radiation. If the flux in a region is positive, the Earth is being warmed by the sun in that region, while cooling regions have a negative flux. It is clear from the animation that the most intensive heating occurs in ocean regions with few clouds, while the second most intense are cloud-free regions over vegetated land areas. Deserts, cloudy regions, and ice caps all reflect enough solar radiation to reduce the amount of heating. Regions of night are, of course, cooling regions because there is no incoming flux at all. |
| Completed |
2005-02-01 |
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Instantaneous Net Radiation
…
| Title |
Instantaneous Net Radiation Flux (WMS) |
| Abstract |
The Earth's climate is determined by energy transfer from the sun to the Earth's land, oceans, and atmosphere. As the Earth rotates, the sun lights up only part of the Earth at a time, and some of that incoming solar energy is reflected and some is absorbed, depending on type of area it lights. The amount of reflection and absorption is critical to the climate. An instrument named CERES orbits the Earth every 99 minutes and measures the reflected solar energy. This animation shows the net radiation flux within view of CERES during 29 orbits on June 20 and 21 of 2003. The net flux is the incoming solar flux minus the outgoing reflected (shortwave) and thermal (longwave) radiation. If the flux in a region is positive, the Earth is being warmed by the sun in that region, while cooling regions have a negative flux. It is clear from the animation that the most intensive heating occurs in ocean regions with few clouds, while the second most intense are cloud-free regions over vegetated land areas. Deserts, cloudy regions, and ice caps all reflect enough solar radiation to reduce the amount of heating. Regions of night are, of course, cooling regions because there is no incoming flux at all. |
| Completed |
2005-02-01 |
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