earth

a visualization of global weather conditions
forecast by supercomputers
updated every three hours

ocean surface current estimates
updated every day

ocean surface temperatures and
anomaly from daily average (1981-2011)
updated daily

ocean waves
updated every three hours

aurora
updated every thirty minutes

atmospheric pressure corresponds roughly to altitude
several pressure layers are meteorologically interesting
they show data assuming the earth is completely smooth
note: 1 hectopascal (hPa) = 1 millibar (mb)

the "Surface" layer represents conditions at ground or water level
this layer follows the contours of mountains, valleys, etc.

overlays show another dimension of data using color
some overlays are valid at a specific height
while others are valid for the entire thickness of the atmosphere

about ocean waves

Significant Wave Height is the average height of the highest 1/3 of waves at a particular point in the ocean. There's a great writeup here describing what this means.

Peak Wave Period is the (inverse) frequency of the most energetic waves passing through a particular point, whether wind generated or swells. Certainly, there are many more groups of waves moving through an area, each in different directions, but trying to show them all rapidly becomes complex. Instead, we show the one wave group contributing the most energy. This has the effect, though, of creating "boundaries" between regions of ocean where the #1 wave group suddenly switches to second place. Often these boundaries represent swell fronts, but other times they are just artifacts of the ranking mechanism.

about CO₂ concentrations
for dates earlier than 2017-01-24 04:30 UTC

While implementing the visualization of CO₂ surface concentration, I noticed the NASA GEOS-5 model reports a global mean concentration that differs significantly from widely reported numbers. For example, from the run at 2015-11-23 00:00 UTC, the global mean is only 368 ppmv whereas CO₂ observatories report concentrations closer to 400 ppmv. GEOS-5 was constructed in the 2000s, so perhaps the model does not account for accumulation of atmospheric CO₂ over time? This is simply speculation. I am just not certain.

To bring the GEOS-5 results closer to contemporary numbers, I have added a uniform offset of +32 ppmv, increasing the global mean to 400 ppmv. This is not scientifically valid, but it does allow the visualization to become illustrative of the discussion occurring today around atmospheric CO₂. Without question, I would welcome a more rigorous approach or an explanation why the GEOS-5 model produces the data that it does.

From 2017-01-24 04:30 UTC, this adjustment is no longer necessary because GEOS-5 appears to have been upgraded.

disclaimer

GEOS-5 data (covering all Chem and Particulates layers) comes with the following disclaimer: Forecasts using the GEOS system are experimental and are produced for research purposes only. Use of these forecasts for purposes other than research is not recommended.

about aerosols and extinction

An aerosol is air containing particles. Common particles are dust, smoke, soot, and water droplets (clouds). These particles affect sunlight primarily through absorption and scattering, which combine to reduce the amount of light reaching the ground. This loss of light as it passes through the atmosphere is called extinction.

One common measure of extinction is aerosol optical thickness (AOT), which is (the log of) the ratio between the power of incoming light and the power of transmitted light. This helps us understand how "thick" the air is with particulates.

about active fire data

Fire data is a combination of VIIRS 375m NRT (NOAA-20) and VIIRS 375m NRT (Suomi NPP) active fire products. Each fire detection data point contains the time of detection (when the satellite made the measurement) and the Fire Radiative Power (FRP) in units of megawatts (MW). For more information on how to interpret the readings, see the FIRMS FAQ and the detailed discussion of VIIRS I-Band 375 m Active Fire Data.

We acknowledge the use of data and/or imagery from NASA's Fire Information for Resource Management System (FIRMS), part of NASA's Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS).

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Selected for inclusion in the Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness Network (CLEAN) collection of educational resources.

The GEOS-5 data used on this site have been provided by the Global Modeling and Assimilation Office (GMAO) at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center through the online data portal in the NASA Center for Climate Simulation

Generated using Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service Information 2017-2020. Neither the European Commission nor ECMWF is responsible for any use that may be made of this information.