Earth Science
Earth: Advancing Earth System Science to meet the challenges of climate and environmental change.
These presentations communicate various topics in Earth science on the Hyperwall.
 | Mapping the World’s Sea Surface Temperatures in Ultra-high Resolution: This animation from January 1, 2010, to December 31, 2011, shows global Sea Surface Temperatures (SST) in ultra-high resolution.
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 | Bird’s Eye View of a Crack in the Ice: This animation provides a bird’s eye view of a crack in Antarctica’s Pine Island Glacier.
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 | Earth's Circulatory System: This animation shows a model of the North Atlantic Ocean’s thermohaline circulation as well as the Antarctic Circumpolar Current, circling Antarctica. Downloads: |
 | Checking Earth's Vital Signs: From their vantage points in orbit, 16 Earth-observing satellites monitor our world from space. This animation shows the orbits of all of the current satellites..
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 | Antarctic Flyover: Experience what it’s like to fly over Antarctica. This animation reveals high-resolution satellite images of Antarctica near the McMurdo Station. Downloads: |
 | Global Fire Tour: Observations from space have shown that approximately 70% of the world’s fires occur in Africa alone. This visualization leads you through a global tour of fires from July 2002–July 2011. Downloads: |
 | The Rainmaker: This visualization shows Hurricane Irene as it trekked up the East Coast. Rainfall amounts were measured by the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) from August 17-29, 2011. Downloads: |
 | Whats Up with Clouds?: This visualization shows a simulation of clouds from February 2-22, 2010 using the GEOS-5 model. Downloads: |
 | International Satellites Under One Umbrella: The visualization shows the international Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission satellite constellation. Downloads: |
 | The Motions of the Oceans: Scientists use model simulations like the one in this presentation—produced by the Estimating the Circulation and Climate of the Ocean, Phase II—to help resolve ocean eddies and other narrow-current systems that transport heat (and carbon) in our oceans. Downloads: |
 | Duplicating Hurricanes: This visualization shows a GEOS-5 simulation of the very active 2005 Atlantic Basin hurricane season. Seeded only at the beginning of the run, the model shows 23 out of 27 storms—including Katrina. Downloads: |
 | Beyond the Flames of Fire: In the atmosphere, carbon monoxide (CO) is short lived and therefore is detected close to its source. The CO seen in this visualization primarily comes from fires burning in the Amazon basin. Downloads: |
 | Antarctica On the Move: This visualization shows the velocity of ice on Antarctica representing hundreds to thousands of years of motion. Downloads: |
 | A Sea of Clouds: Earth’s atmosphere is a fluid system not unlike our oceans, and both continuously work together to transport water around our planet. This visualization shows clouds from a simulation using the GEOS-5 model for January 2, 2009. Downloads: |
 | Dynamic Hydrosphere: Satellite altimeters detected a significant drop in global mean sea level, beginning in the spring of 2010 and falling by about half a centimeter by spring or summer of 2011. Downloads: |
 | 2010 Pakistan Floods: Collection of satellite imagery, graph of average rainfall over the Indus River Basin, and a flood analysis map pieced together by UNOSAT, documenting the 2010 Pakistan Floods. Downloads: |
 | Puyehue-Cordón Caulle Volcanic Complex: On June 4, 2011, a fissure opened in Chile’s Puyehue-Cordón Caulle Volcanic Complex, sending ash 45,000 feet (14,000 meters) into the air. This image, taken on June 11, 2011, shows the path of the volcanic ash plume. Winds blowing from the west carried the plume downwind, across Argentina and eventually reaching the South Atlantic Ocean. Downloads: |
 | Sahara Dust: A natural color image captured by NASA's Aqua satellite shows Saharan dust from Africa as it travels offshore on September 21, 2009. Downloads: |
 | Wallow Wild Fire: Image of the 2011 Wallow Fire in Arizona taken by the Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR) instrument onboard the Terra satellite. Smoke is visible in the derived Aerosol Optical Depth image. Downloads: |
 | Mississippi Floods: These three image pairs offer a unique comparison between flooded and non-flooded areas near the Mississippi River during spring 2011. Downloads: |
 | Australian Dust: This is an image of Australian Dust over the Pacific Ocean on September 12, 2009. The dust is thought to have originated from the dry Lake Eyre basin. Downloads: |
 | Eyjafjallajökull Volcano: These images reveal the extent and height of Iceland’s Eyjafjallajökull volcanic ash plume on May 7, 2010. Downloads: |
 | Urban Growth, Las Vegas, NV (1972-2010): Landsat time series of urban sprawl in Las Vegas, NV from 1972-2010. Downloads: |
 | Aura/OMI Nitrogen Dioxide, 10/2004 – 04/2010: This animation reveals the global distribution of Nitrogen Dioxide from October 2004 to April 2010, as detected by the Ozone Monitoring Instrument onboard the Aura satellite. Downloads: |
 | 2009 EL NIÑO & 2010 LA NIÑA (SVS CATALOG 3681): Sea Surface Height Anomalies reveal a change from El Nino to La Nina from 2009-2010. Downloads: |
 | AQUA/AIRS Carbon Dioxide with Mauna Loa Carbon Dioxide graph (SVS CATALOG 3685): This visualization is a time series of the global distribution and variation of mid-tropospheric carbon dioxide concentrations observed by the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder on NASA’s Aqua satellite. Downloads: |
 | AQUARIUS (SVS CATALOG 20144): This visualization reveals the external instrumentation on Aquarius as it orbits Earth. Downloads: |
 | Arctic Sea Ice Minimum Extent for 2010 (SVS CATALOG 3767): Arctic sea ice and seasonal land cover change from March 31, 2010 (maximum) to September 19, 2010 (minimum). Downloads: |
 | Earth at Night: Image of Earth’s city lights at night created with data from the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) Operational Linescan System (OLS). Downloads: |
 | Gridded Population of the World: Image of Earth’Gridded Population of the World, version 3 depicts the distribution of human population across the globe, including estimates into 2015. Downloads: |
 | Earth observing fleet with GEOS-5 clouds: This visualization reveals NASA’s Earth observing fleet of spacecraft. Another animation depicts satellites that are currently operational. Downloads: |
 | Icelands Eyjafjallajokull Volcanic Ash Plume May 6-8, 2010 (SVS CATALOG 3783): This animation shows the flow of the ash cloud for three days in early May 2010 on an hourly basis as sensed from a geostationary satellite. Downloads: |
 | HOW HAS THE ATMOSPHERIC CARBON UPTAKE FROM PLANTS CHANGED IN THE LAST DECADE? (SVS CATALOG 3765): This animation depicts the deviation from normal carbon removed by plants per day from 2000-2009. Downloads: |
 | How much carbon do plants take from the atmosphere? (SVS CATALOG 3764): This animation shows the amount of atmospheric carbon removed by plants per day from 2000-2009. Downloads: |
 | Sea Ice Yearly Minimum 1979-2010 (SVS CATALOG 3802): This visualization shows the annual Arctic sea ice minimum extent from 1979-2010 with a graph overlay to show the area in million square kilometers for each year's minimum day. Downloads: |
 | Groundwater Depletion in India Revealed by GRACE (SVS CATALOG 3623): This visualization uses data from NASA’s GRACE satellite to show groundwater depletion in India from 2002-2008. Downloads: |
 | 2007 Greenland Melt Season Study - Stereoscopic Version (SVS CATALOG 3738): This animation displays two geophysical data products of the Greenland ice sheet side-by-side, showing MODIS data on the left and QuikSCAT data on the right. Downloads: |
 | Hurricane Katrina Hot Towers (SVS CATALOG 3253): This animation displays Energy-releasing deep convective clouds (to 16 km) in the eyewall of Hurricane Katrina on August 28 occurred while the storm was intensifying to a category 5 classification. Data from NASA's TRMM spacecraft Downloads: |
THE WORLD OF CHANGE
 | WORLD OF CHANGE - Amazon Deforestation: The state of Rondônia in western Brazil is one of the most deforested parts of the Amazon. This series shows deforestation on the frontier in the northwestern part of the state between 2000 and 2010. Downloads: |
 | WORLD OF CHANGE - Antarctic Ozone Hole: Because of differences in geography and climate, Antarctica sea ice extent is larger than the Arctic’s in winter and smaller in summer. Since 1979, Antarctica’s sea ice has increased slightly, but year-to-year fluctuations are large. Downloads: |
 | WORLD OF CHANGE - Burn Recover Yellowstone: In 1988, wildfires raced through Yellowstone National Park, consuming hundreds of thousands of acres. This series of Landsat images tracks the landscape’s slow recovery through 2010. Downloads: |
 | WORLD OF CHANGE - Collapse Larsen-B Ice Shelf: In early 2002, scientists monitoring daily satellite images of the Antarctic Peninsula watched in amazement as almost the entire Larsen B Ice Shelf splintered and collapsed in just over one month. They had never witnessed such a large area disintegrate so rapidly. Downloads: |
 | WORLD OF CHANGE - Devastation Recovery Mt. St. Helens: The devastation of the May 18, 1980, eruption of Mt. St. Helens and the gradual recovery of the surrounding landscape is documented in this series of satellite images from 1979–2010. Downloads: |
 | WORLD OF CHANGE - Drought Cycles in Australia: Drought has taken a severe toll on croplands in Southeast Australia during many years this decade. Downloads: |
 | WORLD OF CHANGE - Global Biosphere: Earth would not be the planet that it is without its biosphere, the sum of its life. This series of images illustrates the variations in the average productivity of the global biosphere from 1999 to 2008. Downloads: |
 | WORLD OF CHANGE - Mesopotamia Marshes: In the years following the Second Gulf War, Iraqi residents began reclaiming the country’s nearly decimated Mesopotamian marshes. This series of images documents the transformation of the fabled landscape between 2000 and 2010. Downloads: |
 | WORLD OF CHANGE - Mountaintop Mining, West Virginia: Based on data from NASA’s Landsat 5 satellite, these natural-color (photo-like) images document the growth of the Hobet mine in Boone County, West Virginia, as it expands from ridge to ridge between 1984 and 2010. Downloads: |
 | WORLD OF CHANGE - Seasons Of The Indus River: Fed by glaciers in the Himalayas and Karakorams mountains — and by monsoon rains — the Indus River experiences substantial fluctuations every year. Because the river irrigates 18 million hectares of farmland, the landscape changes along with the river. Downloads: |
 | WORLD OF CHANGE - Severe Storms: This collection of images featuring the strongest hurricane, cyclone, or typhoon from any ocean during each year of the past decade includes storms both famous—or infamous—and obscure. Downloads: |
 | WORLD OF CHANGE - Shrinking Aral Sea: A massive irrigation project in the Kyzylkum Desert of central Asia has devastated the Aral Sea over the past 50 years. These images show the continued decline of the Southern Aral Sea in the past decade, as well as the first steps of recovery in the Northern Aral Sea in recent years. Downloads: |
 | WORLD OF CHANGE - The Seasons of Lake Tahoe: Perhaps the most familiar change in our changing world is the annual swing of the seasons. This series of images shows the effects of the seasons on the Lake Tahoe region between 2009 and 2010. Downloads: |
 | WORLD OF CHANGE - Urbanization of Dubai: To expand the possibilities for beachfront tourist development, Dubai, part of the United Arab Emirates, undertook a massive engineering project to create hundreds of artificial islands along its Persian Gulf coastline. Downloads: |
 | WORLD OF CHANGE - Water Level in Lake Powell: Combined with human demands, a multi-year drought in the Upper Colorado River Basin caused a dramatic drop in the Colorado River’s Lake Powell in the early part of the 2000s. The lake began to recover in the latter part of the decade, but as of May 2011, it was still well below capacity. Downloads: |
 | WORLD OF CHANGE - Yellow River Delta: Once free to wander up and down the coast of the North China Plain, the Yellow River Delta has been shaped by levees, canals, and jetties in recent decades. Downloads: |