December 31, 2011
The Multi-Scale Ultra-High Resolution (MUR) Sea Surface Temperature (SST) Data Set combines data from the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR), Moderate Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) Terra and Aqua, and Advanced Microwave Spectroradiometer-EOS (AMSR-E) instruments in an optimal way to produce 1 km global maps of SST. Noticeable in the animation from 1 January 2010 to 31 December 2011 are the high energy regions associated with the Western Boundary Currents of the Gulf Stream and the Kuroshio. Additionally one can see the major upwelling areas of the world's oceans associated with the California, Peruvian/Chilean and South African Coasts.
February 7, 2011
The animation illustrates the evolution of sea surface temperature (SST) and sea surface height (SSH) anomalies (relative to the respective normal state, i.e., seasonal climatology) associated with the 2010-11 La Niña in the Pacific Ocean. SST and SSH anomalies reflect the heat content in the mixed layer (approximately upper 50 m) and the upper ocean (approximately upper 150 m) respectively. Warm/cold SST anomalies often are associated with high/low SSH anomalies. They provide complimentary views of the oceanic signature of climate variability such as El Niño and La Niña .
May 21, 2010
The animation illustrates the evolution of sea surface temperature (SST) and sea surface height (SSH) anomalies* (relative to the respective normal state, i.e., seasonal climatology) associated with the 2009-10 El Nino in the Pacific Ocean. SST and SSH anomalies reflect the heat content in the mixed layer (approximately upper 50 m) and the upper ocean (approximately upper 150 m) respectively. They provide complimentary views of the oceanic signature of climate variability El Nino. In April 2009, initial warming appeared in the eastern equatorial Pacific and grew into a moderate warming event by the end of the year.