1997 EARTH SCIENCE VIDEOTAPES |
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Tape Title | Record ID | Date Produced | TRT: |
Synopsis |
| NASA EXPLORES INNERSPACE--10,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEAS | G97-025 | 7/29/97 | 00:10:08 | SeaWiFS Pre-launch package. Scientists from the Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, will soon have a unique opportunity to study the Earth's oceans from space. Space provides a medium for studying the ocean globally, rather than being limited to isolated areas on Earth. Scheduled to launch on August 1, 1997, on a Pegasus launch vehicle from Vandenburg Air Force Base, CA, the SeaStar satellite carrying the Sea-viewing wide Field-of-View Sensor (SeaWiFs) will study ocean "color" from space. Ocean color is made up of varying concentrations and types of phytoplankton. Phytoplankton which is the beginning of the world's food chain absorb different levels of sunlight producing a variety of "colors." SeaWiFs will target areas of the oceans and provide data on pytoplankton levels, health and chemistry and study changes occurring over time.
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TAPE CONTENTS: |
| ITEM (1): EXPLORING INNERSPACE FROM SPACE - SeaStar satellite animation depicting deploy, and illustrating the SeaWiFs instrument observing ocean color data.
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| ITEM (2): SEEING THE "BIG PICTURE" - Key global illustration using similar data that scientists hope to acquire from SeaWiFS revealing seasonal variations in phytoplankton concentrations. (Data composites gathered by the Nimbus-7 Coastal Zone Color Scanner (CZCS))
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| ITEM (3): MEASURING SEASONAL CHANGE - A series of images taken from two different areas of the world comprised of data collected by the Nimbus-7 CZCS instrument illustrating seasonal phytoplankton plume change over a seven year period from November 1978 until June 1986.
a) North Atlantic (North America, South America & parts of Europe)
b) Indian Ocean (Arabian Sea)
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| ITEM (4): COASTAL ZONE COLOR SCANNER IMAGES - A compilation of CZCS images. (Red and yellow areas reveal high concentrations of phytoplankton, blue and purple low areas and gray no data.)
a) Image of Staten Island, Coney Island & Sandy Hook- Image illustrates how human influence affects plankton concentrations after chemical waste has been dumped offshore from ships. (Dumpsite is hook-shaped.)
b) Northeast Pacific Ocean - Images of changes of concentration levels over a period of time.
c) Galapagos Islands - Image reveals high concentrations of phytoplankton productivity affected by the interaction of the South Equatorial Current with the Galapagos Archipelago.
d) Tasmania - Image reveals patterns of phytoplankton concentrations and the relationship between the complex circulation of ocean patterns and intense "blooms" which are of major importance to the fisheries in the area.
e) United States East Coast - Image of the Gulf Stream and northeastern coast of the United States. The warm core rings produced by the Gulf Stream are visible, revealing higher concentrations of phytoplankton.
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| ITEM (5): INTERVIEW - MARY CLEAVE, PROJECT MANAGER, SEAWIFS -Former astronaut discusses the importance of studying the Earth globally after visually being able to see changes on Earth from space.
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| ITEM (6): INTERVIEW - GENE FELDMAN, OCEANOGRAPHER, GODDARD SPACE FLIGHT CENTER - Explains why studying the ocean's microscopic life with SEAWIFS is so important.
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| ITEM (7): THE BEGINNING OF A GOURMET MEAL - Images of the first item on the food chain -- the "minute" phytoplankton.
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| ITEM (8): WHO'S EATING WHO? - Video clip showing the food chain from phytoplankton to mankind.
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