1998 EARTH SCIENCE VIDEOTAPES |
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Tape Title | Record ID | Date Produced | TRT: |
Synopsis |
| EVOLUTION OF THE 1997-1998 El NINO: A VIEW FROM SPACE | G98-058 | 12/6/98 | 00:28:40 | For the first time in history, scientists around the world were able to observe a major climate event from the earliest stages of development through decay. Satellites provided scientists with many new ways to study El Nino and yielded unprecedented information on sea surface temperature, sea surface topography, sea surface winds, ocean biology and precipitation. These new tools allow scientists to predict significant shifts in El Nino-driven precipitation and temperature patterns three to nine month advance.
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TAPE CONTENTS: |
| ITEM (1): A GLOBAL EL NINO - The 1997-98 El Nino was truly a global event. The sequence shows a superposition of sea surface temperature anomalies on anomalies of the sea surface elevation. Data Sources: NASA/CNES TOPEX/Poseidon radar altimeter data and NOAA NCEP SST analysis.
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| ITEM (2): STUDYING A COUPLED SYSTEM - This segment depicts the coupled nature of key components of the ocean and atmosphere system during the life cycle of El Nino. Data representing sea surface height (3-D elevation), surface wind anomalies (black arrows) and sea surface temperature anomalies (colors) give new insights into the evolution of complex El Nino event. Data Sources: NASA/CNES TOPEX/Poseidon radar altimeter data, NOAA NCEP SST analysis, and DMSP SSM/I surface winds
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| ITEM (3): EL NINO IN 3-D - The space-based perspective provided by satellite observations trace the evolution of El Nino (shown in red) from its beginning in early 1997 through its decline in early 1998. The onset of La Nina can be seen as the emergence cooler than normal temperatures (shown in blue) along the equator. In late 1998, cooler than normal sea surface and subsurface water temperatures extend more than 6000 miles across the equatorial Pacific Ocean. Data Sources: NASA/CNES TOPEX/Poseidon radar altimeter data, NOAA NCEP SST analysis, and DMSP SSM/I surface winds
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| ITEM (4): DEMISE OF EL NINO AND RISE OF LA NINA - Warmer than normal sea temperatures associated with El Nino (shown in red) give way to the cooler than normal temperatures associated with La Nina (shown in blue). Data Sources: NASA/CNES TOPEX/Poseidon radar altimeter data and NOAA NCEP SST analysis
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| ITEM (5): EL NINO RUNS DEEP - Scientists combine sea level data from satellites with ocean temperatures measured by the NOAA TAO Buoy array to gain new clues into the evolution of El Nino. Colder than normal water temperatures at depth propagate east along the equatorial Pacific hastening El Nino's demise and giving rise to the cooler surface temperatures associated with La Nina during the spring of 1998. Warmer than normal temperatures shown in red, cooler than normal temps shown in blue. Data Sources: NOAA TOGA TAO subsurface temperatures, NASA/CNES TOPEX/Poseidon radar altimeter data and NOAA NCEP SST analysis
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| ITEM (6): COMPARING THE BIG ONES -This depiction of the two largest El Nino events of this century (1982-83 and 1997-98) allows their evolution to be compared and contrasted. Sea surface temperature anomalies for the 1997-98 El Nino developed much more quickly and earlier in the year than the 1982-83 event. The 1982-83 El Nino eventually reversed and developed into a weak La Nina pattern towards the end of 1983. Transition from El Nino to La Nina is also apparent in 1998. Data Source: NOAA NCEP SST analysis Scientists use data from previous El Ninos to develop models that help them better predict the evolution future El Nino and La Nina events.
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| ITEM (7): WORLDWIDE RAINFALL -The most critical attribute of El Nino for society is the change in global precipitation patterns. This segment for the highlights global rainfall anomalies associated with the 1997-98 El Nino. Green regions are wetter than normal and red regions are drier than normal. The warm waters of El Nino produce heavier than normal precipitation in the eastern tropical Pacific and drier than normal conditions in the far western Pacific and Indonesia. Data Source: The data were collected by the Special Sensor Microwave/Imager (SSM/I) on board the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) series of satellites.
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| ITEM (8): REBOUND FROM EL NINO - El Nino also has a dramatic impact on the global biosphere. Ocean color satellite instruments are able to monitor changes in the chlorophyll concentration in the ocean that are indicative of changes in the lowest level of the marine food chain -- phytoplankton. During El Nino the upwelling of nutrients is suppressed with often times disastrous implications for marine ecosystems. NASA's SeaWiFS instrument enabled scientists to witness the ocean transition from El Nino (first image) to La Nina (second image) conditions in the Equatorial Pacific. The cooler upwelled nutrient-rich waters associated with the demise of El Nino and transition to La Nina initiated a huge plankton bloom along the equator.
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| ITEM (9): EXPLOSION IN THE GALAPAGOS - On regional scales, the SeaWiFS instrument documented the rapid demise of El Nino in the waters around the Galapagos Islands. The images show a explosion in plankton growth as the warm El Nino waters blamed for choking off essential ocean nutrients are replaced by deep cold upwelled waters. The false color images, which document plankton concentrations over a period from May 9 - 24 1998, show that life in the region to the west archipelago has returned in remarkable abundance. High concentrations are shown in red. Areas occluded by clouds are shown in white. Animation of the NASA's Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS).
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| ITEM (10): El NINO FIRES - SeaWiFS also observed changes to terrestrial ecosystems. Among the most notable were the El Nino drought induced fires over Indonesia and Mexico. This segment presents the satellite observations of smoke from the unusually severe fires in the Indonesian Archipelago during 1997 and 1998. The fires peaked in late September and early October, died down in December, and reappeared in March, 1998.
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| ITEM (11): INTERVIEW EXCERPTS - ANTONIO BUSALACCHI, RESEARCH OCEANOGRAPHER, NASA GODDARD SPACE FLIGHT CENTER, GREENBELT, MD
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