Below are several web pages that provide materials useful in Earth System Science courses.
Earth Observatory
The purpose of NASA’s Earth Observatory is to provide a freely-accessible publication
on the internet where the public can obtain new satellite imagery and scientific
information about our home planet. The focus is on Earth’s climate and environmental
change.
Earth scientists around the world use NASA satellite imagery to better understand the
causes and effects of natural hazards. The goal in sharing these images is to help people
visualize where and when natural hazards occur, and to help mitigate their effects. All
images in this section are freely available to the public for re-use or re-publication
(please use credits as indicated for each image).
Winter snowpack scientists monitor global snow cover to better understand
short- and long-term environmental and climatic conditions. On a seasonal scale, the depth
and extent of the winter snowpack influence water availability and soil moisture, which, in turn,
affect agriculture and wildfire potential. In many places around the world, the
melting of the winter snowpack is the major source of fresh water in the spring and
summer.
Microscopic marine plants (called phytoplankton) contain chlorophyll, a green pigment
they use during photosynthesis. Using satellite sensors, we can measure chlorophyll
concentrations in oceans, lakes and seas to indicate the distribution and abundance
of phytoplankton. Phytoplankton are the base of the marine food chain and, therefore,
are a good indicator of the abundance of life in a body of water.
Explore what satellites do, how they work, and the different types of orbits
they can have. Build your own satellite with your friends and family online!
MODIS (or Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) is a key instrument aboard the
Terra (EOS AM) and Aqua (EOS PM) satellites. Terra's orbit around the Earth is timed so
that it passes from north to south across the equator in the morning, while Aqua passes
south to north over the equator in the afternoon. Terra MODIS and Aqua MODIS are viewing
the entire Earth's surface every 1 to 2 days, acquiring data in 36 spectral bands, or
groups of wavelengths (see MODIS Technical Specifications). These data will improve our
understanding of global dynamics and processes occurring on the land, in the oceans, and
in the lower atmosphere. MODIS is playing a vital role in the development of validated,
global, interactive Earth system models able to predict global change accurately enough
to assist policy makers in making sound decisions concerning the protection of our
environment.
Feature Identification Exercises: Clouds, Snow, and Ice Using MODIS
This UCAR/NCAR COMET module consists of four exercises where users identify surface
features, distinguish clouds from snow on the ground, and determine cloud phase using
multispectral analysis. The
module also includes an overview of multispectral techniques available on many operational
and research polar-orbiting satellites. A page with links to real-time polar-orbiting data
and information is also included.
Microwave Remote Sensing: Clouds, Precipitation, and Water Vapor
This UCAR/NCAR COMET module provides an introduction to polar-orbiting-satellite-based microwave
remote sensing products that depict moisture and precipitation in the atmosphere.
The module begins with definitions and descriptions of total precipitable water and
cloud liquid water products, contrasting each with more familiar infrared water vapor
and window channel products. This is followed by an overview of microwave precipitation
estimation and a discussion of how polar-satellite products compare with those from
geostationary satellites and ground-based radar. A series of case examples highlights
potential weather forecasting applications for total precipitable water and precipitation
products. The module also includes an introduction to the Global Precipitation Monitoring
Mission to which future NPOESS satellites will be an important contributor.
Earth Resources Observation Systems (EROS) Data Center (EDC)
The Earth Resources Observation Systems (EROS) Data Center (EDC) is a data management,
systems development, and research field center for the U.S. Geological Survey's (USGS)
National Mapping Division.
The Science@NASA web sites' stories range from astronomy and astrophysics to living in
space to Earth science to physical sciences and biology. From microscopic scale, to human
scale, to astronomical scale, NASA science covers them all! Cutting edge physics for
space transportation beyond rocketry and computer applications to improve weather forecasts.
Our goal is that the Science@NASA team will be here to give you the context and background
of what you hear from other sources.
The NDMC helps people and institutions develop and implement measures to reduce societal
vulnerability to drought. Based at the University of NE-Lincoln, the NDMC stresses preparation
and risk management rather than crisis management.
This web site was designed to explain how paleoclimatic data can provide information about
past droughts and about the natural variability of drought over timescales of decades to
millennia. We note that droughts are a world wide phenomenon and affect the global
community. However, the focus of these web pages is North America.
NOAA Paleoclimatology Branch page. Paleoclimatology is the study of past climate, for times
prior to instrumental weather measurements. Paleoclimatologists use clues from natural
"proxy" sources such as tree rings, ice cores, corals, and ocean and lake sediments to
understand natural climate variability. NOAA Paleoclimatology operates the World Data
Center for Paleoclimatology and the Applied Research Center for Paleoclimatology, with
the goal to provide data and information scientists need to understand natural climate
variability as well as future climate change.
Welcome to radiocarbon web-info site. Radiocarbon dating is the technique upon which
chronologies of the late Pleistocene and Holocene have been built. This resource
is designed to provide online information concerning the radiocarbon dating method.
The purpose of the Sea-viewing Wide Field-of-view Sensor (SeaWiFS) Project is to provide
quantitative data on global ocean bio-optical properties to the Earth science community.
Subtle changes in ocean color signify various types and quantities of marine phytoplankton
(microscopic marine plants), the knowledge of which has both scientific and practical
applications. The SeaWiFS Project will develop and operate a research data system that will
process, calibrate, validate, archive and distribute data received from an Earth-orbiting
ocean color sensor.
GMD's mission is to observe and understand, through accurate, long-term records of
atmospheric gases, aerosol particles, and solar radiation, the Earth's atmospheric
system controlling climate forcing, ozone depletion and baseline air quality, in
order to develop products that will advance global and regional environmental
information and services.
GOES satellites provide the kind of continuous monitoring necessary for intensive data
analysis. They circle the Earth in a geosynchronous orbit, which means they orbit the
equatorial plane of the Earth at a speed matching the Earth's rotation. This allows them
to hover continuously over one position on the surface.
VAL does visualizations for science, education, and outreach, and "do" here is
full-service, from producing the actual visuals, to working to define the visuals
and the story that they support, to using/learning/finding/programming the software
that builds the visuals, to buying/adapting/caring for the hardware, to working with
users to find/define/promote concepts that can be visualized.
The EPA Global Warming Site is provided as a public service by the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency. EPA's climate change programs and activities are an integral part of
the Agency's mission and purpose. With the Global Warming Site, we strive to present
accurate information on the very broad issue of climate change and global warming in a
way that is accessible and meaningful to all parts of society – communities, individuals,
business, public officials and governments.
This is the Ozone Hole Watch web site, where you can check on the latest
status of the ozone layer over the South Pole. Satellite instruments monitor
the ozone layer, and we use their data to create the images that depict the amount
of ozone.
Official web site for information, data, and images from the Ozone Monitoring Instrument
(OMI) on Aura and the Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS) instruments using Version 8
of the TOMS processing algorithm.
This animation shows total ozone in the Antarctic region along with the maximum
ozone depth and size since the earliest measurements of the TOMS instrument on the
Earth Probe satellite. This animation was created for an exhibit at the
Smithsonium Museum.
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory's ELSI in Science program is a pilot project
designed to stimulate discussions on the implications of selected areas of scientific
research. These modules probably will be most useful to educators and students at the
middle school through high school level.
This site is organized in a modular style based on Earth science topics studied by
scientists using environmental data collected by satellites. Four modules have been
developed. The Stratospheric Ozone and Global Land Vegetation modules are ready for
use and have been reviewed by the NASA Earth Science Enterprise Education Product
Review Committee.
CLIMVIS- the Climate Visualization system is an interactive graphing tool designed to
allow visual browsing of the data available on-line at the National Climatic Data
Center(NCDC). This system was developed by the Systems Development Staff at the NCDC.
CLIMVIS simply requires the user to step through the data and graphing feature selection
process to visually browse the data.
