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Global Sea Surface Temperature Main Content
NASA Center: Goddard Space Flight Center
Image # : GSST
Date : 7/1984

Title

Global Sea Surface Temperature

Full Description

This illustration of Earth's sea surface temperature was obtained from two weeks of infrared observations by the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR), an instrument on board NOAA-7 during July 1984. Temperatures are color coded with red being warmest and decreasing through oranges, yellows, greens, and blues. Temperature patterns seen in this image are the result of many influences, including the circulation of the ocean, surface winds, and solar heating. The image indicates a large pool of warm water in the Western Pacific and a tongue of relatively cold water extending along the Equator westward from South America. Every few years, there occurs an interrelated set of changes in the global atmospheric and oceanic circulation known as an El Niħo in which the region of warm equatorial water in the West extends eastward across the Pacific and blankets the cool, productive regions along the coast of South America. Fish, birds, and marine mammals that depend upon the normally phytoplankton-rich waters often die in large numbers during El Niħo. Images of sea surface temperature such as this help scientists to better monitor and ultimately understand the changes to Earth caused by events such as El Niħo.

Keywords

Global Sea Surface Temperature El Niħo Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer AVHRR NOAA Earth

Subject Category

Earth Science

Reference Numbers

  • Center: GSFC
  • Center Number: GSST
  • GRIN DataBase Number: GPN-2003-00032

Source Information

  • Creator/Photographer: NASA
  • Original Source: DIGITAL

Image Information ( Copyright Notification )

ResolutionFormatWidth
(Pixels)		Height
(Pixels)		Size
(KBytes)
Thumbnail JPEG 90 72 18
Small JPEG 640 512 253
Medium JPEG 1500 1200 1,432
Large JPEG 3000 2400 6,367

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