Today From Space: The Earth's Atmosphere:
Near Real-Time Research Imagery

This Stop:	Clouds	Temperature	Climate	Lightning

Real-Time Geostationary Satellite Data (updated every 30 minutes)

This image is a portion of the composite global image from the infrared (heat) channels of four weather satellites in geosynchronous orbit. Light areas in the image correspond to relatively cold regions (typically clouds), and dark areas correspond to relatively warm regions. Data are available at half-hourly intervals. Black areas are regions with no satellite coverage. We have interactive access to both GOES 8 and GOES 9 visible, infrared, water vapor, and global infrared mosaic data. GOES-8 data courtesy of NASA Ames Research Center with reprocessing performed at NASA/ Marshall Space Flight Center Global Hydrology and Climate Center in Huntsville, Alabama. The global composite data is courtesy of the United States National Weather Service Storms Prediction Center.

Atmospheric Temperatures of the Day (updated daily)

Maps of Global atmospheric temperatures are available for the lower troposphere (0-5 miles), middle troposphere (5-6 miles), and lower stratosphere (8-12 miles). Cyclone activity (atmospheric circulations) are also available. All data are available in global or continental U.S. projections. Interactive access for selection of daily temperature data is available.     Data courtesy of NASA/ Marshall Space Flight Center Global Hydrology and Climate Center in Huntsville, Alabama.

Averaged Global Atmospheric Temperature Variations (updated monthly)

Two graphs of temperature data showing seasonally adjusted averages for 1) the lower stratosphere - Earth's atmosphere from 14 to 22 km (9 to 14 miles), and the lower troposphere - Earth's atmosphere from 0 to 8 km (0-5 miles). Clicking on the charts displays the data from which the graphs are constructed. Included are links to the ongoing discussion of surface-measured warming compared to satellite measurements of atmospheric cooling.   We also have interactive access to the historical database of temperature variations (image at lower left) in mercator projection. Data are updated monthly.   Data courtesy of NASA/ Marshall Space Flight Center Global Hydrology and Climate Center in Huntsville, Alabama.

Global Lightning Flash Summaries (updated monthly)

Data from NASA's Optical Transient Detector are used to generate these maps of lightning flashes, including cloud to ground, cloud to cloud, and intra-cloud (within cloud) lightning events. Ground-based techniques detect only cloud-to-ground lightning events which are believed to comprise 25% of the total lightning activity. Access to historical lightning data (April 1995 on) is available. Image at left is September 1997.   The Lightning Image Sensor, an experiment on board the Tropical Rainfall Measurement Mission, launched in November and will be the source for near real time lighting images of Earth when full operations get underway. The first images, from December 8, 1997, can be seen here. Data courtesy of NASA/ Marshall Space Flight Center Global Hydrology and Climate Center in Huntsville, Alabama.

Updated 7/15/97
Author/Curator: Linda Porter
NASA Official: Gregory S. Wilson