This global montage is created and updated every 6 hours using satellite data, sea surface temperatures, and observed land temperatures.
Click on image for full size
Courtesy of the Space Science and Engineering Science Center, University of Wisconsin - Madison.
Atmospheric Science Literacy - Essential Principle 3
Atmospheric circulation transports matter and energy.
Fundamental Concept 3.1
Horizontal and vertical energy imbalances in the Earth System produced by unequal heating of Earth's surface create movement in the atmosphere and the ocean.
Fundamental Concept 3.2
Energy is exchanged within the atmosphere, as well as gained and lost across its interface with land and ocean through physical, geological, and biological processes organized in Earth System cycles (e.g. the water cycle). These exchanges help drive atmospheric circulations.
Fundamental Concept 3.3
Patterns of circulation in Earth's atmosphere can be observed at many different spatial scales from global to local. Temperature differences, the rotation of Earth on its axis, and the configuration of the continents and oceans establish the large-scale atmospheric circulation.
Fundamental Concept 3.4
Atmospheric transport of water affects the formation and development of clouds, precipitation, and weather systems, which are all important components of the global water cycle.
Fundamental Concept 3.5
Atmospheric circulations distribute matter and energy globally and establish weather and climate patterns.
You might also be interested in:
The first time people got a glimpse of the whole Earth was December 1968. Apollo 8 astronauts, en route to and from the Moon, took pictures of the Earth from space. In their photographs, the Earth looks
...more
A cloud is composed of tiny water droplets or ice crystals that are suspended in the air. A series of processes have to happen in order for these water droplets or ice crystals to form into clouds in the
...more
Climate in your place on the globe is called regional climate. It is the average weather pattern in a place over more than thirty years, including the variations in seasons. To describe the regional climate
...more
Energy from the Sun drives atmospheric processes. Fundamental Concept 2.1 Earth receives energy in the form of electromagnetic radiation from the Sun. Some of this solar energy is absorbed by the atmosphere,
...more
Big Ideas of Earth Science Earth is our home. We rely upon it for our existence in many different ways. Our planet's rocks, soils, and the chemical, physical, and biological processes that create and transform
...more
Essential Principles and Fundamental Concepts of Atmospheric Science The atmosphere is a dynamically circulating mixture of gases that surrounds the Earth. It becomes thinner until it gradually reaches
...more
Earth's atmosphere and humans are inextricably linked. Fundamental Concept 7.1 Most living organisms on Earth are dependent on Earth's atmosphere and its processes for survival. We require oxygen for breathing;
...more
