Global Datasets from NASA’s Earth Observatory
Global datasets covering observations about the ocean, land, atmosphere, energy, and life are available for exploring and downloading as KMZ or GeoTiff files. The data is processed from MODIS (or Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) which is on the Terra (EOS AM)and Aqua (EOS PM) satellites. The two satellites combined view the entire surface of the earth every one to two days. The data measurements are made available in one month segments on NASA’s Earth Observatory site.
The data site has a global map viewer with menu tabs to access the different data options. The right-hand side of the page also offers search and data download options as well as an analysis tool.
Fire Maps were created by Reto Stockli, NASA’s Earth Observatory Team, using data courtesy the MODIS Land Science Team at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center.
The sample image below maps out global land surface temperature anomalies for the month of June, 2011. The map shows the difference between the measured average temperature for that particular month as compared to the average conditions during that same monthly period between 2001-2010. Red shading are areas where the temperature was higher than normal, white shading for areas with no change from the average, and blue shading indicates areas that were cooler than normal. The map below shows the areas in the United States that have been suffering from hotter than normal temperatures this summer.
Land Surface Temperature Anomaly (June 1 – June 30, 2011) image by Jesse Allen, NASA’s Earth Observatory using data courtesy of the MODIS Land Group.
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Tags: earth observatory, heat dome, KMZ, land surface temperature anomaly, nasa
