---

WWNFF ESI'98 @ Rutgers University El Nino/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation  

Remote Sensing Equipment: http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/ol/images/pcearth2.gif

http://ww2010.atmos.uiuc.edu/guides/rs/gifs/home.gif From Buoys, Stations, Ships and Satellites to your Computer via the World Wide Web

 
Imagine trying to be everywhere, all the time, so that you could accurately measure all of the meteorological parameters important to climate and weather prediction  Complicating your task is the daunting fact that the vast majority of the earth's surface is covered by ocean.  The ocean/atmosphere interface is an important place critical to weather scientists.  How can we get a picture of what is going on there?  How can we see weather half way around the world, even in places to which humans can not travel.  Remote Sensing Technologies are a key tool helping scientists and the public visualize weather and predict it.

---

 

Ever since the United states launched its first weather satellite in 1960, the world has been able to obtain meteorological data remotely by observing the earth from high above.  With regard to El Nino and the behavior of the equatorial Pacific, a system of moored and drifting buoys, tide gauge stations and voluntary observing ships passing through the region relay information to satellites passing overhead.  This information can be downloaded electronically and used to map the Pacific with respect to atmospheric pressure, sea surface temperature, current direction and magnitude, and wind speed.  In this way climate scientists obtain useful data and build sophisticated models that attempt to forecast the weather and the future of the ENSO cycle.  You can have access to this same data simply by visiting governmental sites such as NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) and NCDC (National Climate Data Center).      Satellite imagery is used in concert with the remote data collected by deployed equipment.  Sophisticated camera arrays and sensors able to interpret a large portion of the electro- magnetic spectrum yield data on primary productivity (chlorophyll concentration), sea surface temperature, the slope of the ocean, rainfall and snowfall distribution among others.  These eyes in the sky allow scientists to monitor and track extreme weather events such as hurricanes.  Satellites are more than an early warning system; the data they provide have allowed scientists to address question that were difficult to answer based on ordinary data collection methods.  Check it OUT!

http://www.pmel.noaa.gov/toga-tao/.noaa/gif/enso-obs-sys-sm.gif Click above to see  ENSO Observing System

  FIND OUT MORE!     For more information regarding the method by which satellites "See the World," orbit the earth, and measure its properties, see the Remote Sensing Class Home Page within the Remote Sensing Lab site of Rutgers' Marine and Coastal Sciences interactive web product.  Additionally, a great historical overview of satellites, imaging equipment and the evolution of satellite technology, jump to the Satellite Resources page, a product of NOAA's data outreach effort.
 
           Woodrow Wilson                     Remote Sensing            Teacher Resource Page            Links to Data El Nino Research Team Products         How Data is Obtained         ENSO Curriculum Ideas        Web Sites Galore!   Back to Home                  El Nino                     La Nina                             ENSO    

---

El NinoResearch Team A  WebProduct of the Environmental Science Institute '98 @ Rutgers University Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation  

---

Woodrow Wilson Leadership Program in Environmental Science lpt@www.woodrow.org
The Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation webmaster@woodrow.org
CN 5281, Princeton NJ 08543-5281 Tel:(609)452-7007 Fax:(609)452-0066