Aerosols vary a great deal from place to place and over time. Knowing their type and distribution benefits people everywhere. The Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem (PACE) satellite mission will help capture a complete and accurate picture of aerosols around the globe.
The animation above depicts ocean circulation that is driven by temperature and salinity (i.e., salt content). It ends by showing the Antarctic Circumpolar Current where surface and deep waters flow from west to east around Antarctica. This current allows deep water circulation from the Atlantic to rise in the Indian and Pacific Oceans, closing the surface circulation with the northward flow in the Atlantic. [NASA Scientific Visualization Studio] The data visualization below shows NASA’s assimilation of wind measurements from ship buoys and satellites. This global view shows strong winds in the South Atlantic and Southern Ocean. One hundred and fifty years ago 'clipper' sailing ship captains used these windy zones as long distance 'express lanes’. [NASA Scientific Visualization Studio]
From Sea Spray to Clouds
High winds in the Southern Ocean are connected to clouds. How? By releasing salty aerosols from ocean whitecaps.
From Tiny Algae to Clouds
In addition to salt, sea spray aerosol contains organic compounds produced by phytoplankton – microscopic ocean plants and algae. One of these compounds is dimethyl sulfide (DMS).
Blooms of Emiliania huxleyi can turn the Southern Ocean a bright teal color.
In this map, areas with high concentrations of calcium carbonate are represented by bright turquoise colors... including the Southern Ocean.
The visualization below shows global daily averages of suspended particulate calcium carbonate over more than a decade. The bright turquoise feature in the Southern Ocean is known as the "Great Calcite Belt." This region has generally low concentrations of iron, a nutrient needed for phytoplankton growth. Studies suggest, however, that Emiliania huxleyi has adapted growing well in low iron conditions. [MODIS instrument on Aqua satellite]
From Distant Sources to the Southern Ocean
The high winds around the Southern Ocean also mean that continental aerosols – such as smoke from fires in Australia in January 2003 – can get blown a long way.
A little "closer to home" in the Southern Ocean, dust can be blown off the southern tip of South America. Sensors on NASA’s Aqua and Terra satellites tracked a dust storm moving from southern Argentina over the Atlantic Ocean on January 24, 2010.
11:40 AM
A cloud of pale dust rises from point sources on land as individual plumes that blend into a large cloud.
Turbulence in the air creates ripples in the dust plume, echoing the vertical strands of color in the ocean below.
Green and bright blue colors in the ocean indicate a large phytoplankton bloom.
3:55 PM
Dust was no longer blowing over land but the plume had concentrated over the Atlantic Ocean.
Phytoplankton continued to bloom in the ocean.
In the data model visualization below, blue represents sea salt. Winds blowing across the ocean kicks up ocean spray, which includes sea salt. In the animation, pale blue to white colors reflect stormy conditions. Individual large storms like tropical cyclones (hurricanes, typhoons) are visible as swirling circles of thick sea salt.
Scheduled to launch in 2024, PACE will extend and improve NASA's over 20-year record of observing ocean life, aerosols, and clouds.
PACE observations of aerosols in the Southern Ocean will help us learn more about how aerosols influence cloud development in this relatively pristine region of the world.
More wavelengths. Unprecedented resolution.
Links and Other Information
- Landsat Image Mosaic of Antarctica Graphic (NASA Scientific Visualization Studio]
- Compare the Size of Antarctica to the Continental United States [NASA Scientific Visualization Studio]
- Thermohaline Circulation using Improved Flow Field [NASA Scientific Visualization Studio]
- NASA On Air: NASA's Data Shows A Windy World [NASA Scientific Visualization Studio]
- Human Induced versus Naturally Occurring Aerosols [NASA Scientific Visualization Studio]
- Oxygen Factories in the Southern Ocean [NASA Earth Observatory, VIIRS on Suomi NPP]
- Bright Waters of the Southern Ocean [NASA Scientific Visualization Studio]
- DMS: The Climate Gas You've Never Heard Of [Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution]
- NASA WorldView [Terra/MODIS data, January 2003]
- Patagonian Dust over the Atlantic Ocean [NASA Earth Observatory]
- Aerosol Optical Thickness Updating Forecast [NASA Scientific Visualization Studio]
- Other images used under 123rf License Agreement [ID 9155313, 48497517, 48497521, 48497526, 23173319, 29200936, 49938268, 61703168]