+ Visit NASA.gov + Advanced Search   + About the Server   + Animation List   + How to Use the Server   + RSS Feeds Previous Animation Next Animation CloudSat, Calipso and MODIS over Central America Associated with tropical thunderstorms are broad fields of cirrus clouds that flow out of the tops of the vigorous storm systems that form over warm tropical oceans. These clouds play a role in how much infrared energy is trapped in Earth's atmosphere. NASA's Tropical Composition, Cloud and Climate Coupling (TC4) mission, which runs from July 16, 2007 through August 8, 2007, aims to document the full lifecycle of these clouds. Observations from four A-Train satellites flying in formation will complement the aircraft measurements with large-scale views of many different features of the atmosphere. Observations from this mission along with previous studies will improve our understanding of what effect a warming climate with rising ocean temperatures will have on these cloud systems. These images over Central America, produced in support of the TC4 mission, show a tropical storm system over Central and South America on August 2, 2006 as measured from multiple satellite sensors, including Aqua MODIS, CloudSat and CALIPSO. In this view from the Pacific Ocean, Panama is on the left and South America is shown on the right. In the following series of still images, each satellite's measurement is shown individually and in combination with the others from the same camera viewpoint. The profile showing CloudSat and CALIPSO data is truncated at a height of twenty kilometers and exaggerated ten times. The land topography is also exaggerated by a factor of ten.    Both CloudSat and CALIPSO detect attributes of clouds on slices through the atmosphere. Here both are shown over an image of MODIS reflectance which is mapped onto the terrain. Available formats:   2560 x 1440     TIFF 4 MB   320 x 180         PNG 234 KB   160 x 80           PNG 55 KB   80 x 40             PNG 14 KB    The curtain of CloudSat data is shown above an image of MODIS reflectance which is mapped onto the terrain. Available formats:   2560 x 1440     TIFF 3 MB   320 x 180         PNG 229 KB    The curtain of CALIPSO data is shown above an image of MODIS reflectance which is mapped onto the terrain. Available formats:   2560 x 1440     TIFF 5 MB   320 x 180         PNG 234 KB    The curtain of both CloudSat and CALIPSO data is shown over Central and South America. Available formats:   2560 x 1440     TIFF 3 MB   320 x 180         PNG 189 KB    The curtain of CloudSat is shown over Central and South America. Available formats:   2560 x 1440     TIFF 2 MB   320 x 180         PNG 180 KB    The curtain of CALIPSO is shown over Central and South America. Available formats:   2560 x 1440     TIFF 3 MB   320 x 180         PNG 189 KB    Color bar for CloudSat data in the images above. Available formats:   320 x 90           PNG 16 KB    Color bar for Calipso data in the images above. Available formats:   320 x 90           PNG 15 KB    MODIS reflectance is shown overlayed on the topography. Available formats:   2560 x 1440     TIFF 3 MB   320 x 180         PNG 227 KB Animation Number: 3436 Animators: Cindy Starr (SVS) (Lead)   Lori Perkins (SVS) Completed: 2007-06-26 Scientist: Brian Toon (University of Colorado) Instruments: Aqua/MODIS   CALIPSO/CALIOP   CloudSat/CPR Data sets: MODIS Global Reflectance   Blue Marble Next Generation Seasonal Landcover   Total Attenuated Backscatter   Received Echo Powers Data Collected: 2006-08-02 Keywords: DLESE >> Atmospheric science GCMD >> EARTH SCIENCE >> Atmosphere GCMD >> EARTH SCIENCE >> Atmosphere >> Atmospheric Phenomena GCMD >> EARTH SCIENCE >> Atmosphere >> Clouds GCMD >> EARTH SCIENCE >> Atmosphere >> Atmospheric Water Vapor >> Precipitable Water GCMD >> EARTH SCIENCE >> Atmosphere >> Clouds >> Cloud Height GCMD >> EARTH SCIENCE >> Atmosphere >> Clouds >> Cloud Liquid Water/Ice GCMD >> EARTH SCIENCE >> Atmosphere >> Clouds >> Cloud Optical Depth/Thickness GCMD >> EARTH SCIENCE >> Atmosphere >> Clouds >> Cloud Precipitable Water GCMD >> EARTH SCIENCE >> Atmosphere >> Clouds >> Cloud Reflectance GCMD >> EARTH SCIENCE >> Atmosphere >> Clouds >> Cloud Types     Please give credit for this item to NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio The Next Generation Blue Marble data is courtesy of Reto Stockli (NASA/GSFC). MODIS data data courtesy of Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Rapid Response Project (NASA/GSFC) Back to Top + Privacy Policy and Important Notices + Reproduction Guidelines NASA Official: SVS Contact: Curator: