NOAA Environmental Visualization Laboratory

National Environmental Satellite and Data Information Service

NOAA Environmental Visualization Laboratory

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Size: 90 MB

Featured Animation

The Melting North Pole

The concentration and extent of sea ice in the Arctic has been on the decline since the mid-1990's. Data collected by the DMSP satellite's SSM/I sensor is shown here for 2007 - 2008. These two years had the lowest ice extents on record since satellite observations first began.

Recent Animations

	Ocean Acidification Impacts Coral Reefs The ocean is absorbing large amounts of carbon dioxide—a natural process. However, as carbon dioxide enters the ocean, it reacts with water to form acid. Subsequent chemical reactions that try to maintain a normal pH level in the ocean end up reducing the amount of calcium carbonate—a component in t (more...)
	Hurricane Andrew Hurricane Andrew was only the third Category 5 storm to impact the U.S. when it made landfall on August 24, 1992 near Homestead, FL. A reanalysis of weather data in 2004 revealed that the storm made landfall with 166 mph winds. Until Hurricane Katrina followed in 2005, Andrew was the most costly U.S. t (more...)
	Hurricane Gustav Hurricane Gustav made landfall in the U.S. on September 1, 2008 near Cocdrine, Louisiana. At its peak intensity with winds of 150 mph, the storm caused damage throughout the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico, totaling over $8.5 billion (2008 USD) and over 150 fatalities. Using imagery from the NOAA GOES-12 (more...)
	NOAA Ocean Observations A part of the Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS), NOAA's in situ ocean observations include its surface fleet, such as the R/V Ron Brown, a myriad of surface buoys, and even the depth-profiling Argo buoys.
	Weather Satellites Satellites provide over 90% of the data used to develop weather models and forecasts. This animation shows the relative orbits of the geostationary and polar-orbitng satellites used by NOAA's National Weather Service in their weather models.
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Viewing the Animations

All animations are provided as Flash video and an MPEG-4 video file with H.264 compression. For best viewing quality, it is recommended to download the video file locally by right clicking on the file link and saving to a local computer drive.

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