|
Use the pull down menu below to go to any of the El Niño/La Niña Watch pages.
Hasta La Vista El Niño 2002-2003
April 07, 2003
The latest image from NASA's Jason oceanography satellite, taken during a 10-day
collection cycle ending April 2, 2003, shows that the warm, high sea level El Niño
pool of the past winter is history. The equatiorial Pacific sea surface temperatures
and sea levels have returned to near-normal conditions. The image shows red areas
in the north and south subtropical Pacific, (10°N(S) to 20°N(S), remnants of the
disappearing El Niño, that are about 10 centimeters (4 inches) above normal; white
areas indicate sea surface heights between 14 and 32 centimeters (6 to 13 inches)
above normal. In the western tropical Pacific, sea levels (red and white areas) are
beginning to rise as strong trade winds are sweeping the warm El Niño waters westward.
Elsewhere, the influence of the 20- to 30-year larger than El Niño/La Niña pattern
called the Pacific Decadal Oscillation continues to create warm, higher-than-normal
sea-surface heights in the north Pacific that are connected in a warm horseshoe
pattern with the western and southern Pacific.
Looking ahead, oceanographers will be carefully monitoring Pacific sea levels to
see whether the Pacific returns to normal or switches to La Nina conditions as it
did in 1998, after the huge El Niño of 1997-1998.
Sea-surface heights are a measure of how much heat is stored in the ocean below. This
heat influences both present weather and future planetary climate events.
The U.S. portion of the Jason mission is managed by JPL for NASA's Earth Science
Enterprise, Washington, D.C. Research on Earth's oceans using Jason and other
space-based capabilities is conducted by NASA's Earth Science Enterprise to better
understand and protect our home planet.
|
