To gather long-term information about the world's oceans and currents, orbiting instruments must take extremely precise measurements of the height of the ocean surface. Ocean surface topography data contains information that has significant practical applications in such areas as the study of worldwide weather and climate patterns, the monitoring of shoreline evolution, and the protection of ocean ... Full description.

This project is designed around three Earth-orbiting satellites: the NASA Earth Radiation Budget Satellite (ERBS), and two NOAA satellites. ERBE has helped scientists world-wide better understand how clouds and aerosols, as well as some chemical compounds in the atmosphere ("greenhouse" gases), affect the Earth's daily and long-term weather.The data from these satellites is being used to study the ... Full description.

This page examines the discussion among scientists regarding the retreat or growth of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet. It appears that the West Antarctic Ice Sheet is retreating more slowly than they thought. In fact, it may have been growing just 8,000 years ago, long after the end of the most recent Ice Age. The article features text, maps, graphs, and links to related topics. Full description.

This computer-generated animation depicts the Clouds and the Earth's Radiant Energy System (CERES) instrument in operation. CERES measures the energy at the top of the atmosphere and estimates energy levels in the atmosphere and at the Earth's surface. Using information from very high resolution cloud-imaging instruments on the same spacecraft, CERES also will determine cloud properties, including ... Full description.

The Clouds and the Earth's Radiant Energy System (CERES) instrument is one of five instruments that will be flown aboard the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) observatory. Data from the CERES instrument will be used to study the energy exchanged between the Sun and the Earth's atmosphere, surface and clouds, and space. This webpage describes the TRMM mission, the CERES insrument, and how ... Full description.

Recent satellite images have revealed two new icebergs floating off the Antarctic coast. The icy behemoths are fragments of the Ninnis Glacier. This NASA fact sheet uses text and remotely sensed imagery to describe the events of January 2000, in which a large tongue of the Ninnis Galcier broke off and split into two gigantic icebergs. The breakup of the Ninnis Glacier Tongue has important implications ... Full description.

The study of clouds (where they occur, their characteristics, etc) plays a key role in the understanding of climate change. This site discusses how the relative thickness and altitude of various cloud types result in their either reflecting solar radiation or transmitting and trapping it, thereby warming Earth's surface. It features text, a scientific illustration, and links to other relevant topics ... Full description.

The ocean and atmosphere continually exchange particles and gases in a kind of ongoing "dialogue" that influences regional and global climate. This site explains the chemical link between the ocean and atmosphere. Emphasis is on the ocean's ability to store and release water vapor and carbon dioxide, both of which contribute to the greenhouse effect. Features include text, a scientific illustration, ... Full description.

This site provides a brief description of the Dustbowl in the American Great Plains during the 1930s and relates its effects to what is occurring presently in the Sahel of North Africa. In this dry savannah environment, human activity coupled with prolonged drought are causing desertification. The site features text, satellite imagery, and links to other related materials. Full description.

This site provides background information on the effects of the Dust Bowl in the 1930s, the 1950s drought, and the 1987-1989 drought in the Great Plains of the American Midwest. It features discussions of the extent of each drought and the economic damage incurred, using text, photographs and graphic illustrations. A link to a discussion of the Palmer Drought Severity Index is included. Full description.