This animation displays one year of Outgoing Long-wave Radiation (OLR) Terra-CERES data (March 1, 2000 to May 25, 2001) with a 14-day boxcar average. Endpoints have the average re-weighted for the smaller amount of data. The data are 2.5 degree resolution.

This animation displays one year of Reflected Solar Radiation (RSR) Terra-CERES data (March 1, 2000 to May 25, 2001) with a 14-day boxcar average. Endpoints have the average re-weighted for the smaller amount of data. The data are 2.5 degree resolution.

In this web-based, interactive story, Tutangiaq (Too-tang-geye-ack - nicknamed 2T), a Canada Goose, flies across Alaska looking for his family. As he flies, he tells children about the fascinating 49th state. Children learn how Alaska was purchased from the Russians, and other facts about the state. They can also compare the size of Alaska to other states. 2T takes a flight across the volcanic chain in Alaska and helps the students to interactively explore how scientists monitor volcanoes from satellite images in near-real time. At the coast, the bird also meets his Walrus friend who shows him how the sea ice edge has receded and gives an example of an adverse effect on marine life. Finally, 2T arrives in Fairbanks where children use satellite imagery to help 2T find and unite with his family.

This lesson is designed to help students gain knowledge in accessing current weather data and in using the MY NASA DATA Live Access Server (LAS) to specify and download historical satellite data.

Earths aurora, as seen by IMAGE.

When the charged particles flowing outward from the Sun (the solar wind) hit the Earths magnetic field, they are channeled down the magnetic field lines to the ionosphere at the North and South Poles. The impact of these particles on atmospheric molecules causes the molecules to emit light, which forms the visible aurora. This visualization shows the development of the aurora over the North Pole for about three hours on April 17, 1999, as seen by the ultraviolet VIS Earth Camera on the POLAR spacecraft. The two main features of these ultraviolet images are the very bright ultraviolet emission from the reflected solar radiation on the dayside of the Earth and the bright ring of the auroral oval circling the North Pole. The aurora seen in this visualization is the diffuse aurora, a very large scale bright band that is actually too dim to be seen well from the ground by the human eye. What we normally think of as the aurora are the even brighter curtains of light within the diffuse auroral caused by very energetic electrons. These curtains are too small scale to be seen in this image. The diffuse aurora appears as a ring around the pole rather than as a bright spot over the entire pole because the solar particles actually spend extended time wandering about within the Earths magnetic field before traveling down a very select set of magnetic field lines to the Earth. Near the end of this three hour period, the spacecraft was getting so close to the Earth that the edges of the globe were outside the cameras image, which accounts for the growing circular data gaps over Asia and the Pacific Ocean.

Earths aurora, as seen by IMAGE.

In this role-playing activity, students physically act out the motions of P-waves and S-waves in class to help them develop an understanding of how these waves work in the Earth. On this Starting Point page, users can access information about the exercise's learning goals, context for use, teaching notes and tips, teaching materials, assessment ideas, references and topics covered.

The Cornell University's Geoscience Information System Project is a major initiative that targets to develop a comprehensive Geoscience Information System for the geosciences Building the Digital Earth is part of that project. This website is a great interactive site containing a great wealth of digital geological and geographical information. Users can access information regarding the Digital Earth project, an interactive mapping tool, data sets and metadata. Users can also access the Discover Earth project, an interactive tool designed to help students learn about a variety of earth science topics. There students can participate in variety of activities dealing with earthquakes, volcanoes, topography, plate tectonics and sea level change. The site also contains links to java applets GEOID, QUEST, virtual experiments and interactive 3D graphics. This is a resource with wide variety of digital data and resources.

CERES stands for Clouds and the Earths Radiant Energy System.

CERES stands for Clouds and the Earths Radiant Energy System.

CERES stands for Clouds and the Earths Radiant Energy System.

The Computational Geophysics and Geoinformatics homepage contains online data and software tools for paleomagnetism and plate tectonics. The page includes information on paleomagnetic data, gravity anomalies, satellite altimetry, GOTOPO 30 topography tools, plate tectonic reconstructions, Mediterranean reconstructions, current research, a plate tectonic modeling tutorial and links to additional information. Each subject is explained in detail in order to assist users in learning to use the computational tools. Each tool is also includes additional online help.

Corals feed on algae that thrive in the sunlit water surrounding a reef. However, when water temperatures get too warm, the algae food source dies and corals turn a whitish color. Through scientific observation, it has been determined that coral bleaching is the cause. Students will use authentic satellite data to determine when the sea surface temperature meets the criteria to induce coral bleaching.

The Digital Earth Workbench is an interactive application that runs on a SGI Onyx Infinite Reality system and is controlled by an Immersive Workbench, tracked stereo glasses, and a tracked wand. The application allows an unprecedented freedom to roam georeferenced datasets at multiple resolutions and timescales. This animation is one of a series of direct screen captures of the application in operation. The occasional menu appearance denotes direct intervention by the operator to add or delete data or to activate a new control option.

The Digital Earth Workbench is an interactive application that runs on a SGI Onyx Infinite Reality system and is controlled by an Immersive Workbench, tracked stereo glasses, and a tracked wand. The application allows an unprecedented freedom to roam georeferenced datasets at multiple resolutions and timescales. This animation is one of a series of direct screen captures of the application in operation. The occasional menu appearance denotes direct intervention by the operator to add or delete data or to activate a new control option.

This lithograph introduces the Digital Tectonic Activity Map (DTAM) to the classroom utilizing the map with online activities. The DTAM is a digital atlas of tectonism and volcanism of the last one million years. It is a compilation of field, geophysical, and satellite measurements and is a unique tool for understanding the physiographic nature of the Earth.

Scientists have studied the physical properties of clouds and have developed instruments onboard satellites to characterize the types of clouds they see below. Some satellites have instruments that allow them to measure rainfall as well. For this lesson, students will use satellite data to compare precipitation (rainfall) to cloud type

This activity describes the technique of preparing latitude-longitude based data so it can be imported into a geographic information system (GIS). The chapter describes the steps to create a map to display data and guides users through some basic geographic analyses. The focus of the chapter's case study is earthquake prediction. Users download and format near real-time and historical earthquake data from the USGS. They import the data into ArcVoyager Special Edition GIS software, and analyze patterns by querying records and overlaying datasets. Users examine earthquake distributions, monitor current earthquake activity, and try to predict where the next big earthquake will occur. Any data set that specifies latitude and longitude coordinates can be prepared for importing into a GIS with the techniques described in this chapter. Examples of data sets that can be investigated include stream flow conditions, global land and sea surface temperatures, and data gathered with a GPS.