This site includes simulations of more than 40 phenomena: sea ice and CO2, climate change (230-year period), clouds and precipitation, coral reef evolution (starting 21,000 years ago), universal fire shape, fire twirl and burst behavior, tornadoes, thunderstorms, typhoons, El Niño events, greenhouse gases and sulfate aerosols, polar vortex breakdown, CO2 and temperature, CFCs in the ocean, cloud evolution (7-day period), daily weather in the U.S., and more.

Average lightning for April, 1998 as measured by the TRMM Lightning Imaging Sensor, on a rotating globe

This brochure gives a brief description of the science research that is being done with data from the CERES instrument flying onboard NASA's Terra satellite. It also contains information about some of the data products and technical specifications.

The RHESSI instrument not only views the Sun but can detect gamma-rays from sources on Earth as well.

Daily cumulative lightning measurements from the Lightning Imaging Sensor (LIS) on TRMM for the period from April 1, 1998, through April 29, 1998. Global data is shown, followed by regional data for North America, North and South America, and Africa.

Daily actual lightning measurements from the Lightning Imaging Sensor (LIS) on TRMM for the period from April 1, 1998, through April 29, 1998. Global data is shown, followed by regional data for North America, North and South America, and Africa.

Lightning is a brief but intense electrical discharge between positive and negative regions of a thunderstorm. The Lightning Imaging Sensor (LIS) on the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite was designed to study the distribution and variability of total lightning on a global basis. The Optical Transient Detector (OTD) was an earlier lightning detector flying aboard the Microlab-1 spacecraft. The data shown here are compiled from LIS (1998-2002) and OTD (1995-1999) observations. Because each satellite saw only a part of the Earth at any one time, these data use complex algorithms to estimate total flash rate based on the flashes observed and the amount of time the satellite views each area. NOTE: This animation is primarily designed to be used through the Web Mapping Services (WMS) protocol. Each frame in the animation actually represents an accumulation of a number of years of data up through a particular day of the year. Because of a limitation in the WMS protocol, each frame is marked only with a single date representing the last date for which the data was accumulated.

Lightning is a brief but intense electrical discharge between positive and negative regions of a thunderstorm. The Lightning Imaging Sensor (LIS) on the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite was designed to study the distribution and variability of total lightning on a global basis. The Optical Transient Detector (OTD) was an earlier lightning detector flying aboard the Microlab-1 spacecraft. The data shown here are compiled from LIS (1998-2002) and OTD (1995-1999) observations. Because each satellite saw only a part of the Earth at any one time, these data use complex algorithms to estimate total flash rate density (number of flashes per square kilometer per year) based on the flashes observed and the amount of time the satellite views each area.

This video segment adapted from NOVA explains the mysterious force of lightning.

Monthly average lightning measurements from the Lightning Imaging Sensor (LIS) on TRMM for the period from January, 1998, through April, 1998. Global data is shown, followed by regional data for North America, North and South America, and Africa.

Understand how lightning is created and experiment with static electricity.

Riding the Wind with Kalani is designed for 5-8 year olds to gain knowledge about the weather. The site provides information on Basic Earth movements such at rotation and revolution topics such as how the tilt of Earth's axis, and its revolution create seasons.

This article describes the use of satellite remote sensing to examine supercell thunderstorms with the intent of predicting when or if they are likely to produce tornadoes. During the afternoon and evening of May 3, 1999, a series of supercell thunderstorms produced large, destructive tornadoes concentrated in central Oklahoma. During this outbreak, the NASA Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite made an overpass of 6 rotating supercell storms and was able to capture extreme lightning rates (exceeding 90 flashes per minute) on its Lightning Imaging Sensor (LIS). It is thought that lighting flash rates decrease rapidly just before a tornado forms, thus providing a potential warning. Animations of the May 1999 lightning flashes and of worldwide lightning patterns are included, as well as links to the TRMM mission website and to other sites with related information.