Earth ID: 4171

European Jet Stream

Visualizations by Trent L. Schindler Released on May 20, 2014

Meandering around the planet like a rollicking roller coaster in the sky, the Northern Hemisphere's polar jet stream is a fast-moving belt of westerly winds that traverses the lower layers of the atmosphere. The jet is created by the convergence of cold air masses descending from the Arctic and rising warm air from the tropics. Deep troughs and steep ridges emerge as the denser cold air sinks and deflects warm air regions north, giving the jet stream its wavy appearance. This pattern propagates across the mid-latitudes of North America, Europe and Asia, as pockets of cold air sporadically creep down from the Arctic—creating contrasting waves and flows that accelerate eastward due to Earth's rotation.

This visualization uses weather and climate observations from NASA's MERRA data model.

Visualization Credits

Trent L. Schindler (USRA): Lead Animator
Greg Shirah (NASA/GSFC): Visualizer
Horace Mitchell (NASA/GSFC): Visualizer
Laurence Schuler (ADNET Systems, Inc.): Project Support
Ian Jones (ADNET Systems, Inc.): Project Support

Please give credit for this item to:
NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio

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https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/4171

Data Used:

Terra and Aqua/MODIS/Blue Marble Land Cover

Credit:
The Blue Marble data is courtesy of Reto Stockli (NASA/GSFC).

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MERRA

Analysis

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Keywords:
DLESE >> Atmospheric science
GCMD >> Earth Science >> Atmosphere >> Atmospheric Winds >> Upper Level Winds
SVS >> Hyperwall
SVS >> MERRA
NASA Science >> Earth
SVS >> Jet Stream

GCMD keywords can be found on the Internet with the following citation: Olsen, L.M., G. Major, K. Shein, J. Scialdone, S. Ritz, T. Stevens, M. Morahan, A. Aleman, R. Vogel, S. Leicester, H. Weir, M. Meaux, S. Grebas, C.Solomon, M. Holland, T. Northcutt, R. A. Restrepo, R. Bilodeau, 2013. NASA/Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Earth Science Keywords. Version 8.0.0.0.0