1
00:00:00,050 --> 00:00:04,220
Hi, This is Trent Schindler from NASA's Scientific Visualization

2
00:00:04,220 --> 00:00:08,420
Studio. Ozone in the upper part of the atmosphere, the stratosphere,

3
00:00:08,420 --> 00:00:12,610
is a good thing – it absorbs ultraviolet radiation from the sun, which can cause skin cancer.

4
00:00:12,610 --> 00:00:15,800
But in the lower part of the atmosphere, the troposphere,

5
00:00:15,800 --> 00:00:18,830
 ozone is a pollutant that can create respiratory problems.

6
00:00:18,830 --> 00:00:22,000
So monitoring tropospheric ozone is important for mitigating its

7
00:00:22,000 --> 00:00:25,780
effects. But sometimes, natural ozone from the stratosphere 

8
00:00:25,780 --> 00:00:28,980
can make its way to the troposphere, confusing monitoring efforts.

9
00:00:28,980 --> 00:00:32,160
One of these events is what I’m visualizing here. In April

10
00:00:32,160 --> 00:00:35,340
2012, an area of fast-moving low pressure caused 

11
00:00:35,340 --> 00:00:38,520
ozone-rich stratospheric air to descend,

12
00:00:38,520 --> 00:00:41,700
folding into tropospheric air near the ground. Winds pushed it in all directions, 

13
00:00:41,700 --> 00:00:44,900
bringing stratospheric ozone to the ground in the Southwest. You can see

14
00:00:44,900 --> 00:00:48,100
this as a curtain of swirling air reaching to the ground in this visualization. 

15
00:00:48,100 --> 00:00:51,280
The air is color-coded by altitude 

16
00:00:51,280 --> 00:00:54,500
blue at 10 km, and red at sea level. Atmospheric

17
00:00:54,500 --> 00:00:57,670
scientists at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., 

18
00:00:57,670 --> 00:01:00,840
set out to see if the GEOS-5 Chemistry-Climate Model could

19
00:01:00,840 --> 00:01:04,040
replicate the intrusion at 25-kilometer resolution.

20
00:01:04,040 --> 00:01:07,240
Indeed, the model could replicate small-scale features, including finger-like

21
00:01:07,240 --> 00:01:10,440
filaments, within the apron of air that descended over Colorado.

22
00:01:10,440 --> 00:01:13,630
To communicate the implications of this result most effectively to

23
00:01:13,630 --> 00:01:16,880
non-scientists, we created a volumetric visualization that replaced 

24
00:01:16,880 --> 00:01:20,060
numerical data with animation. By making visible events that

25
00:01:20,060 --> 00:01:23,250
would otherwise have remain invisible to those without expertise and training,

26
00:01:23,250 --> 00:01:26,420
the animation allows policymakers and the public to immediately 

27
00:01:26,420 --> 00:01:29,720
comprehend the nature of the problem, and hopefully make more informed decisions

28
00:01:29,720 --> 00:01:30,157
in addressing it.