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How can you see the atmosphere?

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The answer is blowing in the wind.

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Tiny particles, known as aerosols, 

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are carried by the air around the globe. 

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This visualization uses data from NASA satellites

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combined with our knowledge of physics and meteorology

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to track three aerosols: dust, smoke, and sea salt.

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Sea salt, shown here in blue,

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is picked up by winds passing over the ocean.

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As tropical storms and hurricanes form,

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the salt particles are concentrated into the spiraling shape we all recognize. 

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With their movements, we can follow the formation of Hurricane Irma

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and see the dust from the Sahara, shown in tan, 

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get washed out of the storm center by the rain.

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Advances in computing speed allow scientists 

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to include more details of these physical processes

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in their simulations of how the aerosols interact with the storm systems.

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The increased resolution of the computer simulation

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is apparent in fine details

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like the hurricane bands spiraling counter-clockwise.

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Computer simulations let us see how different processes fit together

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and evolve as a system.

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By using mathematical models to represent nature 

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we can separate the system into component parts

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and better understand the underlying physics of each.

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Today's research improves next year's weather forecasting ability.

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Hurricane Ophelia was very unusual.

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It headed northeast, pulling in Saharan dust

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and smoke from wildfires in Portugal, 

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carrying both to Ireland and the UK.

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This aerosol interaction was very different from other storms of the season.

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As computing speed continues to increase,

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scientists will be able to bring more scientific details into the simulations,

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giving us a deeper understanding of our home planet.

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[ beeping ]