Earth Science Gallery
2002 EARTH SCIENCE VIDEOTAPES
Tape Title
Record ID
Date Produced
TRT:
Synopsis
SOOT IS SINGLED OUT FROM THE 'ASIAN BROWN CLOUD' FOR INTENSIFYING FLOODS AND DROUGHTS IN CHINA AND INDIA G02-075 9/26/02 00:10:05 Research published in the September 27, 2002, issue of SCIENCE magazine highlights the 'Asian Brown Cloud' and singles out soot for intensifying floods and droughts in China and India. Soot or black carbon is the product of low temperature burning. It is generated from industrial pollution, traffic, outdoor fires and household burning of coal and biomass fuels. Soot absorbs the Sun's energy thus heating the air. The heated air makes the atmosphere unstable, and as the air rises clouds begin to form, bringing rain to heavily polluted regions. At the same time, the compensating effect of the rising air is the sinking air in the neighboring regions, and since clouds can no longer form, these regions become drier causing drought like conditions.
TAPE CONTENTS:
ITEM (1): The 'Asia Brown Cloud' Alters Rainfall in China and India - Soot, a major ingredient of the "Asian Brown Cloud" is altering the regional climate, intensifying droughts, dust storms and floods in China and India. The "Asian Brown Cloud" is a cocktail of soot, aerosols and many other pollutants that extends over large portions of China and India.
a. China Haze - January 11, 2002 - Sea-viewing Wide Field-of-view Sensor (SeaWiFS), flying aboard OrbView 2 captures haze over China, January 11, 2002
b. Bay of Bengal - March 23, 1999 - These images of the Bay of Bengal was taken by the Sea-viewing Wide Field-of-view Sensor (SeaWiFS) onboard the OrbView 2 satellite on March 23, 1999.
Credit: NASA/ORBIMAGE
c. Smog Obscures Chinese Coast - March 12, 2002 - A thick shroud of haze lingers over China, turning the sky an opaque grey over much of the eastern portion of the country. Beijing, China's capital city, is situated roughly 150 km (93 miles) west of Bo Hai Bay, just north of what appears to the densest portion of the aerosol pollution in this true-color scene. This data was collected on March 12, 2002, by the Moderate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS), flying aboard NASA's Terra satellite.
Credit: NASA
ITEM (2): Soot Changes Ground Temperatures in Asia - Soot blocks the Sun's energy from reaching the ground and cools the surface. This image, derived from the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) climate computer model, and aerosol data from 46 ground stations in China, shows black carbon's effect in lowering surface temperatures during the summer months (June, July and August). Cooler temperatures are denoted by the blue colorations. This map shows cooling of 0.5 to 1.0 degrees Celsius (.9-1.8 degrees Fahrenheit) occurring over China, and warming temperatures throughout the rest of the world (in yellow). As soot heats the lower atmosphere over China some of this warm air can get transported to the other regions of the world and can cause surface warming in distant locations.
Credit: NASA
ITEM (3): Soot Intensifies Flooding and Droughts in Asia - Soot intensifies rainfall in polluted regions. The black carbon aerosols soak up the Sun's rays heating up the atmosphere. Air rises and creates rain clouds over polluted areas. Rising air is balanced by an increase in sinking air and drying in neighboring regions. When air sinks, clouds and thus, rain, cannot form, creating dry conditions.
This image, derived from the GISS climate computer model, and aerosol data from 46 ground stations in China, shows how black carbon can change rainfall patterns over the northern and southern regions of China during the summer months of June, July and August. The blue colors indicate regions in which the simulations yield a tendency for increased rainfall by as much as 10 inches over the summer. Other regions (brown colors) have decreased rainfall by as much as several inches or more.
Credit: NASA
ITEM (4): Sunblock Reduces Crop Yields - Soot can block the Sun's energy from the ground and reduce crop yields. This image, derived from the NASA GISS climate computer model, and aerosol data from 46 ground stations in China, shows the decrease in solar energy reaching the ground (in black) during the summer months (June, July and August). Yellow shows where the sunlight has increased. White represents no change.
Credit: NASA
ITEM (5): Putting it All Together - This animation takes a closer look at Asia and cycles through the maps showing how black carbon can change temperatures, rainfall and sunlight over China and India.
Credit: NASA
ITEM (6): Heating Up the Atmosphere (Animation)
- When soot absorbs sunlight, it heats the air and reduces the amount of sunlight reaching the ground, cooling the Earth's surface. The heated air makes the atmosphere unstable, creating rising air (convection) that forms clouds and brings rainfall to regions that are heavily polluted.
The increase of rising air in Southern China is balanced by an increase in sinking air (subsidence) and drying in Northern China. When air sinks, clouds and thus rain, cannot form creating dry conditions. Soot or black carbon is the product of low temperature burning. It is generated from industrial pollution, traffic, outdoor fires and household burning of coal and biomass fuels.
Credit: NASA
ITEM (7): Satellite Captures China Flooding
- During the summer of 2002, frequent, heavy rains have given rise to floods and landslides throughout southern and central China that have killed over 1,000 people and affected millions. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) instrument, flying aboard NASA's Terra spacecraft, acquired these images of the western Yangtze River and Dongting Lake located in central China. The first true color image of Yangtze River and Dongting Lake was taken in February before the flooding. The second false color image was taken during the flooding in August 23, 2002. Vegetation is bright green, water is dark blue or black, and clouds are white or light blue. Most of the severe flooding occurred on the western end of the river in the northern Hunan Province, which contains the lake on the left side of the image.
a. Pre-flood image, February 10, 2002
b. Flooded image, August 23, 2002
Credit: NASA
ITEM (8): NASA's Earth Science Enterprise
- The goal of NASA's Earth Science Enterprise is to study the Earth and it's response to natural or human-induced changes to enable improved prediction capability for climate, weather, and natural hazards.
Credit: NASA
ITEM (9): Satellite Animation
: a. Terra Satellite
b. SeaWiFS Satellite
Credit: NASA
[Black Carbon
Movie]
[
Factory Soot Animation]
NOTE: The material advertised on this page is a "Video File" and is strictly recommended for the media and production companies. This is NOT a finished production but does contain some narration.
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[Return to the Earth Science Catalog]
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Earth Science Gallery
2002 EARTH SCIENCE VIDEOTAPES |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
Tape Title | Record ID | Date Produced | TRT: | Synopsis |
| SOOT IS SINGLED OUT FROM THE 'ASIAN BROWN CLOUD' FOR INTENSIFYING FLOODS AND DROUGHTS IN CHINA AND INDIA | G02-075 | 9/26/02 | 00:10:05 | Research published in the September 27, 2002, issue of SCIENCE magazine highlights the 'Asian Brown Cloud' and singles out soot for intensifying floods and droughts in China and India. Soot or black carbon is the product of low temperature burning. It is generated from industrial pollution, traffic, outdoor fires and household burning of coal and biomass fuels. Soot absorbs the Sun's energy thus heating the air. The heated air makes the atmosphere unstable, and as the air rises clouds begin to form, bringing rain to heavily polluted regions. At the same time, the compensating effect of the rising air is the sinking air in the neighboring regions, and since clouds can no longer form, these regions become drier causing drought like conditions. |
TAPE CONTENTS: |
||||
| ITEM (1): The 'Asia Brown Cloud' Alters Rainfall in China and India - Soot, a major ingredient of the "Asian Brown Cloud" is altering the regional climate, intensifying droughts, dust storms and floods in China and India. The "Asian Brown Cloud" is a cocktail of soot, aerosols and many other pollutants that extends over large portions of China and India. a. China Haze - January 11, 2002 - Sea-viewing Wide Field-of-view Sensor (SeaWiFS), flying aboard OrbView 2 captures haze over China, January 11, 2002 b. Bay of Bengal - March 23, 1999 - These images of the Bay of Bengal was taken by the Sea-viewing Wide Field-of-view Sensor (SeaWiFS) onboard the OrbView 2 satellite on March 23, 1999. Credit: NASA/ORBIMAGE c. Smog Obscures Chinese Coast - March 12, 2002 - A thick shroud of haze lingers over China, turning the sky an opaque grey over much of the eastern portion of the country. Beijing, China's capital city, is situated roughly 150 km (93 miles) west of Bo Hai Bay, just north of what appears to the densest portion of the aerosol pollution in this true-color scene. This data was collected on March 12, 2002, by the Moderate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS), flying aboard NASA's Terra satellite. Credit: NASA | ||||
| ITEM (2): Soot Changes Ground Temperatures in Asia - Soot blocks the Sun's energy from reaching the ground and cools the surface. This image, derived from the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) climate computer model, and aerosol data from 46 ground stations in China, shows black carbon's effect in lowering surface temperatures during the summer months (June, July and August). Cooler temperatures are denoted by the blue colorations. This map shows cooling of 0.5 to 1.0 degrees Celsius (.9-1.8 degrees Fahrenheit) occurring over China, and warming temperatures throughout the rest of the world (in yellow). As soot heats the lower atmosphere over China some of this warm air can get transported to the other regions of the world and can cause surface warming in distant locations. Credit: NASA | ||||
| ITEM (3): Soot Intensifies Flooding and Droughts in Asia - Soot intensifies rainfall in polluted regions. The black carbon aerosols soak up the Sun's rays heating up the atmosphere. Air rises and creates rain clouds over polluted areas. Rising air is balanced by an increase in sinking air and drying in neighboring regions. When air sinks, clouds and thus, rain, cannot form, creating dry conditions. This image, derived from the GISS climate computer model, and aerosol data from 46 ground stations in China, shows how black carbon can change rainfall patterns over the northern and southern regions of China during the summer months of June, July and August. The blue colors indicate regions in which the simulations yield a tendency for increased rainfall by as much as 10 inches over the summer. Other regions (brown colors) have decreased rainfall by as much as several inches or more. Credit: NASA | ||||
| ITEM (4): Sunblock Reduces Crop Yields - Soot can block the Sun's energy from the ground and reduce crop yields. This image, derived from the NASA GISS climate computer model, and aerosol data from 46 ground stations in China, shows the decrease in solar energy reaching the ground (in black) during the summer months (June, July and August). Yellow shows where the sunlight has increased. White represents no change. Credit: NASA | ||||
| ITEM (5): Putting it All Together - This animation takes a closer look at Asia and cycles through the maps showing how black carbon can change temperatures, rainfall and sunlight over China and India. Credit: NASA | ||||
| ITEM (6): Heating Up the Atmosphere (Animation) - When soot absorbs sunlight, it heats the air and reduces the amount of sunlight reaching the ground, cooling the Earth's surface. The heated air makes the atmosphere unstable, creating rising air (convection) that forms clouds and brings rainfall to regions that are heavily polluted. The increase of rising air in Southern China is balanced by an increase in sinking air (subsidence) and drying in Northern China. When air sinks, clouds and thus rain, cannot form creating dry conditions. Soot or black carbon is the product of low temperature burning. It is generated from industrial pollution, traffic, outdoor fires and household burning of coal and biomass fuels. Credit: NASA | ||||
| ITEM (7): Satellite Captures China Flooding - During the summer of 2002, frequent, heavy rains have given rise to floods and landslides throughout southern and central China that have killed over 1,000 people and affected millions. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) instrument, flying aboard NASA's Terra spacecraft, acquired these images of the western Yangtze River and Dongting Lake located in central China. The first true color image of Yangtze River and Dongting Lake was taken in February before the flooding. The second false color image was taken during the flooding in August 23, 2002. Vegetation is bright green, water is dark blue or black, and clouds are white or light blue. Most of the severe flooding occurred on the western end of the river in the northern Hunan Province, which contains the lake on the left side of the image. a. Pre-flood image, February 10, 2002 b. Flooded image, August 23, 2002 Credit: NASA | ||||
| ITEM (8): NASA's Earth Science Enterprise - The goal of NASA's Earth Science Enterprise is to study the Earth and it's response to natural or human-induced changes to enable improved prediction capability for climate, weather, and natural hazards. Credit: NASA | ||||
| ITEM (9): Satellite Animation : a. Terra Satellite b. SeaWiFS Satellite Credit: NASA | ||||
[Black Carbon Movie] [ Factory Soot Animation]
NOTE: The material advertised on this page is a "Video File" and is strictly recommended for the media and production companies. This is NOT a finished production but does contain some narration.
[HOME] [Return to the Earth Science Catalog] [How to order videotapes]