1999 EARTH SCIENCE VIDEOTAPES |
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Tape Title | Record ID | Date Produced | TRT: |
Synopsis |
| SEAWIFS SECOND YEAR OPERATIONAL ANNIVERSARY | G99-070 | 9/9/99 | 00:14:33 | Seen from space the Earth's oceans color looks like a big blue marble. But with the Sea-viewing Wide Field-of-view Sensor (SeaWiFS) aboard the SeaStar satellite, sea colors bloom into an artist's palate of rich scientific information. Sent into orbit two years ago, SeaWiFS is approaching its second operational anniversary and researchers continue to get back significant results from this small, inexpensive research device. By observing something as apparently simple as ocean color, scientists working with SeaWiFS data are beginning to understand the complex rhythms of life in the oceans, the pulse of the global biosphere, and human effects on the environment. |
TAPE CONTENTS: |
| ITEM (1): THE GLOBAL BIOSPHERE CHRONOLOGICAL PORTRAITS - NASA's SeaWiFS instrument has continuously taken the pulse of the world's biosphere since the instrument came on-line two years ago. Note the cyclical changes in colors across the Pacific equatorial region, the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe, and various coastal zones around the world. Dark blues indicate low concentrations of chlorophyll and, therefore, high concentrations of green plans called phytoplankton. On land, heavily vegetated areas are dark green and areas with little or no live vegetation are colored brown.
A.) The Earth (rotating globe)
B.) The Earth (Mercator projection)
C.) Africa (flat)
D.) Atlantic Ocean(flat)
E.) Australia and Indonesia (flat)
F.) Pacific Ocean (flat)
G.) United States (flat)
Courtesy NASA
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| ITEM (2): THE GLOBAL BIOSPHERE÷ TIME LAPSE PORTRAITS OF THE PLANET - SeaWiFS enabled scientists to create the following dramatic images documenting the Earth's changing biology, both on land and in the oceans. The images represent a nearly continuos record of data collected from NASA's Sea-viewing Wide Field-of-view Sensor (SeaWiFS).
Information from the instrument has been wrapped around the globe.
H.) Rotating Globe with zoom--Africa
I.) Rotating Globe with zoom--North America
J.) Rotating Globe with zoom--Pacific Ocean
Courtesy NASA
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| ITEM (3): HURRICANES FROM SEAWIFS - The recent hurricanes in the Atlantic Ocean.
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| ITEM (4): FIRES IN THE WEST - Plumes of smoke from recent brush and forest fires in the West appear on SeaWiFS images.
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| ITEM (5): PULSE OF THE PLANET - NORTH ATLANTIC BLOOM - During the winter, storms and surface cooling mix the surface waters of the Atlantic, replenishing the nutrient supply from the deep, cold, nutrient rich waters. Once sunlight is sufficient to support plant growth, phytoplankton populations explode and persist for nearly 3 months until nutrients are depleted. This bloom migrates northward in synchrony with the Sun throughout the summer.
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| ITEM (6): PULSE OF THE PLANET - REBOUND FROM EL NINO - SeaWiFS enabled scientists to witness the ocean transition from El Nino (first image) to La Nina (second image) conditions in the Equatorial Pacific. The cooler nutrient-rich waters associated with the demise of El Nino also brought a huge plankton bloom along the equator.
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| ITEM (7): PULSE OF THE PLANET - EXPLOSION IN THE GALAPAGOS - SeaWiFS images documented the rapid demise of El Nino in the waters
around the Galapagos Islands. The images show a explosion in plankton growth as the warm El Nino waters blamed for choking off essential ocean nutrients are replaced by deep, cold waters. The false color images, which document plankton concentrations a period from May 9 - 24 1998, show that life in the region to the west archipelago has returned in remarkable abundance. High concentrations are shown red. Areas occluded by clouds are shown in white.
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| ITEM (8): AN EYE FOR DISASTERS -
SeaWiFS provided a unique perspective to a variety of natural disasters, including fires in Florida, Mexico, and Indonesia, floods in China and the progress of Hurricanes such as Bonnie and Danielle.
A.) Florida Fires - June 1998
B.) Mexico Fires - May 1998
C.) Indonesian Fires - October 1997
D.) Flooding on the Yangtze River - August 1998
E.) Hurricane Bonnie - September, 1998
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| ITEM (9): SEAWIFS HIGH RES FLYOVERS:
A.) Gulf Coast /East Coast Flyover - 4/12/98
B.) East Coast Fly to Great Lakes - 4/12/98
C.) Fly Up Mississippi River - 4/12/98
D.) Fly up Mississippi River to Chicago - 5/18/98
E.) West Coast Flyover - 8/9/98
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| ITEM (10): SEAWiFS AT WORK (Animation) - SeaWiFS is the scientific portion of the SeaStar satellite, orbiting the Earth at an altitude of 705 kilometers. By providing a regular picture of the planetās color, SeaWiFS helps researchers learn about the state of the worldās interconnected ecosystems.
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| ITEM (11): SEAWIFS INSTRUMENT AND LAUNCH - The SeaWiFS instrument is one component of the SeaStar satellite. SeaStar blasted into space on August 1, 1997, lifted by an extended Pegasus rocket. SeaWiFS is considered a low cost mission, many orders of
magnitude less expensive than earlier Earth observing instruments. One of its great assets is its full time dedication to one particular aspect of study, in this case ocean color. By exclusively focusing on one point
of study, the SeaWiFS project team has been able to concentrate their research into discrete, highly defined areas of study. Further, the full time focus on one area of data collection has presented certain topical
questions that until now had never been asked.
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| ITEM (12): INTERVIEW/SOUNDBITES WITH
DR. CHUCK MCCLAIN, SEAWIFS PROJECT SCIENTIST
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