Sea Surface Temperature Anomaly: April 2005 - May 2007

Description:

Sea surface temperature anomaly is the departure from the normal sea surface temperature. This is an important variable to scientists because it quickly identifies any changes. A plot of just sea surface temperatures does not reveal, without background knowledge, if an area is warmer or colder than normal. Much of what happens in the atmosphere is influenced by what is happening in the ocean. Departures from normal in the sea surface temperature are important because they often cause a departure from normal in atmospheric conditions.

Two prime examples for the ocean affecting the atmosphere are El Nino and hurricanes. El Nino occurs when the waters along the equator off of South America are warmer than normal. During an El Nino, much of the United States has wetter than normal conditions which can cause floods, while other areas are drier than normal. Because El Nino is caused by warmer than normal ocean temperatures, it is easy to detect on a plot of sea surface temperature anomalies. Hurricanes are affected by the ocean because hurricanes can rapidly grow when they encounter warm water. During the hurricane season, a sea surface temperature anomaly plot showing warmer than normal conditions can be indicative of a strong hurricane season. Data for this visualization is available from April 13, 2005 through May 28, 2007. The color scheme used in the dataset is reflective of the color bar in degrees Celcius below. A decrease of 4°C is the same as a 7.2°F decrease and a 6°C increase is the same as a 10.8°F increase.

Notable Features:

Red is warmer than normal and blue is cooler than normal

Data Category

Major: Ocean

Keywords:

Ocean, sea surface temperature anomaly

Data Set Name	fleet_sst_anomaly
Data Set Source	Fleet Numerical Meteorology and Oceanography Center
Data Set Developer	Navy Coupled Ocean Data Assimilation
Visualization Developer	Steve Albers, NOAA/GSD
Audio	No
Download	FTP