 | | | | |
| | | | | |
|
| About understanding our planet Space and Earth Monitoring About Observing the Earth Opportunities with us Multimedia Services Calendar
| | | | | | | Envisat altimeter watches Pacific for cold tongue of La Niña
3 March 2006
| Weekly sea level anomaly in the Tropical Pacific Ocean between 31 July 2005 and 19 February 2006. La Niña is a cooling event, equivalent to El Niño, but linked to opposing shifts in weather patterns.
Credits: ESA | |  |  | |
| | | | | Weekly sea level anomaly in the Tropical Pacific Ocean between December 02, 2001 and February 17, 2002.
Credits: ESA | | | | |
| | | | | Global mean sea surface height derived from radar altimeter data. The radar beam from the satellite scans the ocean surface, detecting variations in relief of up to 80 metres in places. Ocean relief, which is stable, is shaped by the geoid - the surface normal to the direction of the Earth's gravity field. The scale here ranges from purple (-80 metres) to red brown (+80 metres).
Credits: ESA | | | | |
| | | | | | El Niño can cause increased rainfall, drought, fires, and severe storms and hurricanes in the southern hemisphere | | | | |
| | | | | Envisat's Advanced Along Track Scanning Radiometer (AATSR) continuously monitors sea surface temperature to an accuracy of a few tenths of a degree. This is a false-colour representation of AATSR results over the Atlantic, with blue corresponding to coldest waters and red the warmest.
Credits: ESA | | | | |
| | | | ESA and altimetry
| ERS in orbital configuration. ERS-1 and -2 have generated about 1.5 million SAR scenes, and upwards of 3500 scientists have published more than 30 000 scientific papers based on ERS data.
Credits: EADS Astrium | | | | |
| |
| | Related news Taking measure of the world: radar altimetry in spotlight at Venice eventERS-2 data used in El Niño animationRelated missions Envisat overviewERS overviewIn depth  Radar Altimetry SymposiumGMESRelated links Centre National d'Etudes spatiales (CNES)NOAAECMWFEl Niño
|
HI-RES GIF (Size: 
HI-RES JPG (Size: 
HI RES JPG (Size: 
HI-RES JPG (Size: