Visualization Theater

The 90 minute Seapiracy film has recently brought the topic of marine sustainability into sharp focus. In this TSC influence mapping tool, they help us understand a complex set of issues in one sharp data visualization.

Access high-resolution ocean data sets from Saildrone Data Explorer, designed to make Saildrone data easy to find, download, and use for scientific and educational purposes. Saildrone’s global fleet of unmanned surface vehicles (USVs) has traveled more than 500,000 nautical miles in the Arctic, the Antarctic, across the Atlantic and the Pacific, and in the Caribbean, Mediterranean, and North Seas. Each vehicle is equipped with a suite of science-grade sensors to measure nearly two dozen variables above and below the sea surface every minute. The result is a series of large-scale data sets describing many parts of the world ocean that have never been observed in such detail.

SEDAC, the Socioeconomic Data and Applications Center, is one of the Distributed Active Archive Centers (DAACs) in the Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS) of the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Focusing on human interactions in the environment, SEDAC is a data center in NASA's Earth Observing System Data and Information System.

Space-based measurement, mapping, and modeling of surface water
for research, humanitarian, and water management applications.

The Commission for Environmental Cooperation is working with Canada, Mexico and United States to enhance and strengthen conservation initiatives in North America's marine ecosystems. Layers can be added to Google Earth for additional functionality.

Data derived from ocean scatterometers is vital to scientists in the their studies of air-sea interaction and ocean circulation, and their effects on weather patterns and global climate.
From the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Earth's oceans are the greatest influence on global climate. Only from space can we observe the vast ocean on a global scale and monitor critical changes in ocean currents and heat storage.

The goal of the research presented here is to estimate and visualize the global impacts humans are having on the ocean's ecosystems. The cumulative impact map can be viewed in Google Earth or as an interactive feature by visiting the companion website.

Watch the world change over the course of nearly three decades of satellite photography. Of all the cosmic bodies studied in the long history of astronomy and space travel, the one that got the least attention was Earth. That changed when NASA created the Landsat program, a series of satellites that would perpetually orbit our planet, looking not out but down. Pictured: Iceland's northern coast resembles a tiger's head complete with stripes of orange, black, and white. The tiger's mouth is the Eyjafjorour fjord that juts into the mainland between steep mountains.

How much water is in America’s rivers, and where is it? Perhaps unsurprisingly, people have little sense of how their local water resources compare in size to others. 'Is that a big river? A little river?” Now, thanks to the Pacific Institute, it is possible to visualize the nation’s water resources in different ways.

Information from the Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS) provides real-time data from offshore IOOS buoys, acting as an early warning system for shellfish hatcheries. They are our eyes on the ocean, coasts and Great Lakes. These data signal the approach of cold, acidified seawater one to two days before it arrives in sensitive coastal waters where larvae are cultivated. IOOS is an integrated network of people and technology gathering observing data and developing tracking and predictive tools to benefit the economy, the environment, and public safety at home, across the nation, and around the globe.

For perspective on climate and weather changes since the late 1800s, plot map and time series from climate reanalysis models; view daily station data from the Global Historical Climatology Network; visit the Climate Change Institute's Climate Reanalyzer for a daily-updated Global Weather overview; see animations of current global 7-day and U.S. Regional 48-hour weather forecasts. The Climate Change Institute is affiliated with the University of Maine System, Orono, Maine.

Earth : : Null School
A global map of wind, weather and ocean conditions
 

The United States Geological Survey (USGS) has a fantastic interactive map of American rivers. Click any river or stream and it will highlight the entire length of it, from the source to the mouth along with its tributaries. Follow the water.

Streamer is a great way to visualize and understand water flow across America. With Streamer, users can explore our Nation's major streams by tracing upstream to the source or downstream to where they empty. Streamer can also create reports about specific stream traces and the places they pass through.