Perpetual Ocean

This visualization shows ocean surface currents around the world during the period from June 2005 through Decmeber 2007. The visualization does not include a narration or annotations; the goal was to use ocean flow data to create a simple, visceral experience.

This visualization was produced using NASA/JPL’s computational model called Estimating the Circulation and Climate of the Ocean, Phase II or ECCO2.. ECCO2 is high resolution model of the global ocean and sea-ice. ECCO2 attempts to model the oceans and sea ice to increasingly accurate resolutions that begin to resolve ocean eddies and other narrow-current systems which transport heat and carbon in the oceans.The ECCO2 model simulates ocean flows at all depths, but only surface flows are used in this visualization. The dark patterns under the ocean represent the undersea bathymetry. Topographic land exaggeration is 20x and bathymetric exaggeration is 40x.

credit: NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio

source: http://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/goto?3827

Related articles

• NASA video visualizes a ‘Perpetual Ocean’ (news.cnet.com)
• NASA Perpetual Ocean: The Ocean Surface Currents around the World (infosthetics.com)
• Videos take artistic look at scientific frontiers (cosmiclog.msnbc.msn.com)
• Watch NASA’s Animation of the World’s Ocean Surface Currents (treehugger.com)
• Nasa model of ocean currents looks like Vincent van Gogh’s ‘The Starry Night’ (dailymail.co.uk)
• NASA’s Perpetual Ocean model looks like animated Van Gogh (geek.com)
• NASA’s ‘Perpetual Ocean’ Video is Hypnotic (webpronews.com)
• Time-Lapse of Ocean Currents Looks Like a Living Van Gogh Painting [Watch This] (gizmodo.com)