Tag Archives: Alan Buis

NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory announced that the Pacific Ocean is “locked” between La Niña and El Niño in a neutral state — making weather more erratic and difficult to predict over the long term, than when either of the Niña/Niño extremes are in effect 0

Citation Alan Buis, Pacific Locked in ‘La Nada’ Limbo, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory – California Institute of Technology (06 February 2013) How JPL recognized this neutral point Briefly: From its vantage point 1336 kilometers (830 miles) above the Earth, the US/European Jason-1 and OSTM/Jason-2 ocean altimeter satellites measure the height of the ocean surface directly [...]

La Niña appears to be strengthening again — forecasting stormy northwest U.S. weather and repeated drought in the southwest 0

From NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory website The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) posted a water temperature graphic of what La Niña’s Pacific Ocean origin looks like this year. Click on the link below. Citation Alan Buis,  NASA Sees Repeating La Niña Hitting its Peak, Jet Propulsion Laboratory – California Institute of Technology (18 January [...]

Subtle interactions of air pressure, circulation patterns, and fresh water distribution in the Arctic Ocean 0

Contrary to what one might think, today’s record levels of fresh water in the Beaufort Sea did not come from melting ice From the University of Washington press release: The new findings show that a low pressure pattern created by the Arctic Oscillation from 2005 to 2008 drew Russian river water away from the Eurasian [...]

NASA-funded study of Antarctica ice flow results in “game changer” map — a tool with a future 0

NASA map excites researchers The Jet Propulsion Laboratory reported today that: NASA-funded researchers have created the first complete map of the speed and direction of ice flow in Antarctica. The map, which shows glaciers flowing thousands of miles from the continent’s deep interior to its coast, will be critical for tracking future sea-level increases from [...]

Successfully pinning down the Earth’s size, so as to tell whether it is expanding, contracting, or staying the same — a good example of the challenge of doing precise science 0

An interesting report from NASA The more one knows about geophysical processes, the more one appreciates the complexity of trying to accurately estimate the Earth’s actual size and how its shape changes over time: Earth’s shape is constantly changing. Tectonic forces such as earthquakes and volcanoes push mountains higher, while erosion and landslides wear them [...]