
Scientists from NASA have developed a video showing the distribution of CO2.
STATES CHRONICLE – NASA has used a satellite to establish the distribution CO2, and they created a 3D video which displays the greenhouse gas moving through Terra’s atmosphere. The one-minute video helps people see the concentrations of carbon dioxide whirling around into the sky over the Northern Hemisphere.
The data which helped astronomers develop the video were collected from NASA’s Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 satellite (OCO-2). This satellite set off in September 2014, and its mission was to calculate the level of atmospheric CO2 at the regional scale. The analysis unfolded starting with September 2014 to September 2015.
The observations were combined with a high-resolution weather model to develop a 3D view. Carbon dioxide is produced in massive quantities, mainly resulting from the burning of fossil fuels meant to provide energy. The high levels of CO2 are fueling the warming of our planet. Scientists are aware of the fact that approximately 50% of the greenhouse gas emissions remain in the atmosphere, 25% being engulfed in the planetary ocean and the rest of 25% is absorbed by the land vegetation.
Researchers are trying to determine which ecosystems absorb the most part from the distribution of CO2. The video displays the movement of CO2. The 3D visualization may help scientists learn the answer to some of the questions. Lesley Ott, a carbon cycle scientist at NASA Goddard, argued that she together with other scientists are bound to determine some tools suitable to determine an accurate picture of the events happening in the atmosphere.
What is more, those tools also need to alter and transform the image into a more precise one who could show what ‘s going on with the flux. She also claimed that they have a lot of things to establish before reaching to develop the needed device. The most important aspect is to stay united, to work together and unveil the chain of new data about carbon dioxide.
Steven Pawson, the chief of Global Modeling and Assimilation Office, has argued that it took them years to gather all the data together for the development of such a vigorous plan which provides significant data about CO2. The details which are part of the massive dataset is encouraging for them, hoping that their observations and models will reveal a coherent view about the cycle of CO2.
Image courtesy of: flickr