NASA uses satellites, ground measurements, and powerful computer models to track tiny particles floating in our air called aerosols. These small solid or liquid particles can travel thousands of miles, affecting the air we breathe and how far we can see, even far from where they originated.
This visualization shows how these particles moved through Earth's atmosphere from August 1-September 14, 2024. Different colors represent different types of aerosols: sea salt (blue) , dust (pink/magenta), smoke from fires (orange/red), and sulfates from pollution and volcanoes (green).
The visualization highlights several atmopsheric phenomena:
Hurricanes and Typhoons:
Hurricane Ernesto in the Atlantic Ocean pulls in dust from Africa, while Typhoons Shanshan and Ampil near Japan draw pollution from mainland Asia. The storms' powerful winds churn up ocean water, creating sea salt particles visible as blue spirals.
Saharan Dust Journey:
Desert dust from the Sahara travels all the way across the Atlantic Ocean, creating hazy skies in the Caribbean and affecting air quality as far away as Texas and Florida during summer 2024.
Volcanic Plumes:
Hawaii's Kilauea Volcano released a narrow stream of sulfate particles moving westward, while Italy's Mount Etna created similar streams over southern Europe.
Wildfire Smoke:
In southern Africa, seasonal agricultural burning created smoke that drifted over the Atlantic Ocean
South America faced record-breaking wildfires in 2024, creating a river-like flow of smoke particles that affected major Brazilian cities
Canada experienced its second-worst wildfire season on record, with smoke traveling as far as northern Europe
The swirling blue patterns over oceans show sea salt kicked up by strong winds.
This visualization helps us understand how our atmosphere connects distant parts of the world. What happens in one region—whether natural events or human activities—can affect weather patterns and air quality thousands of miles away. By tracking these movements, NASA helps communities prepare for changes in air quality and visibility while advancing our understanding of Earth's complex atmospheric system.
The visualization was developed using NASA’s Goddard Earth Observing System (GEOS), a complex modeling and data assimilation system that creates global analyses of the Earth System. GEOS integrates satellite observations, in situ measurements, and approximately one million weather observations collected hourly to inform its models. Through the GEOS Forward Processing (FP) product, the system generates both analyses and forecasts in near real-time. Images for this visualization were created by NASA’s Global Modeling and Assimilation Office (GMAO). The link below will aloow you to view this full screen
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Visualization showcasing aerosols as modeled by NASA's Goddard Earth Observing System (GEOS) for the period from August 1 to September 14, 2024.
Aerosols are tiny solid or liquid particles suspended in the atmosphere that can travel vast distances, affecting air quality and visibility far from their original sources. This visualization is based on NASA's Goddard Earth Observing System (GEOS) model, which provides realistic, high-resolution weather and aerosol data that enables customized environmental prediction and advances in AI research.
This version includes annotations and a color scale and is provided in 6480×3240 resolution (2:1 aspect ratio).
