Michael Pidwirny

Appendix 4: Earth.nullschool.net Tutorial

 

Earth.nullschool.net is website that creates on the fly visualizations of current and past weather conditions on the Earth. Data available on this site is updated regularly. Shown below is the sea surface temperature anomaly image from earth.nullschool.net for December 17, 2020. One can clearly see the La Niña (cooler than normal sea surface temperatures) across the equatorial Pacific Ocean.

 

Earthnullschool Dec 17 2020.jpg

 

CONTROL PANEL

The control panel for earth.nullschool.net is shown below. This control panel is used to produce the various types of visualizations earth.nullschool.net. Highlighted with the red rectangle are the five different data display modes available. Shown below is a visualization using Air Mode with the animated wind data layer at the surface (Sfc) turned on.

 

earthnullschool_Control_window.jpg
 
The first four rows in the earth.nullschool.net control panel show the following information related to created visualizations:
  1. Data – describes the data being being shown in this example we are looking at wind at the Earth’s surface (Wind @ Surface).
  2. Date – the date of the visualization shown in the image below December 18, 2020 at 07:00 local time (2020-12-18 04:00 Local).
  3. Source – the original source of the data – GFS / NCEP / US National Weather Service. 
  4. Scale – color scale bar being used with the data.

The sixth row in the earth.nullschool.net  control panel configures the animated background layer in the visualization. There are three animated layers available, Wind, Currents, and Waves, for display as shown in the yellow rectangle highlighting the Animation layers available (see image below). The image below shows Air Mode with the animated wind data layer at the surface (Sfc) turned on.

 

earthnullschool_Air_Wind_window.jpg


Below is Air Mode with the animated ocean currents data layer at the surface (Sfc) turned on.

 

earthnullschool_Air_Currents_window.jpg


The next screen shot shows Air Mode with the animated ocean waves data layer at the surface (Sfc) turned on.

 

earthnullschool_Air_Waves_window.jpg

AIR MODE

Air Mode has ten data layers or Overlays available for producing visualizations (see yellow rectangle below).

 

earthnullschool_Air_window.jpg

Here is a list of the data available for viewing in Air Mode via the links in Overlays includes:
  1. Wind – shows the wind speed at specified height measured in kilometers per hour (km/h).
  2. Temp – displays air temperature at specified height measured in degrees Celsius (C°).
  3. RH – reveals relative humidity at specified height measured in percent (%).
  4. WPD – measures of power available in the wind: ½ρv3, where ρ is air density and v is wind velocity measured in kilowatts per meter squared (kW/m2).
  5. 3HPA –  shows the amount of precipitation accumulation that will occur over the next three hours measured in mm of water.
  6. CAPE – measures the convective available potential energy from surface which is a measure of  the buoyancy of air, a measure of atmospheric instability and predictor of severe weather measured in joules per kilogram.
  7. TPW –  quantifies the total amount of water in a column of air stretching from ground to space measured in kilograms per square meter.
  8. TCW –  measures the total amount of water in clouds in a column of air from ground to space  in kilograms per square meter.
  9. MSLP– displays air pressure adjusted to sea level (mean sea level pressure) and measured in hectopascals (hPa).
  10. MI – determines the Misery Index measured in equivalent degrees Celsius (C°).
Much of the climate data available in Air Mode can be visualized via the Height links found in row eight of the control panel at the following levels in the atmosphere as measured in average atmospheric pressure in hectopascals (hPa) and meters above the ground surface:  surface (Sfc ), 1000 hPa (100 meters), 850 hPa (1,500 meters), 700 hPa (3,500 meters), 500 hPa (5,000 meters), 250 hPa (10,500 meters), 70 hPa (17,500 meters), and 10 hPa (26,500 meters). 
 

OCEAN MODE

Ocean Mode has five data layers or Overlays available for producing visualizations (see yellow rectangle below). Data available for viewing via the links in Overlays includes:
  1. Currents – overlay reveals the flow pattern of ocean surface currents and their speed of movement in meters per second.
  2. Waves – shows the direction (in degrees using the azimuth system) and relative speed as measured by the wave period in seconds.
  3. HTSGW – shows a measurement of significant wave height in meters.
  4. SST – displays sea surface temperature of the ocean surface in degrees Celsius (C°).
  5. SSTA – the sea surface temperature anomaly difference in ocean temperature from the climate normal period 1981-2011 in degrees Celsius (C°).
earthnullschool_Ocean_window.jpg

CHEM MODE

Chem Mode has four data layers or Overlays available for producing visualizations (see yellow rectangle below). Data available  for viewing via the links in Overlays includes:
  1. COsc – shows the fraction of carbon monoxide present in the air above the Earth’s surface.
  2. CO2sc – displays the fraction of carbon dioxide present in the air above the Earth’s surface.
  3. SO2sm – presents the quantity of sulfur dioxide in the air above the Earth’s surface.
  4. NO2 – reveals the amount of nitrogen dioxide in the air above the Earth’s surface.
earthnullschool_Chem_window.jpg 

PARTICULATES MODE

Particulates Mode has four data layers or Overlays available for producing visualizations (see yellow rectangle below). 
earthnullschool_Particulates_window.jpg

 

Data available in Particulates Mode for display via the links in Overlays includes:
  1. DUex – measures the aerosol optical thickness (AOT) of light at 550 nm due to dust.
  2. PM1 – shows the mass of atmospheric particles with a diameter less than 1 micron.
  3. PM2.5 – displays the mass of atmospheric particles with a diameter less than 2.5 microns.
  4. PM10 – reveals the mass of atmospheric particles with a diameter less than 10 microns.
  5. SO4ex – measures the aerosol optical thickness (AOT) of light at 550 nm due to sulfate.

SPACE MODE

Space Mode has only one data layer or Overlays available (see yellow rectangle below) called Aurora. This data layer allows one to see the location of current auroras in the Earth’s atmosphere around the North and South Pole.

 

earthnullschool_Space_window.jpg

HISTORICAL DATA

You can also display historical data on earth.nullschool.net. The controls for this are located on the links found on the fifth row from the top on the control panel. The calendar icon allows one to quickly select a past date for visualization. The image below shows the ocean sea surface temperature anomaly for December 16, 2015 at 16:00 local time. In this image, we can see a strong El Niño (warmer than normal sea surface temperatures) occurring along the equatorial Pacific Ocean.

 

Earthnullschool Dec 16 2015.jpg

MAP PROJECTIONS

Visualizations on earth.nullschool.net can be displayed on eight different map projection systems. The default display is the Orographic map projection system. The other seven map projection systems include: Atlantis (A), Conic Equidistant (CE), Equirectangular (E), Patterson (P), Stereographic (S), Waterman Butterfly (WB), and Winkel Tripel (W3). The row (ninth from the top) titled “Projection” in the control panel is used to switch map projections.

 

This Appendix is Licensed Under Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0).

 

Updated April 2, 2021

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Physical Geography Lab Manual: The Atmosphere and Biosphere Copyright © 2021 by Michael Pidwirny is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.

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