Flipbooks: Earth System Variables

Purpose

NASA visualizers take data – numbers, codes – and turn them into animations people can see and quickly understand. You can become a data visualizer by creating your own flipbook animations using maps of science variables that NASA scientists commonly study to better understand the Earth System. Each frame in the flipbooks shows monthly averages collected in 2016 and 2017. There are six flipbooks available for different science variables:

• aerosols
• cloud coverage
• vegetation concentrations
• precipitation
• incoming solar radiation
• surface temperature

The processes in the Earth System take place in and between the Atmosphere, Cryosphere, Hydrosphere, Biosphere, and Geosphere, as well as include energy from the Sun. As we can see, Earth System processes are not bound by oceans, mountains, or country delineations–they are truly global in scope!

NASA Phenomenon Connection

NASA satellites collect data to help unlock the unexpected wonders of how our Earth works as a system.