Monthly Water Vapor (Terra/MODIS)

  • Released Thursday, October 24, 2013
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Water vapor is the most abundant greenhouse gas in the atmosphere as it traps heat near the surface of the Earth making our planet warm enough to support life. Scientists monitor water vapor in the atmosphere because it influences Earth's weather patterns, and because it is a very important component of Earth's climate system. These maps show a monthly water vapor product from January 2005 to the present, derived using data from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) instrument onboard NASA’s Terra satellite. The water vapor product reveals the total amount of water vapor in a 1-kilometer by 1-kilometer column of the atmosphere. Dark blue shades indicate areas with high water vapor content, while light yellow shades indicate areas with little or no water vapor content.

Monthly Terra/MODIS water vapor maps, January 2005 to the present.

For More Information

See neo.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/Search.html?datasetId=MODAL2_M_SKY_WV

Credits

Based on imagery by Reto Stockli, NASA's Earth Observatory, using data provided by the MODIS Atmosphere Science Team, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center.

This page was originally published on Thursday, October 24, 2013.
This page was last updated on Monday, July 15, 2024 at 12:15 AM EDT.

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