New data of sea-level heights from early February, 2007, by the Jason
altimetric satellite show that the tropical Pacific Ocean has transitioned
from a warm (El Niņo) to a cool (La Niņa) condition during the prior two
months. The beginnings of a possible La Niņa are indicated by the blue
area (in the center of the image along the equator) of lower than normal
sea level (cold water). It is not certain yet if this current cooling
trend will eventually evolve into a long-lasting, well-developed La Niņa.
"La Niņa could send an already parched Western United States to its
knees," said JPL oceanographer Dr. Bill Patzert. "In the Southwest, we
call La Niņa the little lady with the big dry punch."
A La Niņa situation often follows an El Niņo episode and is essentially
the opposite of an El Niņo condition. During a La Nina, trade winds are
stronger than normal, and the cold water that normally exists along the
coast of South America extends to the central equatorial Pacific. A La
Niņa situation changes global weather patterns and is associated with less
moisture in the air, resulting in less rain along the coasts of North and
South America. Jason will continue to track this developing switch in the
climate.
This image of the Pacific Ocean was produced using sea-surface height
measurements taken by the U.S.-French Jason satellite. The image is based
on the average of 10 days of data centered on February 12, 2007, compared
to the long-term average of observations from 1993 through 2005. In this
image, places where the Pacific sea surface height is higher (warmer) than
normal are yellow and red, and places where the sea surface is lower
(cooler) than normal are blue and purple. Green shows where conditions are
near normal. Sea-surface height is an indicator of the heat content of the
upper ocean.
NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the U.S. portion of the
U.S./French Jason mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate,
Washington, D.C. JPL is a division of the California Institute of
Technology, Pasadena, Calif.
For more information on NASA's ocean surface topography missions, see
http://sealevel.jpl.nasa.gov/ or to view the latest Jason data see
http://sealevel.jpl.nasa.gov/science/jason1-quick-look/.
