Watch The Earth Breathe

In this visualization, NASA instruments show the seasonal cycle of vegetation and the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

The concentration of CO2 measured by AIRS is overlaid on measurements of vegetation index from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiaometer (MODIS), also on the Aqua spacecraft, in an effort to understand the influence of photosynthesis and respiration on the atmospheric CO2 cycle over the globe.

The AIRS tropospheric CO2 seasonal cycle displayed is an average over 8 years of AIRS data, from which the annual growth trend of 2 ppm/year has been removed. The visualization shows the buildup of tropospheric CO2 in the Northern Hemisphere with a maximum around May.

The maximum in the vegetation cycle follows, occurring in the late summer. Following the peak in vegetation, the drawdown of atmospheric CO2 due to photosynthesis is apparent, particularly over the Boreal Forests.

Note that there is roughly a three-month lag between the state of vegetation at Earth’s surface and its effect on carbon dioxide in the middle troposphere. Data like these give scientists a new opportunity to better understand the relationships between carbon dioxide in Earth’s middle troposphere and the seasonal cycle of vegetation near the surface.

A more detailed description of the visualization can be found at http://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/3947

For further details or AIRS, please access its website at http://airs.jpl.nasa.gov/.

The MODIS instrument is managed by NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.

For further information, access the MODIS project at http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov/.

For more information or to download this public domain video, go to https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/3947#15184.