NSIPP drives its atmospheric model with sea surface temperature measurements to forecast El Niño-La Niña's effects. These tables show North American precipitation during winter 1983's El Niño and winter 1989's La Niña. NSIPP scientists compare the mean (upper left) of nine simulations with observations (upper right). Coloring shows how much precipitation varies from normal.

This visualization depicts the ocean-atmosphere dynamics of the 1997-98 El Niño, the strongest on record. A red tongue of warm, raised water extends westward from the South American coast. Black arrows indicate sea surface winds.

Sonya Miller, NSIPP support scientist, and Ted Krumbach, animator in Goddard's Scientific Visualization Studio, discuss new visualizations of sea surface height anomalies. Incorporating satellite-observed height data into NSIPP's oceanic model will enable greater realism in representing sub-surface processes involved in El Niño and La Niña.