And the weather determines not just what you'll wear to work in the week ahead-but also whether the wheat crop in Nebraska will get enough rain to mature, whether the snow pack in the Sierras will be thick enough to water southern California, whether the hurricane season in the Atlantic will be mellow or brutal, whether eastern Pacific fisheries will be decimated by El Niño. Oceans control the Earth's weather as they heat and cool, humidify and dry the air and control wind speed and direction. Using remote sensing data and computer models, scientists can now investigate how the oceans affect the evolution of weather, hurricanes, and climate. These models will become more sophisticated as scientists and forecasters further develop the ability to simulate certain ocean phenomena and thus better predict when they will occur. During the last decade, forecasting models have benefited from satellite data as they have improved the ability to predict events such as El Niño and other global and regional climate cycles. Images generated by ocean observing satellite missions tell us volumes about the most fundamental climate changes. Studying these patterns at a global scale help forecast and mitigate the disastrous effects of floods and drought. Remotely sensed satellite data and modeling techniques enable the global mapping of seasonal changes in ocean surface topography, currents, waves, winds, phytoplankton content, sea-ice extent, rainfall, sunlight reaching the sea, and sea surface temperature. The advent of ocean-observing satellites has launched a new era of marine discovery. Data from ships, buoys, and drifters are not sufficient to characterize the conditions of the spatially diverse of the ocean. Ship-based oceanographers are limited to sampling the ocean in a relatively small area with often a great deal of difficulty. Prior to satellite data, most of what we have learned about the oceans had come from infrequent measurements collected from ships, buoys, and drifters. The analysis of remotely-sensed ocean data makes it possible to understand the ocean in new and exciting ways. Collecting and analyzing long-term ocean data from satellites is a relatively new field of exploration. Our oceans play a major role in influencing changes in the world's climate and weather. Part of NASA's mission is to develop an understanding of the total Earth system and the effects of natural and human-induced changes on the global environment.
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