TES: Viewing TES Level 2 Vertical Profiles in Google Earth

Viewing TES Level 2 Vertical Profiles in Google Earth

Eastward view of Esperanza wildfire carbon monoxide profiles, measured by TES on October 26, 2006.

View from the southwest of Esperanza wildfire carbon monoxide profiles, measured by TES on October 26, 2006.

TES Level 2 Special Observation of Esperanza Fire - October 26, 2006

The images above show profiles of carbon monoxide (CO) measured by TES on October 26, 2006, at around 2:20 in the afternoon. The profiles show high amounts of CO (shown as red in the images) in the lowest levels of the atmosphere. These levels of CO are much higher than normal for the Los Angeles area. The CO has been injected into the atmosphere by the Esperanza wildfire which had started WNW of Palm Springs about 13 hours prior to the time of the TES measurements. The same Santa Ana wind conditions that caused the wildfire to grow pushed the pollution from the fire toward Oceanside, CA and along the Pacific Coast in San Diego County where it was observed by TES. Large wildfire events are known sources of high CO levels in the atmosphere. The image on the top shows the TES observations as viewed from the East, the image on the bottom shows the same TES measurements viewed from the Southwest. Profiles shown extend to 16 km altitude.

Google Earth Instructions

To view this Google Earth '.kmz' file (KMZ, 114 KB), you must have first downloaded and installed the FREE Google Earth Viewer. You can obtain the FREE Google Earth Viewer at:

http://earth.google.com

After installing the viewer, you can double click the 'kmz' file to navigate the L2 Profile plot in 3D.
Here are some tips to try:

This is time series data, so you will need to use the time slider tool to see all the data.

From the pull-down menu, VIEW-->Show Time-->Always
Expand the start and stop markers to the extreme left and right of the slider

If you have a newer PC, you may want to boost the visual experience by adjusting the viewing options:

From the pull-down menu, TOOLS-->OPTIONS-->3D
Set Detail Area to 'Large'
Set Terrain Quality to 'Higher(Slower)'
Set Elevation Exaggeration to 3 (this will also exaggerate the displayed elevation of L2 Profile data) (optional)
Toggle F11 to view full screen, F11 returns to default mode

To view the metadata for each Profile and Pressure Level depicted:

From the Places menu on the side panel, expand the L2_Nadir_Profile_CO_5110.kmz tag
The metadata is in the same order as on screen
Double click a metadata sub-tag to fly to that Profile

Back: TES Special Observations in Google Earth