National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Goddard Space Flight Center

Arctic Fires Summer 2019 - fine particulates

The GMAO Research Site

The Global Modeling and Assimilation Office (GMAO) supports NASA's Earth Science mission. Activities in Earth System modeling and data assimilation aim to maximize the impact of satellite observations on analyses and predictions of the atmosphere, ocean, land and cryosphere.

Science Snapshots

Science Snapshot Archive »

An Early Start to the North American Biomass Burning Season in 2021

GEOS FP shows the long-distance pollutant transport from Western N. American wildfires in July 2021.

A Dynamical View of the Record Heatwave of June 2021 in Western North America

During the last week of June 2021, an unprecedented heat wave engulfed the US Pacific Northwest and adjacent province of British Columbia (BC), Canada. The dynamical nature of this major heat event was captured in the Goddard Earth Observing System (GEOS) analyses and forecasts, emphasizing the relationship between near-surface temperatures and the upper air circulation which displayed the so-called “omega block” pattern.

The anomalous 2019 polar stratospheric chemistry in GMAO’s assimilation experiments

At the end of August 2019, a rare sudden stratospheric warming (SSW) commenced in the Southern Hemisphere as a result of anomalously high wave activity. Using the new Constituent Data Assimilation System developed at GMAO, we conducted an analysis of the dynamical and chemical evolution of the 2019 polar vortex and ozone depletion.

GEOS-CF Surface Ozone Compares Well Against Background Observations from the Global Atmospheric Watch (GAW) Network

Comparisons against observations from the Global Atmospheric Watch (GAW) network highlight that GEOS-CF captures much of the observed spatial and temporal variability of surface ozone. This includes the springtime peak due to stratospheric influence observed in the high northern latitudes, high summertime ozone driven by anthropogenic pollutant emissions and high photochemical activity (as apparent over Europe).