National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Goddard Space Flight Center

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 »

Active Winter Weather Forecasted over North America follow a Major Stratospheric Sudden Warming Event

In 2018 the zonal winds reversed on 12 February. The GMAO's global Goddard Earth Observing System forward processing (GEOS-FP) system successfully tracked the development of this SSW in it's routine 10-day forecasts. Here, we illustrate the breakdown of the polar vortex and the forecasting of the lower stratospheric and surface weather after the SSW event occurred.

Forecasting the Mt. Agung Ash Cloud Using GEOS

The Goddard Earth Observing System (GEOS) model combined with data from NASA's Earth observing satellites and best effort estimates of ash and sulfur dioxide emissions from the recent eruption of Mt. Agung on the island of Bali, Indonesia. .

MERRA-2 Data on a Cube

Six square MERRA-2 data images, forming a cube, illustrate the cubed sphere grid used in the GEOS model that helps improve the representation of the polar regions compared to traditional latitude-longitude grids. A printable cut-out version of the cube is available.

Summer 2017: Signals of Weather Extrema Shown in the Aerosol Fields

Over the North Atlantic and North America, the northern summer of 2017 was characterized by a series of extreme weather events. Goddard Earth Observing System (GEOS) models, combined with data from NASA's Earth observing satellites, enhance our scientific understanding of specific chemical, physical, and biological processes.