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This image was created with data acquired by the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder instrument (AIRS) on NASA's Aqua satellite during July 2009. The image shows large-scale patterns of carbon dioxide concentrations that are transported around Earth by the general circulation of the atmosphere. Dark blue corresponds to a concentration of 382 parts per million and dark red corresponds to a concentration of almost 390 parts per million. The northern hemisphere mid-latitude jet stream effectively sets the northern limit of enhanced carbon dioxide. A belt of enhanced carbon dioxide girdles the globe in the southern hemisphere, following the zonal flow of the southern hemisphere mid-latitude jet stream. This belt of carbon dioxide is fed by biogenesis activity in South America (carbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere through the respiration and decomposition of vegetation), forest fires in both South America and Central Africa, and clusters of gasification plants in South Africa and power generation plants in south eastern Australia.
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About AIRS
The Atmospheric Infrared Sounder, AIRS, in conjunction with the Advanced Microwave Sounding Unit, AMSU, sense emitted infrared and microwave radiation from the Earth to provide a three-dimensional look at Earth's weather and climate. Working in tandem, the two instruments make simultaneous observations all the way down to the Earth's surface, even in the presence of heavy clouds. With more than 2,000 channels sensing different regions of the atmosphere, the system creates a global, 3-dimensional map of atmospheric temperature and humidity, cloud amounts and heights, greenhouse gas concentrations, and many other atmospheric phenomena. The AIRS and AMSU fly onboard NASA's Aqua spacecraft and are managed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California, under contract to NASA. JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.
Credit
NASA/JPL AIRS Project
Download the image
Various sizes of the image are available, and there are two ways to download:
1) Right-click on the image. Click on a size next to "View all sizes".
2) Click on the "Actions" menu located above the image. Select "View all sizes".
Resources
Atmospheric Infrared Sounder web site ›
How to get the AIRS data
AIRS' global carbon monoxide measurements are important because scientists can monitor the transport of fire emissions around the globe on a daily basis. Previously, carbon monoxide measurements came from satellite instruments that saw only part of the Earth each day or from weather balloons. Prior to AIRS, scientists had to integrate those observations with computer models to infer the day-to-day impact of fire emissions on the atmosphere. AIRS provides daily, global coverage. AIRS also measures some of the key atmospheric gases that affect climate, including ozone, methane, and dust and other aerosols.
Tropospheric CO abundances are retrieved from the 4.67 m region of AIRS spectra as one of the last steps of the AIRS team algorithm. AIRS' 1600 km cross-track swath and cloud-clearing retrieval capabilities provide daily global CO maps over approximately 70% of the Earth.
The streak of red, orange, and yellow across South America, Africa, and the Atlantic Ocean in this animation points to high levels of carbon monoxide, as measured by the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) instrument flying on NASA's Aqua satellite. The carbon monoxide primarily comes from fires burning in the Amazon basin, with some additional contribution from fires in southern Africa. The animation shows carbon monoxide transport sweeping east throughout August, September, and October 2005.
More images of this event and an animation can be found on the NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio web site.
More information about AIRS can be found at airs.jpl.nasa.gov.
Image credit:
NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio
Proud parent moment....my son is featured in the new David Attenborough program called Attenborough and the Sea Dragon, which airs this Sunday at 8.00 on BBC 1. It is centred around the discovery last year of a new species of Ichthyosaur down here on the Jurassic coast in Lyme Regis, and my son is involved as scientific consultant thanks to his knowledge and expertise in finding these creatures, and his ongoing PHD work in the subject at Bristol University.These are shots of a couple of my son's ichthyosaurs, found over the last couple of years and prepped by Chris Moore who has prepped the Sea Dragon of the program, and here is a trailer youtu.be/7GJaxKut8Oo
This image represents the total precipitable water vapor for May, 2009 as observed by AIRS, the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) on NASA's Aqua satellite. It shows the total amount of water vapor present in the atmospheric column above each point of the Earth's surface. If all the water vapor in the column were forced to fall as rain, the depth of the resulting puddle on the surface at that point is equal to the value shown on the map. Fifty millimeters is about 2 inches. The water vapor measured above the Antarctic is not shown (black color), since the elevation there is generally very high and the water vapor content extremely low—so low that the color scale would have to be “stretched” to show any details, which would reduce the details for the rest of the globe.
The large area of maximum water vapor in the neighborhood of the equator is the Intertropical Convergence Zone or ITCZ, a region of strong convection and powerful thunderstorms. It is particularly intense in a region around the Philippines and Indonesia called the warm pool. The air’s ability to contain moisture Is related to its temperature—the higher the air temperature, the more moisture can be contained before it must condense and fall out as rain. This image confirms that, as one would expect, the greatest amounts of moisture occur in the tropics. At extremely cold temperatures the atmosphere can hold very little water vapor, which is reflected by the strong correspondence between light brown dry areas of this map and cold areas in temperature maps. Very low precipitable water vapor occurs because the air is dry, such as over deserts. But because of the temperature relationship, most of the “column water vapor” is contained in the lowest portion of the atmosphere, and when a high mountain makes it impossible to measure down to sea level, the total is much smaller. Mountain regions therefore appear to be abnormally dry. That is sometimes true but not always - sometimes it just reflects the fact that the “measurement column” has been cut off by the mountain.
______________________________________________________________________
About AIRS
The Atmospheric Infrared Sounder, AIRS, in conjunction with the Advanced Microwave Sounding Unit, AMSU, sense emitted infrared and microwave radiation from the Earth to provide a three-dimensional look at Earth's weather and climate. Working in tandem, the two instruments make simultaneous observations all the way down to the Earth's surface, even in the presence of heavy clouds. With more than 2,000 channels sensing different regions of the atmosphere, the system creates a global, 3-dimensional map of atmospheric temperature and humidity, cloud amounts and heights, greenhouse gas concentrations, and many other atmospheric phenomena. The AIRS and AMSU fly onboard NASA's Aqua spacecraft and are managed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California, under contract to NASA. JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.
Credit
NASA/JPL AIRS Project
Download the image
Various sizes of the image are available, and there are two ways to download:
1) Right-click on the image. Click on a size next to "View all sizes".
2) Click on the "Actions" menu located above the image. Select "View all sizes".
Resources
Atmospheric Infrared Sounder web site ›
How to get the AIRS data
AIRS' global carbon monoxide measurements are important because scientists can monitor the transport of fire emissions around the globe on a daily basis. Previously, carbon monoxide measurements came from satellite instruments that saw only part of the Earth each day or from weather balloons. Prior to AIRS, scientists had to integrate those observations with computer models to infer the day-to-day impact of fire emissions on the atmosphere. AIRS provides daily, global coverage. AIRS also measures some of the key atmospheric gases that affect climate, including ozone, methane, and dust and other aerosols.
Tropospheric CO abundances are retrieved from the 4.67 m region of AIRS spectra as one of the last steps of the AIRS team algorithm. AIRS' 1600 km cross-track swath and cloud-clearing retrieval capabilities provide daily global CO maps over approximately 70% of the Earth.
The streak of red, orange, and yellow across South America, Africa, and the Atlantic Ocean in this animation points to high levels of carbon monoxide, as measured by the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) instrument flying on NASA's Aqua satellite. The carbon monoxide primarily comes from fires burning in the Amazon basin, with some additional contribution from fires in southern Africa. The companion animation shows carbon monoxide transport sweeping east throughout August, September, and October 2005.
More images of this event and an animation can be found on the NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio web site.
More information about AIRS can be found at airs.jpl.nasa.gov.
Image credit:
NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio
Vishnu (/ˈvɪʃnuː/; Sanskrit: Viṣṇu) is a popular Hindu deity, the Supreme God of Vaishnavism (one of the three principal denominations of Hinduism) and one of the three supreme deities (Trimurti) of Hinduism. He is also known as Lord Narayana and Lord Hari. As one of the five primary forms of God in the Smarta tradition, He is conceived as "the Preserver or the Protector" within the Trimurti, the Hindu Trinity of the divinity.
In Hindu sacred texts, Vishnu is usually described as having dark complexion of water-filled clouds and as having four arms. He is depicted as a blue being, holding a padma (lotus flower) in the lower left hand, the Kaumodaki gada (mace) in the lower right hand, the Panchajanya shankha (conch) in the upper left hand and the discus weapon Sudarshana Chakra in the upper right hand.
Adherents of Hinduism believe Vishnu's eternal and supreme abode beyond the material universe is called Vaikuntha, which is also known as Paramdhama, the realm of eternal bliss and happiness and the final or highest place for liberated souls who have attained Moksha. Vaikuntha is situated beyond the material universe and hence, cannot be perceived or measured by material science or logic. Vishnu's other abode within the material universe is Ksheera Sagara (the ocean of milk), where he reclines and rests on Ananta Shesha, (the king of the serpent deities, commonly shown with a thousand heads). In almost all Hindu denominations, Vishnu is either worshipped directly or in the form of his ten avatars, the most famous of whom are Rama and Krishna.
The Puranabharati, an ancient text, describes these as the dashavatara, or the ten avatars of Vishnu. Among the ten described, nine have occurred in the past and one will take place in the future as Lord Kalki, at the end of Kali Yuga, (the fourth and final stage in the cycle of yugas that the world goes through). These incarnations take place in all Yugas in cosmic scales; the avatars and their stories show that gods are indeed unimaginable, unthinkable and inconceivable. The Bhagavad Gita mentions their purpose as being to rejuvenate Dharma, to vanquish those negative forces of evil that threaten dharma, and also to display His divine nature in front of all souls.
The Trimurti (three forms) is a concept in Hinduism "in which the cosmic functions of creation, maintenance, and destruction are personified by the forms of Brahma the creator, Vishnu the maintainer, preserver or protector and Shiva the destroyer or transformer." These three deities have also been called "the Hindu triad" or the "Great Trinity", all having the same meaning of three in One. They are the different forms or manifestation of One person the Supreme Being or Narayana/Svayam Bhagavan.
Vishnu is also venerated as Mukunda, which means God who is the giver of mukti or moksha (liberation from the cycle of rebirths) to his devotees or the worthy ones who deserve salvation from the material world.
ETYMOLOGY
The traditional explanation of the name Vishnu involves the root viś, meaning "to settle" (cognate with Latin vicus, English -wich "village," Slavic: vas -ves), or also (in the Rigveda) "to enter into, to pervade," glossing the name as "the All-Pervading One". Yaska, an early commentator on the Vedas, in his Nirukta, (etymological interpretation), defines Vishnu as viṣṇur viṣvater vā vyaśnoter vā, "one who enters everywhere". He also writes, atha yad viṣito bhavati tad viṣnurbhavati, "that which is free from fetters and bondages is Vishnu".
Adi Shankara in his commentary on the Sahasranama states derivation from viś, with a meaning "presence everywhere" ("As he pervades everything, vevesti, he is called Vishnu"). Adi Shankara states (regarding Vishnu Purana, 3.1.45): "The Power of the Supreme Being has entered within the universe. The root viś means 'enter into'." Swami Chinmayananda, in his translation of Vishnu Sahasranama further elaborates on that verse: "The root vis means to enter. The entire world of things and beings is pervaded by Him and the Upanishad emphatically insists in its mantra 'whatever that is there is the world of change.' Hence, it means that He is not limited by space, time or substance. Chinmayananda states that, that which pervades everything is Vishnu."
SACRET TEXTS - SHRUTI & SMRITI
Shruti is considered to be solely of divine origin. It is preserved as a whole, instead of verse by verse. It includes the four Vedas (Rigveda, Yajurveda, Samaveda and Atharvaveda) the Brahmanas, the Aranyakas and the Upanishads with commentaries on them.
Smṛti refers to all the knowledge derived and inculcated after Shruti had been received. Smrti is not 'divine' in origin, but was 'remembered' by later Rishis (sages by insight, who were the scribes) by transcendental means and passed down through their followers. It includes the Bhagavata Purana and the Vishnu Purana which are Sattva Puranas. These both declare Vishnu as Para Brahman Supreme Lord who creates unlimited universes and enters each one of them as Lord of Universe.
SHRUTI
VAISHNAVA CANON
The Vaishnava canon presents Vishnu as the supreme being, rather than another name for the Sun God, who also bore the name Suryanarayana and is considered only as a form of Vishnu.
VEDAS
In the Yajur Veda, Taittiriya Aranyaka (10-13-1), Narayana suktam, Lord Narayana is mentioned as the supreme being. The first verse of Narayana Suktam mentions the words "paramam padam", which literally mean "highest post" and may be understood as the "supreme abode for all souls". This is also known as Param Dhama, Paramapadam, or Vaikuntha. Rig Veda 1:22:20a also mentions the same "paramam padam". This special status is not given to any deity in the Vedas apart from Lord Vishnu/Narayana.[citation needed] Narayana is one of the thousand names of Vishnu as mentioned in the Vishnu Sahasranama. It describes Vishnu as the All-Pervading essence of all beings, the master of - and beyond - the past, present and future, one who supports, sustains and governs the Universe and originates and develops all elements within. This illustrates the omnipresent characteristic of Vishnu. Vishnu governs the aspect of preservation and sustenance of the universe, so he is called "Preserver of the universe".
Vishnu is the Supreme God who takes manifest forms or avatars across various ages or periods to save humanity from evil beings, demons or Asuras. According to the extant Hindu texts and traditions, Lord Vishnu is considered to be resident in the direction of the "Makara Rashi" (the "Shravana Nakshatra"), which is about coincident with the Capricorn constellation. In some of the extant Puranas, and Vaishnava traditions, Vishnu's eye is considered to be situated at the infinitely distant Southern Celestial Pole.
Following the defeat of Indra and his displacement as the Lord of Heaven or Swarga, Indra asks Lord Vishnu for help and thus Lord Vishnu takes his incarnations or avatars to Earth to save mankind, thus showing his position as Supreme God to all of creation.
In the Puranas, Indra frequently appears proud and haughty. These bad qualities are temporarily removed when Brahma and/or Shiva give boons to Asuras or Rakshasas such as Hiranyaksha, Hiranyakashipu and Ravana, who are then able to defeat Indra in wars between Devas and Asuras. The received boons often made Asuras virtually indestructible.
Indra has no option but to seek help from Vishnu. Indra prays before Vishnu for protection and the Supreme Lord obliges him by taking avatars and generating himself on Earth in various forms, first as a water-dweller (Matsya, fish), then as an amphibious creature (Kurma avatar or Tortoise), then as a half-man-half-animal (Varaha the pig-faced, human-bodied Lord, and Narasimha the Lord with lion's face and claws and a human body). Later, Vishnu appears as human beings (Vamana the short-heighted person), Parashurama, Rama, Krishna, Buddha and finally as Kalki for performing his task of protecting his devotees from demons and anti-religious entities.
Vishnu's supremacy is attested by his victories over those very powerful entities. It is further attested by the accepted iconography and sculptures of Vishnu in reclining position as producing Brahma emerging from his navel. Brahma the creator is thus created in turn by Vishnu out of his own person. Instead Vishnu takes various avatars to slay or defeat those demons. But it is to be noted that Vishnu also provided boons to Akupresura, a bear faced demon who was destroyed by Lord Shiva.
Vishnu's actions lowered Indra's ranking among Hindu deities and led to the ascendancy of Vishnu.
Few temples are dedicated to the Sun or Suryanarayana, nor indeed Indra, nor does Indra figure largely in the Hindu religion.
Indra is almost completely absent from the deities considered as the chief or most important deity.
RIGVEDA
In the Rigveda, Vishnu is mentioned 93 times. He is frequently invoked alongside other deities, especially Indra, whom he helps in killing Vritra and with whom he drinks Soma. His distinguishing characteristic in the Vedas is his association with light. Two Rigvedic hymns in Mandala 7 are dedicated to Vishnu. In 7.99, Vishnu is addressed as the god who separates heaven and earth, a characteristic he shares with Indra.
The Rig Veda describes Vishnu as younger brother to Indra as Vamana. In Vaishnava canon the 'Vishnu' who is younger brother to Indra is identified as Vamana, Avatar of Vishnu, hence referred to as Vishnu by Vaishnavites. Vishnu is the Supreme God who lives in the highest celestial region, contrasted against those who live in the atmospheric or terrestrial regions. Vishnu is content with mere prayer, unlike almost all of the other gods who receive sacrificial offerings such as Havis, which is given using clarified butter, or Soma. Later foreign translators have view that Vedas place Indra in a superior position to Vishnu's Avatar of Vamana but in fact Vamana helps Indra by restoring his Kingdom.
An alternate translation is provided by Wilson according to Sayana:
When Thy (younger brother) Viṣṇu (Vamana) by (his) strength stepped his three paces, then verily thy beloved horses bore thee. (Rigveda 8:12:27)
Wilson mentions Griffith's possible translation as a footnote. However the following verse from Rigveda renders the above translation by Wilson more probable.
Him whose three places that are filled with sweetness, imperishable, joy as it may list them, Who verily alone upholds the threefold, the earth, the heaven, and all living creatures. (Rig veda 1:154:4)
Wilson offers an alternate translation for Rigveda 10:113:2:
Viṣṇu offering the portion of Soma, glorifies by his own vigor that greatness of his. Indra, the lord of heaven, with the associated gods having slain Vritra, became deserving of honour. (Rigveda 10:113:2)
This verse sees Vishnu as one who is glorified by his own strength, while Indra became deserving of honor after having slain Vritra only in association with other gods.
However Vishnu's praise for other gods does not imply worship. Wilson translates:
Viṣṇu, the mighty giver of dwellings praises thee, and Mitra and Varuna; the company of Maruts imitates thee in exhilaration. (Rigveda 8:15:9) (page 280)
The following verses show categorically Vishnu as distinguished from other gods in Rigveda.
He who presents (offering) to Viṣṇu, the ancient, the creator, the recent, the self-born; he who celebrates the great birth of that mighty one; he verily possessed of abundance, attains (the station) that is to be sought (by all). (Rigveda 1:156:2) (page 98)
No being that is or that has been born, divine Viṣṇu, has attained the utmost limit of thy magnitude, by which thou hast upheld the vast and beautiful heaven, and sustained the eastern horizon of Earth.(Rigveda 7:99:2) (page 196)
The divine Viṣṇu, the best of the doers of good deeds, who came to the pious instituter of rite (Indra), to assist (at its celebration), knowing (the desires of the worshiper), and present at the three connected period (of worship), shows favor to the Arya, and admits the author of the ceremony to a share of the sacrifice. (Rigveda 1:156:5) (page 99)
Jan Gonda, the late Indologist, states that Vishnu, although remaining in the background of Indra's exploits, contributes by his presence, or is key to Indra's success. Vishnu is more than a mere companion, equal in rank or power to Indra, or sometime the one who made Indra's success possible.
Descriptions of Vishnu as younger to Indra are found in only the hymns to Indra, but in a kathenotheism religion like that of the Rigveda, each god, for a time, is supreme in the mind of the devotee.
In the Rig Vedic texts, the deity or god referred to as Vishnu is the Sun God, who also bears the name 'Suryanarayana'. By contrast, the 'Vishnu' referred to in 'Vishnu Purana', 'Vishnu Sahasranamam' and 'Purusha Sooktham' is Lord Narayana, the Consort of Lakshmi. Vaishnavites make a further distinction by extolling the qualities of Vishnu by highlighting his differences from other deities such as Shiva,[citation needed] Brahma or Surya.
THREE STEPS
Hymn 7.100 refers to the celebrated 'three steps' of Vishnu (as Trivikrama) by which he strode over the universe and in three places planted his step. The 'Vishnu Suktam' (RV 1.154) says that the first and second of Vishnu's strides (those encompassing the earth and air) are visible to men and the third is in the heights of heaven (sky). This last place is described as Vishnu's supreme abode in RV 1.22.20:
The princes evermore behold / that loftiest place where Vishnu is / Laid as it were an eye in heaven.(trans. Griffith)
Griffith's "princes" are the sūri, either "inciters" or lords of a sacrifice, or priests charged with pressing the Soma. The verse is quoted as expressing Vishnu's supremacy by Vaishnavites.
Though such solar aspects have been associated with Vishnu by tradition as well as modern-scholarship, he was not just the representation of the sun, as he moves both vertically and horizontally.
In hymns 1.22.17, 1.154.3, 1.154.4 he strides across the earth with three steps, in 6.49.13, 7.100.3 strides across the earth three times and in 1.154.1, 1.155.5,7.29.7 he strides vertically, with the final step in the heavens. The same Veda also says he strode wide and created space in the cosmos for Indra to fight Vritra. By his stride he made dwelling for men possible, the three forming a symbolic representation of the dwelling's all-encompassing nature. This nature and benevolence to men were Vishnu's enduring attributes. As the triple-strider he is known as Trivikrama and as Urukrama, for the strides were wide.
BRAHMANAS
The Brahmanas are commentaries on the Vedas and form part of the Shruti literature. They are concerned with the detail of the proper performance of rituals. In the Rigveda, Shakala Shakha: Aitareya Brahmana Verse 1 declares: agnir vai devānām ava mo viṣṇuḥ paramus, tadantareṇa sarvā anyā devatā - Agni is the lowest or youngest god and Vishnu is the greatest and the highest God.
The Brahmanas assert the supremacy of Lord Vishnu, addressing him as "Gajapati", the one whom all sacrifices are meant to please. Lord Vishnu accepts all sacrifices to the demigods and allots the respective fruits to the performer In one incident, a demonic person performs a sacrifice by abducting the Rishis (sages), who meditate by constantly chanting God's name. The sacrifice is meant to destroy Indra. But the rishis, who worship Indra as a demigod, alter one pronunciation of the Veda Mantra, reversing the purpose of the sacrifice. When the fruit of the sacrifice is given and the demon is on the verge of dying, he calls to Vishnu, whom he addresses as Supreme Godhead and "the father of all living entities including himself".
Aitareya Brahmana 1:1:1 mentions Vishnu as the Supreme God. But in the Vaishnava canon, in different ages, with Vishnu in different avatars, his relationship with the asuras or demons, was always adversarial. The asuras always caused harm, while the sages and devas or celestial beings, did penance and called to Vishnu for protection. Vishnu always obliged by taking an avatar to vanquish the asuras. In the Vaishnava canon, Vishnu never gave or granted any boons to the asuras, distinguishing him from the gods Shiva and Brahma, who did. He is the only God called upon to save good beings by defeating or killing the asuras.
Sayana writes that in Aitareya Brahmana 1:1:1 the declaration agnir vai devānām ava mo viṣṇuḥ paramus,tadantareṇa sarvā anyā devatā does not indicate any hierarchy among gods. Even in Rigveda Samhita, avama and parama are not applied to denote rank and dignity, but only to mark place and locality.
In Rigveda 1:108:9,: yadindrāghnī avamasyāṃ pṛthivyāṃ madhyamasyāṃ paramasyāmuta sthaḥ | i.e., in the lowest place, the middle (place), and the highest (place). Agni, the fire, has, among the gods, the lowest place; for he resides with man on the earth; while the other gods are either in the air, or in the sky. Vishnu occupies the highest place. The words avama and parama are understood as 'First' and 'Last' respectively. To support this claim, Sayana adduces the mantra (1,4. As'val. Sr. S. 4, 2), agnir mukham prathamo devathanam samathanam uttamo vishnur asit, i.e., Agni was the first of the deities assembled, (and) Vishnu the last.
In the Kausitaki Brahmana (7.1) Agni is called Aaradhya (instead of avama), and Visnu parardha(instead of parama),i.e., belonging to the lower and higher halves (or forming the lower and higher halves). The Vishnu Purana gives tremendous importance to the worship of Vishnu and mentions that sacrifices are to begin only with both the lighting of fire or 'Agni', pouring of sacrificial offerings to Vishnu in 'Agni' so that those offerings reach and are accepted by Vishnu. Worship of Vishnu through Yajnas (or Homams) and other rituals, will not achieve the desired result if Agni's role is neglected.
Muller says "Although the gods are sometimes distinctly invoked as the great and the small, the young and the old (Rig veda 1:27:13), this is only an attempt to find the most comprehensive expression for the divine powers, and nowhere is any of the gods represented as the subordinate to others. It would be easy to find, in the numerous hymns of the Veda, passages in which almost every single god is represented as supreme and absolute."
However this notion is not completely correct as per the following verses, which shows Rigveda describe one or more gods as subject to other god(s).
Him whose high law not Varuna nor Indra, not Mitra, Aryaman, nor Rudra breaketh, Nor evil-hearted fiends, here for my welfare him I invoke, God Savitar, with worship. (Rigveda 2.038.09)
I invite to this place, with reverential salutations, for my good, that divine Savita, whose functions neither Indra, nor Varun.a, nor Mitra nor Aryaman nor Rudra nor the enemies (of the gods), impede. (Rigveda 2.038.09)
SMRITI
VISHNU SMRITI
The Vishnu Smṛti, is one of the later books of the Dharmashastra tradition of Hinduism and the only one that focuses on the bhakti tradition and the required daily puja to Vishnu, rather than the means of knowing dharma. It is also known for its handling of the controversial subject of the practice of sati (self-immolation of a widow on her husband's funeral pyre). The text was composed by an individual or group. The author(s) created a collection of the commonly known legal maxims that were attributed to Vishnu into one book, as Indian oral culture began to be recorded more formally.
BHAGAVATA PURANA
Vishnu is the only Bhagavan as declared in the Bhagavata 1:2:11 in the verse: vadanti tat tattva-vidas tattvam yaj jnanam advayam brahmeti paramatmeti bhagavan iti sabdyate, translated as "Learned transcendentalists who know the Absolute Truth call this non-dual substance as Brahman, Paramātma and Bhagavan."
VISHNU PURANA
In the Vishnu Purana (6:5:79) the personality named Parashara Rishi defines six bhagas:
aiśvaryasya samagrasya vīryasya yaśasaḥ śriyaḥ
jñāna-vairāgyayoś caiva ṣannāḥ bhaga itīṇganā
Jiva Gosvami explains the verse in Gopala Champu (Pūrva 15:73) and Bhagavata Sandarbha 46:10:
jñāna-śakti-balaiśvarya-vīrya-tejām.sy aśeṣataḥ
bhagavac-chabda-vācyāni vinā heyair guṇādibhiḥ
"The substantives of the word bhagavat (bhagavat-śabda-vācyāni) are unlimited (aśeṣataḥ) knowledge (jñāna), energies (śakti), strength (bala), opulence (aiśvarya), heroism (vīrya), splendor (tejas), without (vinā) objectionable (heyair) qualities (guṇādibhiḥ)."
SANGAM LITERATURE
Tamil Sangam literature (300BCE to 500CE) mentions mAyOn, or the dark one, as the supreme deity who creates, sustains and destroys the universe. Paripadal 3 describes the glory of Thirumal in the most superlative terms.
Paripadal by kaduvan iLaveyinanAr:
"thIyinuL theRal nI poovinuL naaRRa nI kallinuL maNiyu nI sollinuL vaaymai aRaththinuL anbu nI maRaththinuL mainthu nI vEthaththu maRai nI boothaththu madhalu nI vencudar oLiyu nI thingaLuL aLiyu nI anaiththu nI anaiththinut poruLu nI"
The last line states that Lord Vishnu is the supreme deity who is the inner controller (Antaryamin) of the entire universe. This is one of the Lord's glories, which is first mentioned in Vedas and later propounded by Alwars in Prabhandams and Sri Vaishnavaite Acharyas in various commentaries
The Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple and Vishnu, Lakshmi is mentioned in Tamil works of literature of the Sangam era, including the epic Silapadikaram (book 11, lines 35–40):
āyiram viritteḻu talaiyuṭai aruntiṟaṟ
pāyaṟ paḷḷip palartoḻu tētta viritiraik kāviri viyaṉperu turuttit tiruvamar mārpaṉ kiṭanta vaṇṇamum
On a magnificent cot having a thousand heads spread out, worshipped and praised by many, in an islet surrounded by Kaveri with bellowing waves, is the lying posture of the one who has Lakshmi sitting in his chest.
THEOLOGICAL ATTRIBUTES
The actual number of Vishnu's auspicious qualities is countless, although his six most-important "divine glories" are:
Jnana (Omniscience); defined as the power to know about all beings simultaneously;
Aishvarya (Sovereignty), derived from the word Ishvara which means unchallenged rule over all;
Shakti (Power or Energy), the capacity to make the impossible possible;
Bala (Strength), the capacity to support everything by will and without any fatigue;
Virya (Vigour), the power to retain immateriality as the Supreme Spirit or Being in spite of being the material cause of mutable creations;
Tejas (Splendor), which expresses self-sufficiency and the capacity to overpower everything by spiritual effulgence.
Other important qualities attributed to Vishnu are Gambhirya (inestimatable grandeur), Audarya (generosity), and Karunya (compassion). Natya Shastra lists Vishnu as the presiding deity of the Sṛngara rasa.
The Rigveda says: Vishnu can travel in three strides. The first stride is the Earth. The second stride is the visible sky. The third stride cannot be seen by men and is the heaven where the gods and the righteous dead live. (This feature of three strides also appears in the story of his avatar Vamana/Trivikrama.) The Sanskrit for "to stride" is the root kram; its reduplicated perfect is chakram (guņa grade) or chakra (zero-grade), and in the Rigveda he is called by epithets such as vi-chakra-māņas = "he who has made 3 strides". The Sanskrit word chakra also means "wheel". That may have suggested the idea of Vishnu carrying a chakra.
FIVE FORMS
In Shree Vaishnavism, another school dating from around the 10th century AD, Vishnu assumes five forms:
In the Para Form, Para is the highest form of Vishnu found only in Sri Vaikunta also called Moksha, along with his consort Lakshmi, (and Bhumi Devi and Nila devi, avatars of Lakshmi) and surrounded by liberated souls like Ananta, Garuda, and a host of Muktas (liberated souls).
In the Vyuha form, Vishnu assumes four forms, which exercise different cosmic functions and controls activities of living beings.
In the Vibhava form, Vishnu assumes various manifestations, called Vibhavas, more popularly known as Avataras from time to time, to protect the virtuous, punish evil-doers and re-establish righteousness.
In the Antaryami; "Dwelling within" or "Suksma Vasudeva" form, Vishnu exists within the souls of all living beings and in every substance.
In the Arcavatara or Image manifestation, Vishnu is visible and therefore easily approachable by devotees since Para, Vyuha, Vibhava and Antaryami forms can only be imagined or meditated upon because they are beyond our reach. Such images can be
Revealed by Vishnu, for example, a self-manifested (Swayambhu) icon (murti), e.g. The Mahavishnu Temple at Tirunelli, The Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple at Srirangam, The Tirumala Venkateshwara Temple, etc.; or
Installed by Devas or celestial beings such as such as Guruvayur Temple installed by Vayu; or
Installed by humans, and consecrated according to Vaishnava Agama shastras or scriptures such as Lord Jagannatha of Jagannath Temple (Puri) at Puri.
RELATIONS WITH OTHER DEITIES
SHIVA
The three gods of the Trimurti clan are inseparable and in harmony in view of their common vision and universal good. They are perfectly ideal in all respects.
Both Asuras and Devas played supportive roles in this story by keeping company with Vishnu in his incarnated forms. Hanuman is a vanara who is completely dedicated to Rama. He gives Vishnu company and obeys his command, while playing an important part in Rama's life. He is regarded in Vaishnava canon because it is through blessings that Hanuman is born. Thus, Hanuman, Vishnu's constant companion, with his idol appearing temples of Rama, Krishna and Narasimha, i.e. all of Vishnu's avatars, is considered by Vaishnavas.
Syncretic forces produced stories in which the two deities were shown in cooperative relationships and combined forms. Harihara is the name of a combined deity form of both Vishnu (Hari) and Shiva (Hara). This dual form, which is also called Harirudra, is mentioned in the Mahabharata.
LAKSHMI
Vishnu's consort is Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth (also known as Maya). The Samvit (the primary intelligence/dark matter) of the universe is Vishnu, while the other five attributes emerge from this samvit and hence Maya or dark energy of the universe is Lakshmee is his ahamata, activity, or Vishnu's Power. This power of God, Maya or Shakti, is personified and has multiple names: Shree, Lakshmi, Maya, Vishnumaya or Mahamaya. She is said to manifest as Kriyashakti, (Creative Activity) and Bhutishakti (Creation). This world requires Vishnu's creativity. He therefore needs Lakshmi to always be with Him. Her various avatars as Lord Vishnu's consorts are Varahavatar (Bhoodevi) or Bhoomi, Ramavatar Seeta, Krishnavatar Rukmini)
SARASWATI & GANGA
According to Brahma Vaivarta Purana, Lord Vishnu had three wives Lakshmi, Saraswati and Ganga. Due to their constant quarrelsome nature among them. Once Ganga tried to be close with Vishnu, this rebuked Saraswati but Lakshmi tried to pacify them but faced a curse rather. As per the curse, Lakshmi to appear as Tulasi. Sarawati cursed Ganga to run as a river in the world and Saraswati was cursed to run as a river in the netherworld. After this, Lord Vishnu transformed and became Brahma and Shiva to pacify Saraswati and Ganga.
GARUDA
Vishnu's mount (Vahana) is Garuda, the eagle. Vishnu is commonly depicted as riding on his shoulders.
ICONOGRAPHY
According to various Puranas, Vishnu is the ultimate omnipresent reality and is shapeless and omnipresent. However, a strict iconography governs his representation, whether in pictures, icons, or idols:
He has four arms and is male: The four arms indicate his all-powerful and all-pervasive nature. His physical existence is represented by the two arms in the front, while the two arms at the back represent his presence in the spiritual world. The Upanishad Gopal Uttartapani describes the four arms.
The Shreevatsa mark is on his chest, symbolizing his consort Lakshmi.
He wears the auspicious "Kaustubha" jewel around his neck and a garland of vaijayanti flowers (Vanamala). Lakshmi dwells in this jewel, on Vishnu's chest.
A crown adorns his head: The crown symbolizes his supreme authority. This crown sometimes includes a peacock feather, borrowing from his Krishna-avatar.
He wears two earrings: The earrings represent inherent opposites in creation — knowledge and ignorance; happiness and unhappiness; pleasure and pain.
He rests on Ananta, the immortal and infinite snake.
Vishnu is always to be depicted holding four attributes:
A conch shell or Shankha, named Panchajanya, is held by the upper left hand. It represents Vishnu's power to create and maintain the universe. Panchajanya represents the five elements or Panchabhoota – water, fire, air, earth and sky or space. It also represents the five airs or Pranas that are within the body and mind. The conch symbolizes that Vishnu is the primeval Divine sound of creation and continuity. It also represented as Om. In the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna avatara states that of sound vibrations, 'He is Om'.
The Chakra, a sharp, spinning, discus-like weapon, named "Sudarshana", is held by the upper right hand. It symbolizes the purified spiritualized mind. The name Sudarshana is derived from two words – Su, which means good, superior, and Darshana, which means vision or sight; together. The Chakra represents destruction of ego in the awakening and realization of the soul's original nature and god, burning away spiritual ignorance and illusion, and developing higher spiritual vision and insight to realize god.
A mace or Gada, named "Kaumodaki", is held by the lower right hand. It symbolizes that Vishnu's divine power is the source of all spiritual, mental and physical strength. It also signifies Vishnu's power to destroy materialistic or demonic tendencies (Anarthas) that prevent people from reaching god. Vishnu's mace is the power of the Divine within us to spiritually purify and uplift us from our materialistic bonds.
A lotus flower or Padma is held by the lower left hand. It represents spiritual liberation, Divine perfection, purity and the unfolding of Spiritual consciousness within the individual. The lotus opening its petals in the light of the Sun is indicative of the expansion and awakening of our long dormant, original spiritual consciousness in the light of god. The lotus symbolizes that god is the power and source from which the universe and the individual soul emerges. It also represents Divine Truth or Satya, the originator of the rules of conduct or Dharma, and Divine Vedic knowledge or Jnana. The lotus also symbolizes that Vishnu is the embodiment of spiritual perfection and purity and that He is the wellspring of these qualities and that the individual soul must seek to awaken these intrinsic Divine qualities from Vishnu by surrendering to and linking with Him.
To this may be added, conventionally, the vanamaala flower garland, Vishnu's bow (Shaarnga/Kodand) and his sword Nandaka. A verse of the Vishnu Sahasranama stotram states;vanamālī gadhī shārngī shanki chakri cha nandaki / shrīmān nārāyaņo vişņo vāsudevo abhirakşatu//; translation: Protect us Oh Lord Narayana who wears the forest garland,who has the mace, conch, sword and the wheel. And who is called Vishnu and the Vasudeva.
In general, Vishnu's body is depicted in one of the following three ways:
Standing on a lotus flower, often with Lakshmi, his consort, beside him on a similar pedestal.
Reclining on the coiled-up thousand-hooded Shesha Naga, with Lakshmi seated at his feet; the assemblage rests on the "Kshira Sagar" (ocean of milk). In this representation, Brahma is depicted as sitting on a lotus that grows out of Vishnu's navel.
Riding on the back of his eagle mount, known as Garuda. Another name for Garuda is "Veda atma"; Soul of the Vedas. The flapping of his wings symbolizes the power of the Divine Truth of Vedic wisdom. Also the eagle represents the soul. Garuda carrying Vishnu symbolizes the soul or jiva atma carrying the Super soul or Param atma within it.
AVATARS
Ten avatars (dashavatara) of Vishnu are the most prominent: Apart from the most prominent incarnations there are believed to more.
The most commonly believed incarnations of Vishnu are:
Matsya, the fish that kills Damanaka to save the vedas and also saves Manu from a great flood that submerges the entire Earth.
Kurma, the turtle that helps the Devas and Asuras churn the ocean for the nectar of immortality.
Varaha, the boar that rescues the Earth and kills Hiranyaksha.
Narasimha, the half-lion half human, who defeats the demon Hiranyakashipu.
Vamana, the dwarf that grows into a giant to save the world from King Bali.
Parashurama, "Rama of the battle axe", a sage who appeared in the Treta Yuga. He killed Kartavirya Arjuna's army and clan and then killed all the kshatriyas 21 times.
Rama, the prince and king of Ayodhya who killed the Demon King Raavan.
Krishna, the eighth avatar of Vishnu, who takes part in the Mahabharata epic. Krishna is worshipped as the Supreme Avatar of Vishnu (Supreme Personality of Godhead) in Gaudiya-Vaishnava philosophy.
Buddha, the ninth avatar of Vishnu.
Kalki, the tenth Avatar of Vishnu and said to be the harbinger of the end Kali Yuga. This avatar of Vishnu is yet to come.
Some versions of the above list include Hayagreeva among the Dashavataras while some include Buddha as ninth avatar of Vishnu. Another 22 avatars are given in Chapter 3, Canto 1 of the Bhagavata Purana, although it states that "the incarnations of the Lord are innumerable, like rivulets flowing from inexhaustible sources of water".
BEYOND HINDUISM
SIKHISM
Guru Granth Sahib of Sikhism mentions Vishnu, one verse goes:
The true Vaishnaav, the devotee of Vishnu, is the one with whom God is thoroughly pleased. He dwells apart from Maya. Performing good deeds, he does not seek rewards. Spotlessly pure is the religion of such a Vaishnaav; he has no desire for the fruits of his labors. He is absorbed in devotional worship and the singing of Kirtan, the songs of the Lords Glory. Within his mind and body, he meditates in remembrance on the Lord of the Universe. He is kind to all creatures. He holds fast to the Naam, and inspires others to chant it. O Nanak, such a Vaishnaav obtains the supreme status.
BUDDHISM
While some Hindus consider Buddha as an incarnation of Vishnu, Buddhists in Sri Lanka venerate Vishnu as the custodian deity of Sri Lanka and protector of Buddhism. Lord Vishnu is also known as upulvan, or uthpala varna, meaning "Blue Lotus coloured". Some postulates that Uthpala varna was a local deity who later merged with Vishnu while another belief is that Uthpala Varna was an early form of Vishnu before he became a supreme deity in Puranic Hinduism. According to Chronicles "Mahawamsa", "Chulawamsa" and folklore in Sri Lanka, Buddha himself handed over the custodianship to Vishnu. Others believe that Buddha entrusted this task to Sakra(Indra) and Sakra delegated this task of custodianship to god Vishnu. In contrary to vedic Hinduism, in assimilation of Hindu god Vishnu into Sinhalese Buddhism, Vishnu becomes a mortal being and a Bodhisattva aspiring Buddhahood. Additionally, Vishnu is considered as the god of home and hearth representing mercy, goodness, order and stability. Many Buddhist and Hindu shrines are dedicated to Vishnu in Sri Lanka. In addition to specific Vishnu "Kovils" or "devalayas", all Buddhist temples necessarily house shrine rooms (Devalayas) closer to the main Buddhist shrine dedicated to Vishnu. John Holt in his groundbreaking study examines the assimilation, transformation, and subordination of the Hindu deity Vishnu within the contexts of Sri Lankan history and Sinhala Buddhist religious culture. He then explores the role and rationale of medieval Sinhala kings in assimilating Visnu into Sinhala Buddhism. According to Holt the veneration of Vishnu in Sri Lanka is evidence of a remarkable ability, over many centuries, to reiterate and reinvent culture as other ethnicities have been absorbed into their own. Though the Vishnu cult in Ceylon was formally endorsed by Kandyan kings in early 1700s, Holt states that vishnu images and shrines are among conspicuous ruins in the medieval capital Polonnaruwa. In Buddhist mythology, when Vishnu failed to traverse the universe in three steps, he was given the title "Ardha Vishnu (Half-Vishnu)" and when Vishnu banished demons from the Vaishali (Vishala)in India, he became "Mulu Vishnu or Whole Vishnu". The extreme significance of god Vishnu in Sinhala society is reflected in recitals of the traditional "Offerings to dwarfs and crossing the door frame (bahirwayanta dola pideem saha uluwahu peneema)" that starts with Sri Vishnu invocation.In the recitals,mentioning of the aspiring Buddhahood of Vishnu which is of prime importance to Buddhists and wishes for him to live five thousand and more years highlight the central role of Vishnu in the psyche of Sri Lankan Buddhists.
OTHERS
James Freeman Clarke, Richard Leviton, James Cowles Prichard, and others have noted the similarities between Vishnu and Ancient Egyptian God Horus.
During an excavation in an abandoned village of Russia in the Volga region, archaeologist Alexander Kozhevin excavated an ancient idol of Vishnu. The idol dates from between the 7th and 10th centuries. In the interview Kozhevin, stated that, "We may consider it incredible, but we have ground to assert that Middle-Volga region was the original land of Ancient Rus. This is a hypothesis, but a hypothesis, which requires thorough research"
THOUSAND NAMES OF VISHNU
Vishnu's many names and followers are collected in the Vishnu Sahasranama, (Vishnu's thousand names) from within the larger work Mahabharata. The character Bheeshma recites the names before Krishna on the battlefield of Kurukshetra, praising him (Vishnu) as the supreme god. These Sahasranama are regarded as the essence of all Vedas by followers of Vaishnavism, who believe sincere chanting of Vishnu Sahasranama results in spiritual well-being and a greater awareness of God.
The names are generally derived from the Anantakalyanagunas (meaning: infinite auspicious attributes).
According to the Siddhartha-samhita there are twenty-four forms of Lord Vishnu. The twenty-four forms are
Vasudeva
Sankarshana
Pradyumna
Anirudha
Keshava
Narayana
Madhava
Govinda
Vishnu
Madhusudana
Trivikrama
Vamana
Sridhara
Hrishikesha
Padmanabha
Damodara
Purushottama
Achyuta
Narasimha
Janardana
Hari
Krishna
Adhokshaja
Upulvan, Uthpala Varna - In Sri Lanka, Vishnu is also referred to as Upulvan ( Blue Lotus Coloured)
WIKIPEDIA
D-AIRS 'Husum' / A321-131 cn.595 / LH 1703 rollt in MUC nach der Landung auf 08R aus Sofia-Vrazhdebna (SOF) Bulgarien zum Terminal 2.
Royal Air Force No.216 Squadron Lockheed Tristar KC.1 ZD948 gracefully trundles out to depart on an Air-to-Air Refuelling task at RAF Brize Norton on 19th March 2014.
Later that day, sister ship ZD953 made her last flight to oblivion over at Bruntingthorpe where the remainder of the fleet are due by the end of March.
A sad end to such a lovely looking aeroplane.
With the demise of the VC-10's and now the Tristars, the skies will be the poorer for their loss.
The Pepsi Skywriter is one of more than 1,200 Travel Air open-cockpit biplanes built between 1925 and 1930. Travel Airs were popular and rugged aircraft that earned their keep as utility and record-breaking workhorses and saw service around the country as crop dusters, barnstormers, and as private planes for the sportsman pilot. For 40 years, pilots flew the Pepsi Skywriter across the United States for the Pepsi-Cola Company delivering a unique form of advertising known as skywriting.
Three future giants in the aircraft industry, Lloyd Stearman, Walter Beech, and Clyde Cessna, came together as young aviation enthusiasts in Wichita, Kansas, to build the Travel Air. During 1923 and 1924, Stearman and Beech worked at the Swallow Aeroplane Manufacturing Company as chief designer and vice president/test pilot respectively. The Swallow aircraft met with success, but Stearman and Beech lobbied to try a design with a steel tube, instead of wood, framework. When management declined, Stearman, Beech, and William Snook left Swallow to start their own company, and brought in Clyde Cessna, a successful farmer who liked to build airplanes. They incorporated the Travel Air Manufacturing Company in January 1925 and immediately designed a three-place, open-cockpit, fabric-covered biplane with a Curtiss OX-5 90 hp engine. Stearman had the steel for the tubing tested to his satisfaction at the Agronomy Department at Kansas State Agricultural College, as there were no aviation standards yet in place. Steel tubing braced the cockpit and steel wires braced the fabric-covered spruce spar wings and ribs. Steel was also used for the rudder and elevator leading and trailing edges, and the horizontal stabilizer leading edge, while the vertical stabilizer was spruce. Spruce strips were used to fair the outside of the fuselage and the turtledeck was spruce. Beech wanted redundant control cables running from the cockpit back to two elevators control horns. The landing gear was a standard duralumin speader bar between vees with bungee shockcords.
Travel Air #1 had a striking look with its fully enclosed cowling for the OX-5 engine, balanced ailerons on the upper wing that overlapped around the edge of the wing, and a blue fuselage with silver wings. Ira Beach made the first test flight on March 13, 1925. Travel Airs performed well in the 1925 Ford Reliability Tour and National Air Transport purchased a Model B for its airmail contract work. OX-5 A and B models became Model 2000s in March 1928 with ATC number 30. The Wright J-4 and J-5, significant radial engines that dramatically improved the performance and reliability of aircraft, were then offered on the airframe and, after 1928, those aircraft became the Model 4000. The 4000 found popularity with better performance and versatility through a wide variety of engine, wing, passenger seat, and landing gear combinations. The Speed wing, for example, was a shorter wing with a new airfoil that made the aircraft faster and required a recertification of the airplane to a D-4000. Ted Wells, later the designer of Beech's Staggerwing, owned the first D-4000 that also sported the first NACA cowl built by Travel Air. By early 1927, both Stearman and Cessna had left Travel Air, leaving Walter Beech in charge, and the newest Travel Air was a cabin monoplane. In 1929, Beech allowed the large Curtiss-Wright Company to absorb the company as a division, but it could not survive the depression, and closed in September 1932.
In 1929, NC434N, serial number 1340, was built as an E-4000, meaning it had a J-6-5 engine and most likely B wings (not the original "elephant ear wing). The D4D model officially arrived in February 1930 with a Wright J-6-7 (Wright R-760-ET) 240 hp engine (the second "D" in D4D) that improved the cruising speed to 110 mph with a range of 520 miles, and the aircraft's ceiling rose to 14,000 feet. N434N received the Speed wings and J-6-7 engine in 1930 and was recertificated as a D4D. Andy Stinis, of the Skywriting Corporation of America, purchased the aircraft in 1931 and flew it out of Floyd Bennett Field, Long Island, New York.
Skywriting, defined as the process of writing a name or message with smoke from an aircraft against a blue sky, began in England after World War I, the brainchild of Major John C. Savage, RAF. His first successful demonstration was at the Derby at Epsom Downs, in May 1922, when Captain Cyril Turner wrote "Daily Mail" above the track. Turner then came to the United States in October 1922 and wrote "Hello U.S.A." above New York City. Allan J. Cameron, along with Leroy Van Patten established the Skywriting Corporation of America at Curtiss Field, an American branch of the Savage's original company. They acquired the patents for mixing the writing gas the United States, and, although it was nothing more than light oil fed through the exhaust system, they controlled the market for years. In 1923, using the Skywriting Corporation, the American Tobacco Company launched the first and very successful skywriting advertising campaign for Lucky Strike cigarettes. Pepsi-Cola Corporation became one of the longest-running contractors of skywriting; in the late 1930s and mid 1940s, it contracted or owned a total of 14 aircraft. In 1940 alone, it contracted for 2,225 writings over 48 states. Andy Stinis flew for Pepsi-Cola from 1931 to 1953.
In 1973 Alan Pottasch and Jack Strayer of Pepsi began a search for old skywriters and found N434N still with Andy Stinis. They intended to display it at the Pepsi corporate headquarters in Purchase, New York, however, Strayer, a former skywriter, soon persuaded Pepsi to install navigation and communications equipment and tour it once again. In 1977, Strayer hired Peggy Davies as a second pilot and then, in 1980, when Davies became a Pepsi corporate pilot, Strayer hired Suzanne Asbury. Pepsi also gave the aircraft a bright red, white, and blue paint scheme. Strayer died in 1981 and, in 1982, Steve Oliver joined Asbury as a second pilot for the Pepsi aircraft fleet that included N434P, another 1929 Travel Air. In 2000, Suzanne and Steve Oliver suggested that the aircraft should be retired for safety's sake, and Pepsi-Cola Company donated it to the National Air and Space Museum. The Pepsi Skywriter is currently displayed at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center at Dulles Airport.
AIRS provides a daily global 3-dimensional view of Earth's ozone layer. Since AIRS observes in the thermal infrared spectral range, it also allows scientists to view from space the Antarctic ozone hole for the first time continuously during polar winter. This image sequence captures the intensification of the annual ozone hole in the Antarctic Polar Vortex.
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About AIRS
The Atmospheric Infrared Sounder, AIRS, in conjunction with the Advanced Microwave Sounding Unit, AMSU, sense emitted infrared and microwave radiation from the Earth to provide a three-dimensional look at Earth's weather and climate. Working in tandem, the two instruments make simultaneous observations all the way down to the Earth's surface, even in the presence of heavy clouds. With more than 2,000 channels sensing different regions of the atmosphere, the system creates a global, 3-dimensional map of atmospheric temperature and humidity, cloud amounts and heights, greenhouse gas concentrations, and many other atmospheric phenomena. The AIRS and AMSU fly onboard NASA's Aqua spacecraft and are managed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California, under contract to NASA. JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.
Credit
NASA/JPL AIRS Project
Download the image
Various sizes of the image are available, and there are two ways to download:
1) Right-click on the image. Click on a size next to "View all sizes".
2) Click on the "Actions" menu located above the image. Select "View all sizes".
Resources
Additional formats and frames ›
Atmospheric Infrared Sounder web site ›
How to get the AIRS data
AIRS radiances and standard retrievals were used to obtain thin cirrus particle size and optical depth over the tropical oceans. (a) Normalized probability distribution of cloud top temperature for a total of 29 days. Histograms are partitioned into 5 bins of (0.0-0.1, 0.1-0.25, 0.25-0.5, 0.5-0.75, and 0.75-1.0). (B) Joint probability distributions of cloud top temperature and particle size for the same time period and intervals as (A). (C) Histograms of particle size for the same bins listed in (B). These results illustrate the usefulness of AIRS to characterize the cloudy atmosphere in the upper tropical troposphere. They also show that particle size tends to increase with optical depth and cloud top temperature, results that are consistent from other studies that use satellite, surface-based, or aircraft observational platforms.
Citation
Kahn, B. H., Chahine, M. T., Stephens, G. L., Mace, G. G., Marchand, R. T., Wang, Z., Barnet, C. D., Eldering, A., Holz, R. E., Kuehn, R. E., and Vane, D. G.: Cloud type comparisons of AIRS, CloudSat, and CALIPSO cloud height and amount, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 8, 1231-1248, 2008.
______________________________________________________________________
About AIRS
The Atmospheric Infrared Sounder, AIRS, in conjunction with the Advanced Microwave Sounding Unit, AMSU, sense emitted infrared and microwave radiation from the Earth to provide a three-dimensional look at Earth's weather and climate. Working in tandem, the two instruments make simultaneous observations all the way down to the Earth's surface, even in the presence of heavy clouds. With more than 2,000 channels sensing different regions of the atmosphere, the system creates a global, 3-dimensional map of atmospheric temperature and humidity, cloud amounts and heights, greenhouse gas concentrations, and many other atmospheric phenomena. The AIRS and AMSU fly onboard NASA's Aqua spacecraft and are managed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California, under contract to NASA. JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.
Credit
NASA/JPL AIRS Project
Download the image
Various sizes of the image are available, and there are two ways to download:
1) Right-click on the image. Click on a size next to "View all sizes".
2) Click on the "Actions" menu located above the image. Select "View all sizes".
Resources
Atmospheric Infrared Sounder web site
How to get the AIRS data
The AIRS sounder reveals important new information to supplement the familiar overhead views of hurricanes that come from satellites. Here AIRS shows some of the internal temperature structure of Supertyphoon Pongsona just as it hit the island of Guam last December of 2002. Each of the colored surfaces represents a particular temperature, from red and warm near the surface to yellow and very cold near the top. Normally, these so-called isotherms would be much smoother and nearly horizontal. Here we see how the latent heat released in convective updrafts causes the isotherms to bulge upward. This bulging is even seen more than 50,000 feet above sea level. This relatively warm air cap above a hurricane has rarely been observed and can only be measured with an instrument like AIRS. As we zoom in on the lower 30,000 feet, the temperature structure becomes more striking. It is even possible to discern a dip in the center at the lowest level, where cooler and drier air descends and forms the often cloud free eye of a hurricane.
______________________________________________________________________
About AIRS
The Atmospheric Infrared Sounder, AIRS, in conjunction with the Advanced Microwave Sounding Unit, AMSU, sense emitted infrared and microwave radiation from the Earth to provide a three-dimensional look at Earth's weather and climate. Working in tandem, the two instruments make simultaneous observations all the way down to the Earth's surface, even in the presence of heavy clouds. With more than 2,000 channels sensing different regions of the atmosphere, the system creates a global, 3-dimensional map of atmospheric temperature and humidity, cloud amounts and heights, greenhouse gas concentrations, and many other atmospheric phenomena. The AIRS and AMSU fly onboard NASA's Aqua spacecraft and are managed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California, under contract to NASA. JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.
Credit
NASA/JPL AIRS Project
Download the image
Various sizes of the image are available, and there are two ways to download:
1) Right-click on the image. Click on a size next to "View all sizes".
2) Click on the "Actions" menu located above the image. Select "View all sizes".
Resources
Atmospheric Infrared Sounder web site ›
How to get the AIRS data
This visualization shows variations in the three dimensional distribution of water vapor in the atmosphere during the summer and fall of 2005. Water vapor at higher altitudes appears brighter.
The visualization highlights an often overlooked but important player in the climate system: water vapor. Water vapor frequently condenses into familiar—and visible—clouds and rain. Water vapor is also the most significant greenhouse gas in the atmosphere, about twice as important as the more familiar carbon dioxide.
This movie shows the variations in the height of a surface representing a constant value of water vapor during the summer and fall of 2005. This water vapor surface is highest in the tropics where vapor amounts are largest. The greatest heights (about 3.2 km or 2 miles) occur over south Asia where monsoon thunderstorms carry water vapor high into the atmosphere. Other thunderstorms over Africa and South America lift water vapor there. In some regions of the tropics—such as off the west coast of South America— the height of the surface is lower. This indicates drier air brought downward to the surface in these regions. The concentration over the northern hemisphere show tendrils of water vapor being pulled from tropical storms into higher latitudes. Some of this water vapor may condense as rain or snow, far from the warm tropics where it originated.
____________________________________________________
About AIRS
The Atmospheric Infrared Sounder, AIRS, in conjunction with the Advanced Microwave Sounding Unit, AMSU, sense emitted infrared and microwave radiation from the Earth to provide a three-dimensional look at Earth's weather and climate. Working in tandem, the two instruments make simultaneous observations all the way down to the Earth's surface, even in the presence of heavy clouds. With more than 2,000 channels sensing different regions of the atmosphere, the system creates a global, 3-dimensional map of atmospheric temperature and humidity, cloud amounts and heights, greenhouse gas concentrations, and many other atmospheric phenomena. The AIRS and AMSU fly onboard NASA's Aqua spacecraft and are managed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California, under contract to NASA. JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.
Credit
NASA/JPL AIRS Project
Download the image
Various sizes of the image are available, and there are two ways to download:
1) Right-click on the image. Click on a size next to "View all sizes".
2) Click on the "Actions" menu located above the image. Select "View all sizes".
Resources
Atmospheric Infrared Sounder web site ›
How to get the AIRS data
A series of fires across Greece in August of 2007 burned 469,000 acres and claimed the lives of 65 people. The fires, in which an estimated 4,000 people lost their homes, mostly occurred in the southern part of of the country.
In this visualization, the carbon monoxide signature from the fires in Greece is revealed in data retrieved by the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) on NASA's Aqua spacecraft. Forest fires create large amounts of carbon monoxide. AIRS provides daily global maps of carbon monoxide from space, allowing scientists to follow the global transport of this gas day-to-day. This visualization shows the amount of Carbon monoxide that has risen 2 to 8 kilometers (6,500 ft to 26,200 ft altitude) from August 24-28, 2007. More carbon monoxide generally means more pollution, either natural from wildfires or from industrial and domestic sources.
Beginning August 24, a significant plume emanates from the extensive fires burning in Greece. This plume moves southeast across the Mediterranean Sea and over North Africa from August 24 to 28. It crosses to Africa and arcs westward over the Sahara Desert and continues to curl around over the Eastern Mediterranean toward Sardinia and Corsica.
More information about AIRS can be found at airs.jpl.nasa.gov.
Additional formats and stills ›
Credit:
NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio
NASA/JPL AIRS Project
In late July 2010, flooding caused by heavy monsoon rains began in several regions of Pakistan, including the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Sindh, Punjab and parts of Baluchistan. According to the Associated Press, the floods have affected about one-fifth of the country. Tens of thousands of villages have been flooded, more than 1,500 people have been killed, and millions have been left homeless. The floodwaters are not expected to fully recede before late August. This image shows how surface emissivity -- that is, how efficiently Earth's surface radiates heat -- changed in the affected region over a 32-day period between July 11 (pre-flood) and August 12 (post-flood). The image was created using data from the Advanced Microwave Sounding Unit instrument, which flies on NASA's Aqua spacecraft as part of the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) instrument suite. Surface emissivity, in this case, in the microwave region of the electromagnetic spectrum, depends strongly on what type of surface is present. For dry land, it is high, close to 1 (land radiates heat very efficiently), while for water, it is quite low, less than 0.5 (water tends to retain heat better than land). The image shows that the emissivity has dropped by up to 0.4 in large areas surrounding the Indus River, indicating that these areas are almost completely under water.
Scientists can use this technique to estimate how much of the land surface has been inundated. A significant advantage of the technique is that it works regardless of time of day and under both clear and cloudy conditions.
______________________________________________________________________
About AIRS
The Atmospheric Infrared Sounder, AIRS, in conjunction with the Advanced Microwave Sounding Unit, AMSU, sense emitted infrared and microwave radiation from the Earth to provide a three-dimensional look at Earth's weather and climate. Working in tandem, the two instruments make simultaneous observations all the way down to the Earth's surface, even in the presence of heavy clouds. With more than 2,000 channels sensing different regions of the atmosphere, the system creates a global, 3-dimensional map of atmospheric temperature and humidity, cloud amounts and heights, greenhouse gas concentrations, and many other atmospheric phenomena. The AIRS and AMSU fly onboard NASA's Aqua spacecraft and are managed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California, under contract to NASA. JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.
Credit
NASA/JPL AIRS Project
Download the image
Various sizes of the image are available, and there are two ways to download:
1) Right-click on the image. Click on a size next to "View all sizes".
2) Click on the "Actions" menu located above the image. Select "View all sizes".
Resources
Atmospheric Infrared Sounder web site ›
How to get the AIRS data
This visualization shows 3D volumetric water vapor data from the Aqua/Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) instrument. As the camera moves down and around the data set, the low data values are faded out revealing only the highest concentrations of water vapor data.
The color and opacity at each 3D voxel are driven by the water vapor data. The data set was obtained by Aqua on January 1, 2003. Only data from the sea level to about 10 km altitude are shown.
______________________________________________________________________
About AIRS
The Atmospheric Infrared Sounder, AIRS, in conjunction with the Advanced Microwave Sounding Unit, AMSU, sense emitted infrared and microwave radiation from the Earth to provide a three-dimensional look at Earth's weather and climate. Working in tandem, the two instruments make simultaneous observations all the way down to the Earth's surface, even in the presence of heavy clouds. With more than 2,000 channels sensing different regions of the atmosphere, the system creates a global, 3-dimensional map of atmospheric temperature and humidity, cloud amounts and heights, greenhouse gas concentrations, and many other atmospheric phenomena. The AIRS and AMSU fly onboard NASA's Aqua spacecraft and are managed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California, under contract to NASA. JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.
Credit
NASA/JPL AIRS Project
NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio
Download the image
Various sizes of the image are available, and there are two ways to download:
1) Right-click on the image. Click on a size next to "View all sizes".
2) Click on the "Actions" menu located above the image. Select "View all sizes".
Resources
Additional formats and stills ›
Atmospheric Infrared Sounder web site ›
How to get the AIRS data
Packing gusts of nearly 300 kilometers per hour (184 miles per hour) and sustained winds of 240 kilometers per hour (150 miles per hour), Super-Typhoon Pongsona struck the U.S. Island of Guam on December 8, 2002. This 3D model of the hurricane shows the outline of the clouds, based on cloud top heights derived from observations from the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) instrument on NASA's Aqua Satellite.
The color overlay represents the brightness temperatures observed in one of the Humidity Sounder for Brazil (HSB) channels. HSB also flies aboard NASA's Aqua Satellite.
Blue areas indicate intense convection and rain, while green and yellow reflect the internal temperature of the clouds. Microwaves, unlike infrared radiation, penetrate clouds and look into them or even through them. Red, most of which has been removed from the picture for clarity, represents areas where HSB penetrates all the way to the surface.
______________________________________________________________________
About AIRS
The Atmospheric Infrared Sounder, AIRS, in conjunction with the Advanced Microwave Sounding Unit, AMSU, sense emitted infrared and microwave radiation from the Earth to provide a three-dimensional look at Earth's weather and climate. Working in tandem, the two instruments make simultaneous observations all the way down to the Earth's surface, even in the presence of heavy clouds. With more than 2,000 channels sensing different regions of the atmosphere, the system creates a global, 3-dimensional map of atmospheric temperature and humidity, cloud amounts and heights, greenhouse gas concentrations, and many other atmospheric phenomena. The AIRS and AMSU fly onboard NASA's Aqua spacecraft and are managed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California, under contract to NASA. JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.
Credit
NASA/JPL AIRS Project
Download the image
Various sizes of the image are available, and there are two ways to download:
1) Right-click on the image. Click on a size next to "View all sizes".
2) Click on the "Actions" menu located above the image. Select "View all sizes".
Resources
Additional formats and stills ›
Atmospheric Infrared Sounder web site ›
How to get the AIRS data
These images show the joint distributions of cloud top temperature, particle size, and optical depth with relative humidity with respect to ice (RHic), all of which are calculated from AIRS. (A) Normalized frequency distributions of RHic binned into intervals of 10%. (B) Percentage of cases with specific humidity between 15-30 ppmv; instances with specific humidity <15 ppmv not included because of the insensitivity and unreliability of specific humidity in dry conditions. (C) RHic vs. cloud top temperature (K). (D) RHic vs. particle size (microns). These figures show that RHic tends to increase with decreasing cloud top temperature, increasing optical depth, and decreasing particle size. Even though the thin cirrus clouds are usually geometrically thinner than the vertical resolution of AIRS temperature and specific humidity, these results are consistent with those from some in situ campaigns and demonstrate the utility of AIRS to characterize joint distributions of humidity and cloud properties.
Citation
Kahn, B. H., Liang, C. K., Eldering, A., Gettelman, A., Yue, Q., and Liou, K. N.: Tropical thin cirrus and
relative humidity observed by the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 8, 1501-1518, 2008.
______________________________________________________________________
About AIRS
The Atmospheric Infrared Sounder, AIRS, in conjunction with the Advanced Microwave Sounding Unit, AMSU, sense emitted infrared and microwave radiation from the Earth to provide a three-dimensional look at Earth's weather and climate. Working in tandem, the two instruments make simultaneous observations all the way down to the Earth's surface, even in the presence of heavy clouds. With more than 2,000 channels sensing different regions of the atmosphere, the system creates a global, 3-dimensional map of atmospheric temperature and humidity, cloud amounts and heights, greenhouse gas concentrations, and many other atmospheric phenomena. The AIRS and AMSU fly onboard NASA's Aqua spacecraft and are managed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California, under contract to NASA. JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.
Credit
NASA/JPL AIRS Project
Download the image
Various sizes of the image are available, and there are two ways to download:
1) Right-click on the image. Click on a size next to "View all sizes".
2) Click on the "Actions" menu located above the image. Select "View all sizes".
Resources
Atmospheric Infrared Sounder web site
How to get the AIRS data
Although originally designed to measure atmospheric water vapor and temperature profiles for weather forecasting, data from the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) instrument on NASA's Aqua spacecraft are now also being used by scientists to observe atmospheric carbon dioxide. Scientists from NASA; the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; the European Center for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts; the University of Maryland, Baltimore County; Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey; and the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), Pasadena, Calif., are using several different methods to measure the concentration of carbon dioxide in the mid-troposphere (about eight kilometers, or five miles, above the surface).
The global map of mid-troposphere carbon dioxide above, produced by AIRS Team Leader Dr. Moustafa Chahine at JPL, shows that despite the high degree of mixing that occurs with carbon dioxide, the regional patterns of atmospheric sources and sinks are still apparent in mid-troposphere carbon dioxide concentrations. "This pattern of high carbon dioxide in the Northern Hemisphere (North America, Atlantic Ocean, and Central Asia) is consistent with model predictions," said Chahine.
Climate modelers, such as Dr. Qinbin Li at JPL, and Dr. Yuk Yung at Caltech, are currently using the AIRS data to study the global distribution and transport of carbon dioxide and to improve their models.
______________________________________________________________________
About AIRS
The Atmospheric Infrared Sounder, AIRS, in conjunction with the Advanced Microwave Sounding Unit, AMSU, sense emitted infrared and microwave radiation from the Earth to provide a three-dimensional look at Earth's weather and climate. Working in tandem, the two instruments make simultaneous observations all the way down to the Earth's surface, even in the presence of heavy clouds. With more than 2,000 channels sensing different regions of the atmosphere, the system creates a global, 3-dimensional map of atmospheric temperature and humidity, cloud amounts and heights, greenhouse gas concentrations, and many other atmospheric phenomena. The AIRS and AMSU fly onboard NASA's Aqua spacecraft and are managed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California, under contract to NASA. JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.
Credit
NASA/JPL AIRS Project
Download the image
Various sizes of the image are available, and there are two ways to download:
1) Right-click on the image. Click on a size next to "View all sizes".
2) Click on the "Actions" menu located above the image. Select "View all sizes".
Resources
Atmospheric Infrared Sounder web site ›
How to get the AIRS data
Light Airs Jewellery
Designer: Phil Hodgson
Model: Jessica Sauders
Make up: Holly Moore
Photography: Kate Pook
One Large Softbox to the front, one honey comb camera right up and above infront. one honeycomb slightly below and behind camera left.
The plume of carbon monoxide pollution from the Rim Fire burning in and near Yosemite National Park, Calif., is visible in this Aug. 26, 2013 image from the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) instrument on NASA's Aqua spacecraft. The image shows a three-day running average of daily measurements of carbon monoxide present at an altitude of 18,000 feet (5.5 kilometers), as well as its global transport. The abundance of carbon monoxide is shown in parts per billion, with the highest concentrations shown in yellows and reds. The carbon monoxide plume from the Rim fire now extends into Canada. Even more prominent in the image are the carbon monoxide emissions from widespread agricultural fires in Africa and South America, and fires in the northern forests of Asia.
______________________________________________________________________
About AIRS
The Atmospheric Infrared Sounder, AIRS, in conjunction with the Advanced Microwave Sounding Unit, AMSU, sense emitted infrared and microwave radiation from the Earth to provide a three-dimensional look at Earth's weather and climate. Working in tandem, the two instruments make simultaneous observations all the way down to the Earth's surface, even in the presence of heavy clouds. With more than 2,000 channels sensing different regions of the atmosphere, the system creates a global, 3-dimensional map of atmospheric temperature and humidity, cloud amounts and heights, greenhouse gas concentrations, and many other atmospheric phenomena. The AIRS and AMSU fly onboard NASA's Aqua spacecraft and are managed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California, under contract to NASA. JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.
More information about AIRS can be found at airs.jpl.nasa.gov.
Image Credit
NASA/JPL AIRS Project
Download the image
Various sizes of the image are available, and there are two ways to download:
1) Right-click on the image. Click on a size next to "View all sizes".
2) Click on the "Actions" menu located above the image. Select "View all sizes".
How to get AIRS data
This movie of temperature observations from NASA's Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) instrument on NASA's Aqua spacecraft depicts the first major North American weather event of 2014: cold air moving out of the Arctic and south to cover much of the continent. The temperatures shown are at a pressure of 850 hectopascals (hPa, formerly knows as millibars; sea level pressure is normally around 1000 hPa). Pressures of 850 hPa correspond to an altitude of about 3,000 feet (1 kilometer) above sea level. The temperatures in the movie range from about minus 18 degrees Fahrenheit (245 Kelvin or minus 28 degrees Celsius) to warmer than 66 degrees Fahrenheit (290 Kelvin or about 17 degrees Celsius). The very coldest temperatures in purples and blues are minus 18 to 17 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 28 to about minus 8 degrees Celsius).
The most obvious feature of the movie is the tongue of cold air moving out of Canada and southward to cover much of the eastern United States during early January 2014. This event was covered extensively in the media, and introduced the term 'polar vortex' to a broader audience.
This global perspective illustrates some features not noted in all the recent media attention. Perhaps most obvious: this is not a global phenomenon. The eastern half of the United States includes only about one percent of the total surface area of the planet (about two million of 197 million square miles). One advantage of satellite observations, as from AIRS, is coverage of the entire planet. A truly global perspective is required when studying variations in climate, and this event must be compared against a number of other phenomena occurring around the planet. Note that Alaska and northern Eurasia were warm during this period of unusual cold over the eastern United States.
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About AIRS
The Atmospheric Infrared Sounder, AIRS, in conjunction with the Advanced Microwave Sounding Unit, AMSU, sense emitted infrared and microwave radiation from the Earth to provide a three-dimensional look at Earth's weather and climate. Working in tandem, the two instruments make simultaneous observations all the way down to the Earth's surface, even in the presence of heavy clouds. With more than 2,000 channels sensing different regions of the atmosphere, the system creates a global, three-dimensional map of atmospheric temperature and humidity, cloud amounts and heights, greenhouse gas concentrations, and many other atmospheric phenomena. The AIRS and AMSU fly onboard NASA's Aqua spacecraft and are managed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California, under contract to NASA. JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.
More information about AIRS can be found at airs.jpl.nasa.gov.
Image Credit: NASA/JPL
These false-color images show the amount of atmospheric water vapor observed by AIRS two weeks prior to the passage of Hurricane Isabel, and then when it was a Category 5 storm. The region shown includes parts of South America and the West Indies. Puerto Rico is the large island below the upper left corner.
Total water vapor represents the depth of a layer if all the water vapor in the atmosphere were to condense and fall to the surface. The color bar on the right sides of the plots give the thickness of this layer in millimeters (mm). The first image, from August 28, shows typical tropical water vapor amounts over the ocean: between roughly 25 and 50 mm, or 1 to 2 inches. The highest values of roughly 80 mm, seen as a red blob over South America, corresponds to intense thunderstorms. Thunderstorms pull in water vapor from surrounding regions and concentrate it, with much of it then falling as rain.
Figure 1 (found on the JPL Photojournal linked to below) shows total water during the passage of Hurricane Isabel on September 13. The storm is apparent: the ring of moderate values surrounding a very strong maximum of 100 mm. Total water of more than 80 mm is unusual, and these values correspond to the intense thunderstorms contained within Isabel. The thunderstorms--and the large values of total water--are fed by evaporation from the ocean in the hurricane's high winds. The water vapor near the center of the storm does not remain there long, since hurricane rain rates as high 50 mm (2 inches) per hour imply rapid cycling of the water we observe. Away from the storm the amount of total water vapor is rather low, associated with fair weather where air that ascended near the storm's eye returns to earth, having dropped its moisture as rain. Also seen in the second images are two small regions of about 70 mm of total water over south America. These are yet more thunderstorms, though likely much more benign than those in Isabel.
______________________________________________________________________
About AIRS
The Atmospheric Infrared Sounder, AIRS, in conjunction with the Advanced Microwave Sounding Unit, AMSU, sense emitted infrared and microwave radiation from the Earth to provide a three-dimensional look at Earth's weather and climate. Working in tandem, the two instruments make simultaneous observations all the way down to the Earth's surface, even in the presence of heavy clouds. With more than 2,000 channels sensing different regions of the atmosphere, the system creates a global, 3-dimensional map of atmospheric temperature and humidity, cloud amounts and heights, greenhouse gas concentrations, and many other atmospheric phenomena. The AIRS and AMSU fly onboard NASA's Aqua spacecraft and are managed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California, under contract to NASA. JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.
Credit
NASA/JPL AIRS Project
Download the image
Various sizes of the image are available, and there are two ways to download:
1) Right-click on the image. Click on a size next to "View all sizes".
2) Click on the "Actions" menu located above the image. Select "View all sizes".
Resources
A companion image can be found on the Jet Propulsion Laboratory Photojournal ›
Atmospheric Infrared Sounder web site ›
How to get the AIRS data
"Molten Airs" is the title of the Ars Electronica Garden in Vilnius hosted by Institutio Media (LT), Alt lab in collaboration with Lithuanian Interdisciplinary Artists' Association (LT).
After our birth, bit by bit we get to know our mother, our father and our surrounding environment. We learn what we can put in our mouths and what is understood to be inedible. We also get to know about other species that live in our surroundings. As we begin to go to school, we are trained to know that experiences are fictions, that organisms are composed of many cells, and that the molecules of said cells interact with molecules outside of them.
The *Molten Airs* workshop series builds its narratives on casual life processes, repetitive habits, and social practices. By speculating on the human relationship to plants, food, or energy, but also using methods borrowed from the sciences, the series delves into unknown interactions between small and large, real and fictional, alive and not alive, us and them.
The workshop series contains three episodes, each created by a different artist. In *You and I, You and Me* episode, Mindaugas Gapševičius questions the impact of electricity on life processes and, while using it, builds links between us and them. Brigita Kasperaitė in her *Plant Trafficking* re-thinks the monetary and spiritual values of nature in our daily lives. And Kamilė Krasauskaitė in her *Sourdough DNA* develops the narrative of collaboration between humans and microorganisms and how it all shapes the food we eat.
The audience is invited to contribute to the workshops with their stories, images and sounds.
Photo: Kamilė Krasauskaitė
She wanted to have airs, and the other; she just could never afford them. There were no plastic coverings necessary to hold back the dirt from her sofas, there were no sofas, no Sunday parlour closed off from the children for guests. There was just that one chipped tiled fireplace in the small living-room, and what would have been the parlour was the shop, that beloved ‘Bon-Bon’. So, one desperate mother, one ‘absinthe father’, and five gawping offspring grew up in one tiny living-room, and smaller kitchen.
Then there was that time she had us go out at night, out to that small patch of land, postage-stamp size (luckily), with blunt scissors, and attempt to cut the damp grass, to placate the rent-charging neighbour, Biddy Heffernan, to proffer some evidence of upkeep of the property. Or that other time she had us dye the carpet with bottles of black ink, to hide the stains. Unfortunately, it wasn’t waterproof ink, so trouble ensued, as would be expected, or at least as much as any sane person might expect it to. Even we, the children, understood these domestic administrations to be verging on the unstable. They were somewhat painful to witness, and the coercion needed to get us to collaborate, and execute these masterstrokes, was somewhat damaging to our brutalized sense of childish selves. The desperation was registered, inverted, and absorbed, and left to burgeon into lifelong ‘drivers’ in each of us, taking a different form according to the coping strategies of each child. Even now, as somewhat wizened ‘adults’, the children would sometimes get together and laugh about these mad escapades. There is a sort of tacit agreement that nobody talks of the damage this might have done, these eccentric tasks, but we secretly see it in each other as we laugh uproariously. We even sort of understand each other’s mistakes somewhat, but are also mostly glad when the evening is over so we can forget it all again, and retreat, until the next time. Some of us even fly away to foreign shores to escape these encounters in the hope of avoiding these reveries indefinitely.
Some never fly back.
This is where that story comes from, told by the youngest, of being able to change his own nappy/diaper by the time he was six months old. As Monty Python would have it, “He was lucky, he had a nappy”, or a shoebox, or whatever.
Poverty porn is just that, poverty porn, and we won’t be having room for that, at all (at all). It’s good to be at that point of realisation that every family has its own madness, and universal madness issues from that omnipresent and generous font, that overflowing cornucopia.
The poverty doesn’t really interest him, but that font does, that overflowing. This was not going to be a rags-to-riches redemption story. He was more or less sure that we are the only species that rabbits on mindlessly about ‘universal forgiveness’; this deserved looking at, and vanquishing even. It seemed to him that ‘universal embracing’ made much more sense, that ‘impossible dream’, as mister Brel and his cohorts would warble on about.
Rack had no siblings. She was an only ‘Protestant’ child. Ruin had two brothers, and two sisters, a ‘Catholic’ brood.
Rack envied Ruin, and Ruin envied Rack. Let’s start there.
Whispering Grass, the trees don't have to know.
"Don't you tell it to the breeze 'cause she will tell the birds and bees
And ev'ryone will know because you told the blabbering trees."
Whispering Grass
Song by Doris Fisher / Fred Fisher
"And he answered and said unto them, I tell you that, if these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out."
Luke 19:40
A friend, Thalia, sent me a photo of some, fully mature, botanists at play. I understand these wonderful adventurers completely. I don't own this photograph. I love that someone is doing this, so I don't have to. Time is short, as they say. I guffaw. I cannot help but wonder what 'Aliens' might make of this, or any of our obsessions for that matter. I wonder would they, the Aliens, be able to distinguish us from all the other sacred cows.
And then there's the idea of dust, both breathing and breeding, making Duchamp (and by extension Man Ray), a part of this unholy trinity of expanding ideas.
Rack: I love the stories of your childhood household. It’s amazing how funny you make destitution. Poverty porn, as you say. When I read it, I want you to take me further indoors to that world. I want to see it all.
In this animation, the field of view of the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) instrument onboard NASA's Aqua spacecraft is represented by the blue beam as it sweeps back and forth through the atmosphere down to the surface of the Earth. AIRS collects infrared radiance data in this field of view. Panning down, a rainbow-colored column representing temperature layers in the atmosphere is revealed. Temperature values are one of the measurements that will be produced from the infrared radiances. The white vertical beam that runs horizontally across the column represents one scan of the AIRS instrument across the column. The red footprints below the column are meant to suggest the 30 individual vertical columns (profiles) that are captured in one scan. One profile is pulled out of the column and mapped on to a temperature scale to reinforce the idea that each profile contains data up through a vertical column in the atmosphere.
______________________________________________________________________
About AIRS
The Atmospheric Infrared Sounder, AIRS, in conjunction with the Advanced Microwave Sounding Unit, AMSU, sense emitted infrared and microwave radiation from the Earth to provide a three-dimensional look at Earth's weather and climate. Working in tandem, the two instruments make simultaneous observations all the way down to the Earth's surface, even in the presence of heavy clouds. With more than 2,000 channels sensing different regions of the atmosphere, the system creates a global, 3-dimensional map of atmospheric temperature and humidity, cloud amounts and heights, greenhouse gas concentrations, and many other atmospheric phenomena. The AIRS and AMSU fly onboard NASA's Aqua spacecraft and are managed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California, under contract to NASA. JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.
Credit
NASA/JPL AIRS Project
Download the image
Various sizes of the image are available, and there are two ways to download:
1) Right-click on the image. Click on a size next to "View all sizes".
2) Click on the "Actions" menu located above the image. Select "View all sizes".
Resources
Additional formats and frames ›
Atmospheric Infrared Sounder web site ›
How to get the AIRS data
* ' Kev's and Val's 1957 Chevrolet ' ( number-plate )
Tri-Chevy Club - '55 - '57 ( mostly Bel Airs)
Brooklands, Weybridge, Surrey ..
These sub-panels show differences in the characteristics of RHic histograms within thin cirrus clouds for different regions and time periods. (A) Normalized RHic distributions over the N. Indian Ocean and partitioned by year (2002-2006). (B) same as (A) except for the S. Indian Ocean. (C) Normalized RHic distributions for the tropical ocean average (±20 latitude) and for four sub-regions: the NH, SH, and N. and S. Indian Oceans. These histograms show that the variability from year to year is somewhat higher in the N. Indian Ocean versus the S. Indian Ocean, even though the total counts in the histograms are very similar. Furthermore, they also show that the North Indian Ocean tends to have 5-10% higher RHic compared to other regions. Whether this is caused by anthropogenic activity (e.g., aerosols) or controlled by the dynamics of the South Asian monsoon, or another cause is yet to be determined.
Citation
Kahn, B. H., Liang, C. K., Eldering, A., Gettelman, A., Yue, Q., and Liou, K. N.: Tropical thin cirrus and
relative humidity observed by the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 8, 1501-1518, 2008.
______________________________________________________________________
About AIRS
The Atmospheric Infrared Sounder, AIRS, in conjunction with the Advanced Microwave Sounding Unit, AMSU, sense emitted infrared and microwave radiation from the Earth to provide a three-dimensional look at Earth's weather and climate. Working in tandem, the two instruments make simultaneous observations all the way down to the Earth's surface, even in the presence of heavy clouds. With more than 2,000 channels sensing different regions of the atmosphere, the system creates a global, 3-dimensional map of atmospheric temperature and humidity, cloud amounts and heights, greenhouse gas concentrations, and many other atmospheric phenomena. The AIRS and AMSU fly onboard NASA's Aqua spacecraft and are managed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California, under contract to NASA. JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.
Credit
NASA/JPL AIRS Project
Download the image
Various sizes of the image are available, and there are two ways to download:
1) Right-click on the image. Click on a size next to "View all sizes".
2) Click on the "Actions" menu located above the image. Select "View all sizes".
Resources
Atmospheric Infrared Sounder web site
How to get the AIRS data
Mt. Etna, a volcano on the island of Sicily, erupted on October 26, 2002. Preliminary analysis of data taken by the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) on NASA's Aqua satellite on October 28 shows the instrument can provide an excellent means to study the evolution and structure of the sulfur dioxide plume emitted from volcanoes. These data also demonstrate that AIRS can be used to obtain the total mass of sulfur dioxide injected into the atmosphere during a volcanic event, information that may help us to better understand these dangerous natural occurrences in the future.
The image clearly shows the sulfur dioxide plume. This image was created by comparing data taken at two different frequencies, or channels, and creating one image that highlights the differences between these two channels. Both channels are sensitive to water vapor, but one of the channels is also sensitive to sulfur dioxide. By subtracting out the common water vapor signal in both channels, the sulfur dioxide feature remains and shows up as an enhancement in the difference image.
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About AIRS
The Atmospheric Infrared Sounder, AIRS, in conjunction with the Advanced Microwave Sounding Unit, AMSU, sense emitted infrared and microwave radiation from the Earth to provide a three-dimensional look at Earth's weather and climate. Working in tandem, the two instruments make simultaneous observations all the way down to the Earth's surface, even in the presence of heavy clouds. With more than 2,000 channels sensing different regions of the atmosphere, the system creates a global, 3-dimensional map of atmospheric temperature and humidity, cloud amounts and heights, greenhouse gas concentrations, and many other atmospheric phenomena. The AIRS and AMSU fly onboard NASA's Aqua spacecraft and are managed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California, under contract to NASA. JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.
Credit
NASA/JPL AIRS Project
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Resources
Atmospheric Infrared Sounder web site ›
How to get the AIRS data
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