This 1.4 MB animation depicts how the Aquarius Instrument will unfold after launch into earth orbit. It begins with solar panels unfolding followed by deployment of the 2.5m composite reflector. Credit: Earth & Space Research

The dramatic summer ice decline in 2007 is shown in this 5.7 MB animation of Arctic ice cover change over the melt season. This animation is based on imagery collected by the NASA Earth Observing System Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer (AMSR-E) sensor. It is a passive microwave sensor, but with enhanced capabilities that provide more detail. The animation runs from May 1 through October 10 and shows how the decline progressed through the summer. The rapid decline rates of June and July are illustrated clearly in the movie. Data from NASA Earth Observing System Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer (AMSR-E).; images from Institute of Environmental Physics at the University of Bremen. Animation credit: National Snow and Ice Data Center.

The Polar Science Center at the University of Washington’s Applied Physics Laboratory has created an animated .gif of the 2007 sea ice thickness and extent based on a combination of models and observed data. The animation shows the region of thick (greater than 3 meters [10 feet]) ice. In past decades, this thick ice spread across much of the central Arctic Basin. In 2007, it retreated to a narrow band along the northern Greenland and Canadian coasts, corroborating other ice-age animation data. Credit:Polar Science Center at the University of Washington’s Applied Physics Laboratory

ARGO is a global array of over 3,000 free-drifting profiling floats that measures the temperature and salinity of the upper 2000 m of the ocean. This allows continuous monitoring of the temperature, salinity, and velocity of the upper ocean, with all data being relayed and made publicly available within hours after collection. This animated .gif show a recent update on the locations of the ARGO buoy array. Credit: Howard Freeland, Fisheries and Oceans Canada

This 9MB visualization shows the locations of the ARGO buoy array over time. When the buoys are above water, the lines are brighter; when the buoys are under water, the lines are fainter. Credit: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center