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Skin Temperature
This map shows AIRS observations of "skin temperature" at the Earth's surface. Skin temperature refers to the temperature of the surface layer of the earth, in contrast to the meteorological definition of surface temperature measured by air thermometers--the temperature at a height of approximately 1 meter above ground level.
Air Temperature at 700 millibars
This map shows AIRS observations of temperature at 700 mb (millibar) pressure. Pressures of 700 mb correspond to approximatley 2,000 meters (8,000 feet) above the surface. For comparison, sea level pressure is approximately 1013 mb. Roughly one-third of the atmosphere's mass is found in the layer below 700 mb. Blank areas in western North America show where the 700 mb pressure surface intersects mountainous terrain.
Total Water Vapor
This map shows the depth in millimeters of the resulting puddle if all the water vapor in the atmosphere were to fall as rain. Fifty millimeters (mm) is about 2 inches. The large area of maximum water vapor towards the bottom of the image is in the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ), a region of powerful thunderstorms.
Images and text courtesy of the AIRS Science Team and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
