NASA Imaging Shows Views of Earth's Underwater Highways

An ocean visualization model made with NASA data shows oceanic current system patterns

The “beauty shot version” of Perpetual Ocean 2: Western Boundary Currents. (Photo: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center via NASA Scientific Visualization Studio)

Photos taken from space help us better understand things that happen on land. They visualize land masses such as mountain ranges, show where different ecosystems meet, and even how the population of cities expand over time. But have you ever considered that space imaging may also help us understand the Earth’s oceans, too?

Oceans cover about 71% of Earth, while land makes up the remaining 29%. It’s no secret that much of the world’s oceans are a mystery, but a project from NASA may help us uncover just a bit more of what happens beneath the surface.

An ocean current visualization model created by NASA’s Estimating the Circulation and Climate of the Ocean (ECOO) Group plots out the most traveled underwater highways on Earth. Pulling data from buoys, spacecraft, and other instruments, the model almost resembles Vincent van Gogh’s famous impasto style, immortalized in Starry Night.

Besides looking beautiful, this visualization also demonstrates the importance of Earth’s oceans in creating the conditions that allow life to thrive. Ocean currents function as underwater highways and operate on horizontal and vertical axes. Thanks to this dual flow, ocean currents transport carbon, nutrients, and heat around the planet. In effect, these underwater highways support marine ecosystems and regulate the Earth’s climate.

In an article written for NASA, James Riordon says: “In addition to affecting global weather patterns and temperatures, western boundary currents can drive vertical flows in the oceans known as upwellings. The flows bring nutrients up from the depths to the surface, where they act as fertilizer for phytoplankton, algae, and aquatic plants.” A prime example of this happens near the Kuroshio Current of Japan. Upswelling that occurs there supports robust local marine ecosystems, which support Japan’s fishing industry.

The oceanic current patterns connect to essentially form a “conveyor belt,” which distributes heat from the equator towards the poles of the planet. It has a direct effect on regional climates, both near and far. Take, for example, the Gulf Stream and the United States. This particular current is responsible for moderating temperatures along the U.S.’s Eastern Coast. It is also important for the climate in Europe and parts of Africa: without it, the winters in the former would be significantly colder, and droughts would be more severe in the latter.

If you’ve watched any of the hurricanes that have recently occurred in the United States, you may notice that sometimes they seem to follow the path of these underwater highways as well. With climate change and the increasing addition of freshwater from melting polar ice caps, the underwater highway systems are experiencing a slowdown in their current exchange.

Researchers worry that if currents continue to slow, these underwater highways may collapse. Such a breakdown would greatly affect planetary heat distribution, marine ecosystem support, and weather pattern disruption. As we appreciate the beauty of this ocean visualization model and Earth’s underwater highways, we must remember how delicate these systems that sustain life are, and the consequences we may face if they become altered beyond repair.

To learn more about the ocean visualization model, visit NASA's website.

While images from space usually show us what happens on land, a new project by NASA dives deeper into the Earth's oceans.

Photo: NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center/Reto Stöckli via Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)

Developed using data from the Estimating the Circulation and Climate of the Ocean (ECOO) Group, the visualization model examines the planet's current systems. These “underwater highways” regulate the Earth's temperature, support marine ecosystems, and determine regional climate and weather events.

View from outside the International Space Station of Hurricane Florence on the morning of September 12th, 2018 (Photo: NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0)