The Outgoing Longwave Radiation (OLR) is a measure of how much infrared energy is leaving Earth’s surface and atmosphere. For more information see the
El Niño/La Niña Observations
page.
The relative humidity (RH) at the 500 hPa level, roughly in the middle of Earth’s troposphere that is related to weather variations, is used to highlight changes in atmospheric moisture. For more information see the
El Niño/La Niña Observations
page.
This image depicts the sea-level anomaly (the difference between the total sea-level and the average sea-level for this time of year) off the coast of California. For more information see the
El Niño/La Niña Observations
page.
This image is from the Ocean Surface Topography Mission/Jason-2 satellite which uses radar altimetry to collect sea surface height data of the world's ocean. For more information see the
El Niño/La Niña Observations
page.
Cirrus clouds are ice clouds that occur in Earth’s upper troposphere typically between 6-10 miles in altitude. For more information see the
El Niño/La Niña Observations
page.
This image from Microwave Limb Sounder (MLS) instrument on NASA's Aura spacecraft shows the upper tropospheric water vapor anomalies near 10 km in height relative to an 11-year average.