This set of animation frames shows monthly anomalous column-integrated global precipitable water compiled from NMC global analysis, along with the COADS global sea surface temperature anomalies (SSTa). The period shown is from January 1, 1982 to Dec. 31,1991. There are a total of 120 frames.
Precipitable water (upper panel) is not available prior to January 1983. The climatology is calculated from monthly means for the period Jan. 1983 to December 1991. This climatology is removed from each month to form the anomalous precipitable water. The contour interval is 2 KG/M**2.
The SSTa (lower panel) are formed in a similar manner from a monthly climatology for the period January 1950 to February 1992. The contour interval for SSTa is 0.5C.
These images were first generated by NCAR graphics 3.2; they were then converted to raster format. The raster images provide an easier, less sophisticated, but good quality method to have a quick view of single-frame images, as well as animation from your local-DECstation.
A useful reference for the above work is:
Roads J.O., S.-C. Chen, J. Kao, D. Langley, and G. Glatzmaier, 1992: Global
aspects of the Los Alamos General Circulation Model Hydrologic Cycle. J.
Geophys. Res., 97,
Click here to see this as a movie.