We live on a beautiful planet. We never cease to be awed when a new representation or view of our earth is shared that we have never seen before. Thanks to a new computational model from NASA, we can see the movements of the oceans over time – and it rivals any Van Gogh! You can read more about the process used to make these images in the original article.

Created by NASA’s ECCO2 project, which seeks to estimate the circulation and conditions of the world’s oceans, this animation consists of a portrayal of the surface currents that happened around the globe between June of 2005 and December 2007. Called “Perpetual Ocean,” it displays the beauty of our planet in way that we don’t usually get to see.

ECCO2 is actually a computational model that NASA researchers are using to allow studies to be done on carbon and heat transfer from small bodies of water, such as rivers, that feed into the ocean. While the simulation is actually able to present data of water flows happening at all depths, only the surface currents are represented in this piece.

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Posted Mar. 27, 2012 at 5:59 pm By: Ray Walters http://www.geek.com/articles/geek-cetera/nasa-perpetual-ocean-van-gogh-20120327/