Atmosphere AR

Visualize Earth's atmosphere in augmented reality — wind circulation, temperature, and lightning overlaid on your map or globe.

Atmosphere AR is an educational augmented reality app that brings atmospheric science to life. Point your iPhone camera at a printed world map or globe to visualize how Earth's atmosphere actually moves.

WIND CIRCULATION MODELS Explore two foundational models of global atmospheric circulation with animated particles and stream trails:

• Single Cell Model — the simplest model of global circulation, showing a single continuous loop of rising and falling air per hemisphere
• Three Cell Model — Earth's actual circulation pattern, showing the Hadley, Ferrel, and Polar cells with realistic Coriolis-deflected trade winds, westerlies, and polar easterlies
• ERA5 Real Data — compare theoretical models against actual measured wind data from ECMWF reanalysis, updated monthly

TEMPERATURE OVERLAY Explore surface and upper atmosphere temperatures from ERA5 reanalysis data. Use the pressure level slider to move through the atmosphere from the warm surface layer (1000 hPa) up to the cold upper troposphere (100 hPa, ~16km altitude).

LIGHTNING OVERLAY View global lightning flash frequency from GOES-18 Geostationary Lightning Mapper satellite observations. See how lightning concentrates near the ITCZ equatorial convergence zone — connecting directly to the Hadley cell circulation pattern.

VIRTUAL GLOBE Scan a globe tracker to spawn an interactive 3D Earth in your space. Drag with one finger to rotate, pinch with two fingers to scale. All wind, temperature, and lightning overlays work on the globe as well as the flat map.

EDUCATIONAL DESIGN Built for students, educators, and anyone curious about Earth's atmosphere. The info panel explains what you are seeing — including the science behind the Coriolis effect, cell boundaries, and how real atmospheric data compares to theoretical models.

Tracker images are available at https://xr.cisess.umd.edu/atmosphere-ar

DATA SOURCES & CREDITS

• Wind & temperature data: ERA5, ECMWF / Copernicus Climate Change Service
• Lightning data: GOES-18 GLM, NOAA
• Map tracker: Blue Marble, NASA
• Globe tracker: © EUMETSAT