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The World’s Sunniest Places

Global Average Brightness Temperature for April 2003

The map featured above shows the average temperatures during the month of April in 2003 as indicated by the color spectrum below the map. Similar to a photograph of the planet taken with the camera shutter held open for a month, stationary features are captured while those obscured by moving clouds are blurred. The map, created by the Jet Propulasion Laboratory, also reveals several continental characteristics are revealed in this map - e.g. the planet’s vast deserts and India at the end of its dry season. In addition, the map highlights the Tibetan plateau on the northern side of India, and the mountains of North America. The band of yellow encircling the planet’s equator is the Intertropical Convergence Zone, a region of persistent thunderstorms and associated high, cold clouds. The ITCZ merges with the monsoon systems of Africa and South America. Higher latitudes are increasingly obscured by clouds, though some features like the Great Lakes, the British Isles and Korea are apparent. The highest latitudes of Europe and Eurasia are completely obscured by clouds, while Antarctica stands out cold and clear at the bottom of the image.