Student Research Reports
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Do Satellites Provide Accurate Measurements?
Organization(s):Irving MME Magnet
Country:United States of America
Student(s):By Asenat Pantoja & Michael Asemota
Grade Level:Middle School (grades 6-8, ages 11-14)
GLOBE Teacher:Maria Mancia
Contributors:SMAP
Report Type(s):International Virtual Science Symposium Report
Protocols:Soil Moisture - SMAP Block Pattern
Presentation Poster:
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Optional Badges:I am a Collaborator, I make an Impact, I work with a STEM Professional
Language(s):
Date Submitted:03/01/2018
Last year, we explored local soil moisture levels compared to levels provided by SMAP, a satellite that reads soil moisture throughout the world. SMAP’s readings were not 100% accurate because satellite and local data did not align. This year, we expanded our inquiry by duplicating last year’s data to create comparative year-to-year data to test whether SMAP’s accuracy had improved. Since 2015-2016 data was collected in a drought year, we were excited to compare it to the 2016-2017 non-drought year, enhancing the opportunity to track variances between our data and satellite data.
We used the same methodologies and sites to collect samples as last year. To improve outcome and analysis accuracy, we collected more samples during four of five months. Unfortunately, we collected only one sample during December 2016, whereas we collected four samples during December 2015. Nonetheless, we began collection earlier this year and amassed more data. We calculated monthly averages for comparison to the same month’s data from last year. We also tested the satellite’s accuracy for this year by comparing it to current local data. We noticed increased local soil moisture that correlated with this year’s additional rainfall as well as improved overall satellite data accuracy.