winter2025CloudUpdate - Clouds Protocol

Welcome to our NASA GLOBE Clouds Quarterly Update!

This update shares an opportunity to expand your observations with land cover satellite comparisons. Learn how you can also help scientists by reporting blowing snow observations. Find out which region’s cloud photo was voted as the GLOBE community’s favorite. Ask us anything you would like about clouds. Discover NASA’s POWER project and meet our expert Dr. Brad Hegyi!

Land Cover Satellite Comparisons

You may have been making a lot of cloud observations. If so, you have been receiving an email from the GLOBE Clouds team comparing what you saw in the sky with what satellites saw from above. Let us now introduce you to land cover satellite comparisons!

Satellites measure the energy reflected by the Earth's surface across various regions of the electromagnetic spectrum, including those invisible to the human eye. Collecting this data over time helps us document ongoing changes. Satellites act as our "eyes" in orbit, offering significant advantages such as quickly covering large areas and frequently revisiting the same locations. However, some fine details visible at ground level may not be detectable by remote sensing systems. Therefore, ground observations are crucial to complement satellite data. Observations made using tools like GLOBE Observer: Land Cover and other GLOBE Biosphere protocols provide reference data, aiding scientists in interpreting satellite data and enhancing the accuracy of maps and other products created from remote sensing.

Your ground observations complement satellite land cover data by providing height, detail, and layers, especially when clouds obstruct satellite views. Well, get excited, because now GLOBE aligns your observations with images and data from Terra, Landsat, and Sentinel satellites, comparing them to recent Landsat and Sentinel-2 images and Terra MODIS land cover classifications!

To learn more about the importance of land cover observations, please visit Land Cover Science.

Help Scientists Track Blowing Snow

You know how important your observations of clouds are, but sometimes there are things that can block your view of the sky. For example, there could be sand, volcanic ash or haze preventing you from seeing the sky. We say those are “obscurations”. One particular kind of obscuration is blowing snow. As other obscurations, blowing snow can be dangerous because it also reduces visibility for traveling. It happens when wind lifts snow high above the ground. You can help by using the GLOBE Observer app's Clouds tool. When you see blowing snow, open the app, start a new Clouds observation, and in Step 4, choose "Obscured" and then "Blowing Snow." Make sure to take photos, including a "Feature Photo" of the blowing snow on the horizon. In the Field Notes, type "blowing snow" and describe any visible landmarks and how far away they are to help the scientists better understand the visibility. Remember to stay safe, and if needed, you can take photos from inside a building or vehicle. Learn more about how you can report your Blowing Snow Observations!

Science Topic: Clouds, the Energy Budget, and Real-World Applications

We know that clouds have an important impact on our planet. Different types of clouds reflect different amounts of solar energy, but overall, clouds reflect a large amount of solar energy out to space. Why is that important? The Earth's energy budget is the balance between the Sun's energy that reaches Earth and the energy that Earth sends back into space. It's important to study this energy budget because if it gets out of balance, Earth's temperature will change.

The CERES (Clouds and the Earth’s Radiant Energy System) project helps us understand all of this. CERES combines data from different satellite sensors to create information for scientists. This data helps us understand how clouds and tiny particles affect Earth's energy budget from the top of the atmosphere to the surface. It also helps us understand changes in sea ice and snow, improve weather forecasts, and provide data for solar power and agriculture.

NASA’s POWER (Prediction Of Worldwide Energy Resources) project provides free, accessible data about sunlight, weather, and atmospheric conditions, drawing on multiple NASA missions, including CERES. Then, companies can use this information to understand how sunlight and cloud cover influence outdoor spaces, buildings, and neighborhoods. For example, did you know that curved buildings can reflect sunlight like a magnifying glass, warping parked cars? This has happened! By using CERES-based solar and cloud data, companies can anticipate these effects and design solutions to prevent damage. You can learn more about how POWER data is applied to real-world problems.

Meet an Expert: Brad Hegyi, PhD.

Meet Brad Hegyi, a research scientist for the NASA POWER Project team!

Question: Where are you from?
Answer: I am originally from Indiana, growing up in a town about 100 miles (160 km) east of Chicago. I currently live in Yorktown, Virginia.

Question: Can you share with us a bit about your background?
Answer: I have a love for weather that started from a young age, especially about the impacts of weather and the connections between weather in different places. I grew up in a place where we would get clouds and a lot of snow anytime the cold wind blew from a certain direction across Lake Michigan. I thought this was the coolest thing. I took that passion for weather and studied meteorology at Purdue University and later got a doctorate in atmospheric science from Georgia Tech. After graduating, I then had the opportunity to do research at NASA Langley Research Center about the connections between Arctic climate and weather in different parts of the world.

Question: What is your current job and what is your favorite part of the work you do?
Answer: I am a research scientist and data analyst for the NASA POWER project. The goal of this project is to help make NASA science data more accessible, so that the data can support neat and impactful applications in renewable energy, buildings, and agriculture. I am working to bring the next generation of current and future weather data products to users. My favorite part of the work I do is seeing all of the neat applications of the data our group provides. Some of these applications are very creative and unique.

Question: Can you share some examples of how the NASA POWER Project helps solve real-world problems related to clouds?
Answer: One of the main impacts of clouds is that they reduce the direct flow of solar energy to the surface of the Earth. The NASA POWER project has provided data on incoming solar energy flow to many projects interested in providing solar power. One neat example is how NASA POWER is Helping Scientific Expeditions Sail the Oceans. The solar and cloud data that NASA POWER provided helped plan missions that involved these unmanned drones.

Another project that benefited from NASA POWER solar and cloud data was a group interested in maintaining ‘solar gardens,’ which are groups of solar panels that provide power for small communities across the United States. The data provided by NASA POWER helped the group predict how much energy the panels would provide and monitor the performance of the panels. You can learn more about this project here: NASA POWER’s Dependable Data Ensures Dependable Energy for U.S. Utility Company.

Question: How can citizen scientists help advance our understanding of clouds?
Answer: Two important ways that citizen scientists can help advance our understanding of clouds are 1) making observations of clouds through GLOBE and 2) sharing your passion about science to your friends, family, and community.

All observations help provide the data that can be analyzed to find new insights about clouds and train our models and satellites to better represent clouds. Clouds are such an important part of Earth’s atmosphere and have important effects on weather and climate at most locations around the world. However scientists still have much to learn.

When you share about science with your community, you also help others see that science is accessible and local. The best science isn’t always done at a large research lab or university. Scientific discovery can be done anywhere motivated people are making observations and doing critical thinking and analysis. Earth observations are especially impactful, since all of us interact and participate in the Earth system every day. When bringing science to your community, you help others better understand the system of which they are a part. You also help others make choices that change how they interact with the Earth system.

Favorite Cloud and Ask Us Anything

Enjoy the beautiful GLOBE Clouds photos we are featuring this time, representing each of the six GLOBE regions! These photos were submitted by Uganda Citizen Science (Africa), Lupi National High School (Asia and Pacific), Italy Citizen Science (Europe and Eurasia), Panama Citizen Science (Latin America and Caribbean), Baad School (Near East and North Africa), and United States Citizen Science (North America).

Vote for your favorite photo using this GLOBE Clouds: Favorite Cloud and Ask Us Anything form!

And now, are you ready to see last quarter’s winning photo? First of all, let us announce that we received a record number of votes! Thank you so much for voting. Based on your votes, the first place went to the Europe and Eurasia region (photo submitted by Netherlands Citizen Science):

Ask Us Anything Question, Answered

Thank you for submitting so many great questions! A GLOBE Community member asked: What determines the colors we see in the sky?

	When the Sun is high in the sky, the Earth's atmosphere scatters sunlight in all directions. Air molecules are particularly effective at scattering blue and violet light, but less so with red and orange light. This scattered blue light fills the sky, making it appear blue to an observer on the ground. The clarity of the sky is also related to the concentration of aerosols.
	Aerosols are tiny particles found in the atmosphere. They can originate from natural sources such as pollen, sea salt, desert dust, volcanic ash, and forest fire smoke. Human activities also produce aerosols through fossil fuel combustion exhaust, chemical manufacturing, and land use. Aerosols can contribute to air pollution. A sky with few aerosols appears clear and deep blue, while an increase in aerosol concentration leads to increased light scattering, making the sky appear less blue, hazy, pale blue, or even white.
	At sunrise and sunset, the sun's low position on the horizon means sunlight travels through a greater portion of the atmosphere. This increased atmospheric path causes more scattering of the shorter wavelengths (blue and violet light), allowing the longer wavelengths (red, orange, and yellow) to be more prominent, resulting in the colorful displays we observe.

GLOBE Clouds by the Numbers

Thank You

Thank you for reading, voting for your favorite clouds, asking questions, and continuing submitting your GLOBE Clouds observations!