Blogs des communautés

Surface Temperature Campaign If you collected surface temperature data as part of the Surface Temperature Urban Heat Island Field Campaign, be sure to enter it into the GLOBE database by January 3 in order to receive your stipend. Thanks to Andrew Dempewolf, Lindsey Schilling, and Lisa Bahe for participating! Upcoming Stipend Opportunities Start planning now to participate in our upcoming stipend opportunities. Feb 2017 Site Setup Stipend. Create a new site between January 1, 2017 and  Feb 28, 2017. If you are new to data entry, let this be the added nudge to determine which...

Please welcome Haley Wicklein from the NH Leitzel Center GLOBE Partnership as a guest blogger. Haley is very familiar with GLOBE through her work on the GLOBE Carbon Cycle project. She was an elementary school science specialist and has now returned to the University of New Hampshire! There are new GLOBE Weather Stations at work at six schools in NH! This fall, Jen Bourgeault and I traveled to schools across New Hampshire to help install GLOBE Weather Stations.  With these stations, the students will monitor soil and air temperature, relative humidity, and rainfall as they learn...

As you know, the theme for Phase II of the ENSO Student Research Campaign is "Taking Data to the Next Level!" For our U.S. schools, teachers, and partners, GLOBE has just announced the 2017 series of Regional Student Research Symposia (previously called GLOBE Regional Science Fairs). This is an opportune time to take your data to the next level. As the campaign lead, I will advise you to contact me at any time about how to get involved. We have a great campaign team from around the world. Learn more HERE! My email is Brian.A.Campbell@nasa.gov

Have you ever wondered how NASA Earth observing satellites are able to ground truth their data? What about satellites that collect data over the ocean? Is it ever possible to compare actual in situ data with data that is collected using remote sensing? It just so happens that there are several NASA scientists who will be doing just that- and more- from January 24th through February 20th! And, those of us who are involved in the GLOBE Program have been specially invited to participate in several aspects of this research. We are going to hear from Dr. Ivona Cetinic, the lead scientist,...

One of NASA's scientists, Dr. Stephanie Uz, has been working closely with the GLOBE ENSO Campaign throughout its beginning. She is an oceanographer who studies the response of ocean biology to physical forcing through remotely sensed satellite data, in situ measurements, model output and statistical reconstructions using proxies. Her research focuses on variability in global ocean color or chlorophyll concentrations, the pigment in microscopic phytoplankton, and the physical mechanisms causing those changes. Dr. Uz coordinates communication for the Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem...

Stipend Opportunity Participate in the Surface Temperature Field Campaign Dec 1 - Dec 31 and receive a $50 stipend! Field campaigns are focused data collection events, coordinated in partnership with a scientist or agency, seeking very specific kinds of data. Every educator who enters a surface temperature data set* by Dec 31, 2016 will receive a $50 stipend. Surface temperature is a simple protocol to do. You still have time to request funds from a mini-grant and order the infrared thermometers if you act soon! For more information about the Surface Temperature Field Campaign, see this...

In most scientific research an important test is whether the results of an experiment can be repeated, typically repeated by another lab and research group. A result that cannot be confirmed in this way is generally viewed as invalid. This is a great test for controlled experiments where virtually identical experimental conditions may be achieved. In Earth science research involving observations of the natural world, experimental conditions cannot be reproduced. For environmental research the standard must switch for repeatable to intercomparable – capable of being compared. Research...

As you might know, Phase II of the GLOBE ENSO Student Research Campaign is in full force! Are you an OFFICIAL MEMBER? If not, you are missing out on vital updates and potential collaboration with other GLOBE schools from around the world. We have already had 3 webinars for Phase II. CLICK HERE TO JOIN TODAY! Did you know that approximately 50,000 automated and non-automated measurements are uploaded by students, teachers, and automated systems every week? You might think that is a lot of data, and it is, but the Earth is a really big place and we need as much data as we can get in order...

The GLOBE ENSO Student Research Campaign wants to hear how you are collaborating with other GLOBE schools – or how you would like to collaborate in the future. Create a slide and send it in by 13 November so that it can be shared during the upcoming 15 November webinar. What better way to show your students that they are a valuable part of the GLOBE community than by sharing a slide that shows how you are using collaboration as a tool? The theme of the webinar is “Collaboration." Three GLOBE teachers (Audra Edwards, Peggy Foletta, and Mike Jabot), will share some of their “Best Practices”...

A few months ago, scientists and researchers gave La Niña a slim-to-none chance of forming..... BUT..... recent weather and climate models are now saying that La Niña has a 70% chance of taking shape, albeit a weak one. Check out this cool article by NOAA's Climate research group.

Hello SD GLOBE! You have a few days remaining to participate in October's Earth Science Challenge. Collect and report data twice during the month of October and you will receive a $100 stipend. Congratulations so far to Julie Olson and Lisa Bahe for completing the challenge! Lisa wrote:  ​We were able to get out and get a site picked....  Kids did much better the second day and it went a lot quicker the second time.  We will hopefully try to collect data 2-3 times per month for class. We were able to do cloud cover, air temperature and surface temperature,... they...

Let's talk about collaboration? Collaboration is a way to share your research, measurements, and ideas with others that have similar goals and interests. Collaboration is about much more than just sharing data or sharing techniques, it is about leveraging the expertise of others with your own, and combining them into a "POWERPACK" of results. During our current Phase II of the GLOBE ENSO Student Research Campaign, we are "Taking Data to the Next Level!" One way to maximize this effort is to work with other schools from around the GLOBE community to answer big questions regarding the...

How hot was August 2016?   It was the hottest August in the last 136 years of modern meteorological record keeping? On Sept. 12, NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) posted its monthly analysis of global temperatures for August 2016. The analysis by the GISS team is assembled from publicly available data acquired by about 6,300 meteorological stations around the world; ship- and buoy-based instruments measuring sea surface temperature; and Antarctic research stations. "Monthly rankings, which vary by only a few hundredths of a degree, are inherently fragile," said...

Have you been taking lots of GLOBE data for the El Niño Student Research Campaign? Now that you have all the data, what can you do with it? There are lots of cool ways to make sense of your data by sharing your WATER STORIES via the H2yOu Project and El Niño stories via the Story Maps Project. By analyzing your El Niño protocol data, you can develop stories that will tell the rest of the world how the El Niño phenomena has affected your area. Perhaps students in other parts of the world have collected data similar to yours. You can also take your data and develop a project for the GLOBE...

Earlier this summer, scientists predicted about a 75% chance of a La Niña following the El Niño from 2015-2016. But now, a La Niña is most likely not going to happen, with a 40% chance as of September. Last Spring, waters in the Pacific Ocean seemed to be cooling off. This is an indicator of a La Niña weather pattern. Scientists have now noticed that these water temperatures have been leveling off, thus decreasing the chance of a La Niña event. The current ENSO period of neutrality will continue into the Fall. Monthly sea surface temperature in the Niño 3.4 region of the tropical...

Mark Your Calendars!!! The GLOBE ENSO Student Research Campaign will continue with Phase II. The official commencement of Phase II will be at the Wednesday, September 21, 2016 at 8:00pm EDT (12:00 am September 22nd UTC). Please visit the WEBINAR page to sign up and join us in celebrating the beginning of another year of the ENSO Student Research Campaign.  

As you might know, NASA came out with a statement that July 2016 was the hottest month on record, ever! Since the 2015-2016 El Niño event began in October 2015, each month has set a new record for the hottest month on record. Even though we are currently in a period of neutrality, we are on the tails of an El Niño and quite possibly about to enter a La Niña. "Since October 2015, every month has set a new global record for hottest temperatures. It coincides with an unusually strong El Niño Pattern which caused severe heat and drought across Southeast Asia, as well as raising...

Plants need light to grow. They also require nutrients. For tiny marine plants, called phytoplankton, those nutrients are often brought up from the ocean’s cold, deep waters to the surface by mixing. But this normal circulation gets disrupted during El Niño years, when huge masses of warm water—equivalent to about half of the volume of the Mediterranean Sea—slosh east across the Pacific Ocean towards South America. The change can have fatal consequences for phytoplankton in the eastern equatorial Pacific. Here is the full story with associated images and video!

10. El Niño Student Campaign Refresher and Update -  Wednesday, September 21st, 2016 8:00 pm EDT (12:00 am September 22nd UTC) In this hour-long webinar, participants will get a refresher on this campaign, and will hear from several GLOBE teachers who have been involved with their classes from the start of the campaign. We will discuss the need for ongoing data collection and share the current state of the ENSO cycle.  We will have a NASA scientist discuss the current state of the ENSO cycle and what it might mean for weather conditions for the remainder of this campaign. Link...

Bird Beaks and What they Eat Overview:  Students identify ideal beak shape for food. Age: Upper primary (4th and 5th graders) assisted 1st graders Materials: Bird beak/food handout Straws Dixie cups Juice Tweezers Bowls Wild grain rice Slotted spoons Cooked noodles (macaroni or similarly shaped) Chopsticks Gummy bears White rice Scissors Marshmallows (jumbo) Plan: Ask students why birds have beaks and what they are used for - allow time for discussion. Read a book about beaks to the group. I used Birds Use Their Beaks by Elaine Pascoe. After reading, discuss...

Water Availability can be defined as "The hydrologic capacity of a water source (surface water body, groundwater, municipal water) to sustain additional water demands after considering other current water uses and water conditions. (GEMI, 2012) The Soil Moisture Active Passive Mission provides information on water availability and environmental stress for estimating plant productivity and potential yield. The availability of direct observations of soil moisture status and the timing and extent of potential frost damage from SMAP enables significant improvements in operational crop...

The freezing and thawing of our planet's soil can make a big impact on our climate. Check out the blog below to see just how important this is. SMAP’s focus also includes measurements of freeze/thaw, which tells us whether the land surface is frozen or thawed in areas north of 45-degree north latitude. This is very important to know, because when the vegetation is frozen there is minimal exchange of gasses (CO2 primarily) between the vegetation and the atmosphere. It’s as if the vegetation were in a state of hibernation. This changes however, when spring begins and temperature rises above...

"The Atlanta Science Festival is an annual public celebration of local science and technology. From March 19-26, 2016, curious people of all ages will explore the science and technology in our region and see how science is connected to all parts of our lives in 100 engaging events, including hands-on activities, facility tours, presentations, and performances throughout the metro Atlanta region." ---http://atlantasciencefestival.org/ On Saturday, March 19, there was a GLOBE/SMAP Training Workshops at the Captain Planet Foundation. Participants learned how to take soil moisture...

The SMAP Mission satellite launched on 31-January 2015 from the Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.  Check out the video below to watch it take off!  

How do SMAP Scientists Use GLOBE Data (Part II)? Data Analysis and Blog by Dr. Erika Podest, SMAP Scientist In order to start using GLOBE soil moisture data we need at least 15 measurements collected on days when SMAP flew overhead. The Varazdin School is an example of such and the chart below is a comparison between their data and SMAP soil moisture at 36 km2 spatial resolution. Figure 2: Comparison between SMAP and GLOBE soil moisture from Varazdin school in Croatia. There are several things to note in Fig. 2. First, GLOBE measurements collected early on did not match those of SMAP...

How do SMAP Scientists Use GLOBE Data (Part I)? Data Analysis and Blog by Dr. Erika Podest, SMAP Scientist SMAP has been collecting soil moisture measurements since mid-April 2015, which are freely available, online through the National Snow and Ice Data Archive Center (NSIDC): https://nsidc.org/data/smap Of utmost importance is to have an assessment of the quality of the data, which is why there is a SMAP calibration/validation group. Its purpose is to determine the accuracy of the measurements and whether there are any biases. In order to calibrate and validate the SMAP data, there are...

Fenómeno El Niño: 8 niños mueren en Piura por altas temperaturas El Niño : 8 children die in Peru by high temperatures It seems the effects of the El Niño phenomena has cause the death of eight children due to heat stroke.  Click HERE to see the original story, in Spanish. Below is the entire article translated into English. _________________ The high temperatures in northern Peru due to El Niño have killed at least eight children as a result of heat stroke, the regional director of Health of the Piura region, Jesus Juarez said. Speaking to Canal N. Juarez said a tour of the...

Did you know that soil moisture plays a vital role in human health? Those nasty little critters called mosquitoes love warm, wet soil, and can carry extremely dangerous viruses and diseases. We also can use SMAP soil moisture data to assist famine early warning systems. Improved seasonal soil moisture forecasts using SMAP data will directly benefit famine early warning systems particularly in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, where hunger remains a major human health factor and the population harvests its food from rain-fed agriculture in highly monsoonal (seasonal) conditions. In...

The NASA SMAP satellite took off for space on January 31, 2015 to study our planet's soil moisture and freeze/thaw state. Once in space, the satellite had to go through a prescribed series of steps to ensure that the spacecraft was functioning and all its instruments and components on-board were working properly. This took several months. In mid-April 2015, NASA starting receiving its first soil moisture measurements from SMAP's combined high resolution radar and its high accuracy radiometer. The combination of this data produced a data resolution of approximately 8km. Unfortunately,...

There are many application for SMAP soil moisture satellite data. Understanding drought risk is vital to the health of the planet and to the lives of potentially billions of people around the world. Soil moisture strongly affects plant growth and hence agricultural productivity, especially during conditions of water shortage and drought. Currently, there is no global in situ network for soil moisture monitoring. Global estimates of soil moisture and plant water stress must be derived from models. These model predictions (and hence drought monitoring) can be greatly enhanced through...