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Discover how the GLOBE community is engaging in all things GLOBE through the community blog posts below.
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The GLOBE Clouds team is delighted to announce this new section that showcases sky and cloud photographs from around the world! We’ve also been receiving some amazing questions from students.
The featured question was asked by students from Corpus Christi Catholic School :
Question: Why can we see clouds but not evaporation?
Answer: Water vapor is invisible. However, the water in clouds is in liquid or solid state, not gas.
Do you have a favorite cloud photo or a question for the team? Use the linked form to cast your vote and ask us any question ...
Read More »
Posted in:
Curriculum:
STEM
GLOBE Science Topics:
BACKYARD SCIENCE
CLIMATE
CLIMATE CHANGE
GENERAL SCIENCE
GENERAL SCIENCE @ES
EARTH AS A SYSTEM
EARTH SYSTEM SCIENCE
Investigation Areas:
ATMOSPHERE
EARTH AS A SYSTEM
News Topics:
NEWS BRIEFS
Primary Audience:
ALUMNI
COUNTRY COORDINATORS
PARTNERS
SCIENTISTS
STUDENTS
TEACHERS
TRAINERS
Waleska works with in-service teachers in the teacher training programs of the Galileo University and the University of San Carlos of Guatemala. She is the founder and coordinator of the STEAM program
Question: Where are you from?
Answer: I was born in the city of the eternal Spring, Guatemala City, in Central America, several eclipses, comets, and moons ago.
Question: What inspired you to work in this field?
Answer: Since I was little I had a fascination with natural phenomena, the reason why stars shine led me to be a Physicist, and fireflies and ...
Posted in:
Curriculum:
STEM
GLOBE Science Topics:
BACKYARD SCIENCE
CLIMATE
CLIMATE CHANGE
DATA INCLUDED
GENERAL SCIENCE
GENERAL SCIENCE @ES
SCIENTIST SKILLS
Investigation Areas:
ATMOSPHERE
EARTH AS A SYSTEM
Primary Audience:
ALUMNI
COUNTRY COORDINATORS
PARTNERS
SCIENTISTS
STUDENTS
TEACHERS
TRAINERS
Brad Hegyi is a research scientist for the NASA Prediction of Worldwide Energy Resources (POWER) project team at Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, USA. Brad develops metrics and statistics for POWER from model estimates of future climate to help support planning for future energy use by heating and cooling systems in buildings. Brad also helps create interactive data products to better visualize changes occurring in the climate data.
The energy that comes from the Sun is the basic source of energy for everything on Earth. Solar energy drives Earth’s weather and ...
Posted in:
Curriculum:
TECHNOLOGY
STEM
GLOBE Science Topics:
BACKYARD SCIENCE
CLIMATE
CLIMATE CHANGE
DATA INCLUDED
GENERAL SCIENCE
EARTH AS A SYSTEM
EARTH SYSTEM SCIENCE
SCIENTIST SKILLS
Investigation Areas:
ATMOSPHERE
EARTH AS A SYSTEM
Primary Audience:
ALUMNI
COUNTRY COORDINATORS
PARTNERS
SCIENTISTS
STUDENTS
TEACHERS
TRAINERS
The Sun drives many processes in Earth’s atmosphere. As the Sun rises and sets, it warms the Earth’s surface at different intensities. These changes in heat lead to changes in the clouds, especially the types of clouds. To study these changes, we need observations at different times over the course of hours, days, weeks, months, and years from around the globe. It can be tricky to capture the extent of these interactions with satellites alone, which is why we need observations from your perspective on the ground as part of the GLOBE Eclipse Challenge: Clouds and Our ...
Posted in:
Curriculum:
STEM
GLOBE Science Topics:
BACKYARD SCIENCE
CLIMATE
CLIMATE CHANGE
DATA INCLUDED
GENERAL SCIENCE
GLOBE PROTOCOLS
EARTH AS A SYSTEM
Investigation Areas:
ATMOSPHERE
EARTH AS A SYSTEM
One of the things that I find the most inspiring about The GLOBE Program , is the rich collaboration that it enables us to have with each other. Speaking for myself, I now have friends literally all around the globe, because of my engagement and interaction with GLOBE. I thought I would take a little time to write about a very inspiring intergenerational collaboration that I have found particularly enriching.
During the virtual GLOBE Annual Meeting in 2021, I was asked by a participant if we could meet up in a virtual room and chat. I was astonished to meet the extremely vibrant ...
Posted in:
Curriculum:
EDUCATION RESEARCH
LANGUAGE CULTURE AND ARTS
SCIENCE AND MATH
TECHNOLOGY
STEM
Field Campaigns:
GPM
GLOBE International STEM Network (GISN):
GLOBE INTERNATIONAL STEM NETWORK (GISN)
GLOBE Science Topics:
BACKYARD SCIENCE
CLIMATE
CLIMATE CHANGE
DATA INCLUDED
GENERAL SCIENCE
GLOBE PROTOCOLS
EARTH AS A SYSTEM
EARTH SYSTEM SCIENCE
SCIENTIST SKILLS
MEETINGS/CONFERENCES
Investigation Areas:
ATMOSPHERE
HYDROSPHERE
EARTH AS A SYSTEM
PEDOSPHERE (SOIL)
BIOSPHERE
Learning Activities:
ATMOSPHERE AND CLIMATE
EARTH AS A SYSTEM
HYDROLOGY
LAND COVER/BIOLOGY
SOIL
Primary Audience:
ALUMNI
COUNTRY COORDINATORS
PARTNERS
SCIENTISTS
STUDENTS
TEACHERS
TRAINERS
Uno de los momentos más emocionantes al realizar una observación de nubes es recibir tu correo electrónico personalizado de la NASA. El correo electrónico incluye datos sobre tu observación, hora y ubicación, y los compara con los datos obtenidos por satélites aproximadamente al mismo tiempo y en tu ubicación.
Comprensión de las tres partes de tu tabla de coincidencias con satélites: general, detallada e imágenes
Para cada sección, observa las comparaciones generales entre tu reporte y los datos resultantes. Recuerda, tu punto de vista del cielo (desde el suelo mirando hacia ...
Posted in:
Curriculum:
LANGUAGE CULTURE AND ARTS
SCIENCE AND MATH
STEM
GLOBE International STEM Network (GISN):
GLOBE INTERNATIONAL STEM NETWORK (GISN)
GLOBE Science Topics:
BACKYARD SCIENCE
CLIMATE
CLIMATE CHANGE
GENERAL SCIENCE
GLOBE PROTOCOLS
EARTH AS A SYSTEM
EARTH SYSTEM SCIENCE
Investigation Areas:
ATMOSPHERE
EARTH AS A SYSTEM
News Topics:
NEWS BRIEFS
El equipo de NASA GLOBE Nubes se complace en anunciar la adición de NOAA-20, un nuevo satélite, a las capacidades de comparación de satélites. Esto significa que cuando realizas tus observaciones de nubes, pueden coincidir con NOAA-20, pero ¿qué es NOAA-20?
Todo sobre NOAA-20
NOAA-20, anteriormente conocido como JPSS-1, es uno de los cinco satélites que integrarán el Sistema Conjunto de Satélites Polares, o JPSS por las siglas en inglés. Esta constelación de satélites orbitan uno tras otro a lo largo de la misma trayectoria. Los satélites JPSS giran alrededor de la Tierra de polo ...
Posted in:
Curriculum:
SCIENCE AND MATH
TECHNOLOGY
STEM
GLOBE International STEM Network (GISN):
GLOBE INTERNATIONAL STEM NETWORK (GISN)
GLOBE Science Topics:
BACKYARD SCIENCE
CLIMATE
GENERAL SCIENCE
EARTH AS A SYSTEM
EARTH SYSTEM SCIENCE
Investigation Areas:
ATMOSPHERE
EARTH AS A SYSTEM
Hello! My name is Margaret Gregory. I am a science writer for the USDA Forest Service. I found my way into the Forest Service through the Resource Assistant Program ; before that, I taught physical science and chemistry at a public high school for three years.
Even though I taught the physical sciences, my heart lies in the biological sciences—I minored in biology in my undergrad program. Photosynthesis forms the cornerstone of biology; if plants couldn’t create energy from sunlight, our world wouldn’t exist.
This lesson plan ...
Posted in:
Curriculum:
SCIENCE AND MATH
STEM
GLOBE Science Topics:
GENERAL SCIENCE
GLOBE PROTOCOLS
SCIENTIST SKILLS
Investigation Areas:
BIOSPHERE
Learning Activities:
LAND COVER/BIOLOGY
P4: A BEGINNING LOOK AT PHOTOSYNTHESIS
Primary Audience:
STUDENTS
TEACHERS
Teachers of Kindergarten to Grade 2 can use stories and observations of nature outside your door to help students understand how the systems of Earth (atmosphere, biosphere, hydrosphere, and pedosphere) are connected.
Start by reading the Elementary GLOBE story “ All About Earth: Our World on Stage ” to get an overview of some of the connections between the components of the Earth. The story follows a classroom of students as they prepare a play to learn how Earth’s processes are interconnected and how living creatures interact with those processes. [One 30- to 45-minute class ...
Posted in:
Curriculum:
SCIENCE AND MATH
GLOBE Science Topics:
BACKYARD SCIENCE
GENERAL SCIENCE
EARTH AS A SYSTEM
EARTH SYSTEM SCIENCE
SCIENTIST SKILLS
Investigation Areas:
EARTH AS A SYSTEM
BIOSPHERE
Learning Activities:
EARTH AS A SYSTEM
EARTH SYSTEM IN A BOTTLE
WE'RE ALL CONNECTED: EARTH SYSTEM INTERACTIONS
EARTH SYSTEM PLAY
Primary Audience:
STUDENTS
TEACHERS
Did you know that clouds can both warm and cool our planet? Keeping an eye on clouds helps NASA study our climate. You can notice some of these changes by just looking at the clouds.
Here are some examples you might have already noticed:
Do all clouds cast shadows? Low thick clouds tend to cast the most shadows. The shadows show you how the cloud is blocking the light from the sun from reaching the ground. This is similar to you placing your hand in front of your eyes when it is too sunny. Your hand is blocking the light from reaching your eyes. This is the same as the ...
Posted in:
Curriculum:
SCIENCE AND MATH
STEM
GLOBE Science Topics:
BACKYARD SCIENCE
CLIMATE
CLIMATE CHANGE
GENERAL SCIENCE
GLOBE PROTOCOLS
EARTH AS A SYSTEM
SCIENTIST SKILLS
Investigation Areas:
ATMOSPHERE
Primary Audience:
ALUMNI
COUNTRY COORDINATORS
PARTNERS
SCIENTISTS
STUDENTS
TEACHERS
TRAINERS
Stratus clouds are one of the three main types of clouds. Remember that there are many types of clouds that fall into three main categories: cumulus, stratus, and cirrus. Using hand-motions , we would stretch out our hands as far out as we could to mimic a stratus cloud. There are stratus-type clouds at all three basic altitude levels. These are: stratus clouds (low level), altostratus clouds (mid level), and cirrostratus clouds (high level). When stratus-type clouds are present, your skies will most likely be overcast or the cloud cover is 90% or more. Note, there is a ...
Posted in:
Curriculum:
SCIENCE AND MATH
STEM
GLOBE Science Topics:
GENERAL SCIENCE
GLOBE PROTOCOLS
Investigation Areas:
ATMOSPHERE
EARTH AS A SYSTEM
Primary Audience:
ALUMNI
COUNTRY COORDINATORS
PARTNERS
STUDENTS
TEACHERS
TRAINERS
Have you heard there is a new clouds project? It is called NASA GLOBE CLOUD GAZE. It is a merger of GLOBE Clouds and The Zooniverse online citizen science platform. A one-week pacing guide is now available!
Sky photographs are one of the most requested portions of a GLOBE Clouds observation. This is because there is so much you can do with them. Photographs give scientists the opportunity to be right there with you. Details within a photograph can be used to compare with satellite data, confirm dust or haze observations, and give insight to unique cloud types like ...
Posted in:
Curriculum:
SCIENCE AND MATH
STEM
GLOBE Science Topics:
BACKYARD SCIENCE
CLIMATE
CLIMATE CHANGE
DATA INCLUDED
GENERAL SCIENCE
GLOBE PROTOCOLS
EARTH SYSTEM SCIENCE
Investigation Areas:
ATMOSPHERE
Learning Activities:
ATMOSPHERE AND CLIMATE
News Topics:
NEWS BRIEFS
Primary Audience:
ALUMNI
COUNTRY COORDINATORS
PARTNERS
SCIENTISTS
STUDENTS
TEACHERS
TRAINERS
Did you know that NASA's Earth-observing satellites gather data that is being used by people all over the world to help respond to a variety of challenges? The 2022 GLOBE International Virtual Science Symposium is focusing on "Engineering Solutions for a Changing Climate". In this blog, I will share some information about the ways that Faisal Hossain, a Civil and Environmental Engineering Professor at the University of Washington, is using engineering and solving environmental issues through engineering solutions.
Faisal Hossain grew up in Bangladesh where he ...
Posted in:
Curriculum:
SCIENCE AND MATH
TECHNOLOGY
STEM
Field Campaigns:
SEASONS AND BIOMES
WATERSHEDS
SMAP
GPM
GLOBE Science Topics:
BACKYARD SCIENCE
CLIMATE
CLIMATE CHANGE
DATA INCLUDED
GENERAL SCIENCE
GLOBE PROTOCOLS
EARTH AS A SYSTEM
EARTH SYSTEM SCIENCE
SCIENTIST SKILLS
MEETINGS/CONFERENCES
GLOBE Working Groups:
EDUCATION WORKING GROUP
Investigation Areas:
ATMOSPHERE
HYDROSPHERE
EARTH AS A SYSTEM
PEDOSPHERE (SOIL)
BIOSPHERE
Learning Activities:
ATMOSPHERE AND CLIMATE
EARTH AS A SYSTEM
HYDROLOGY
LAND COVER/BIOLOGY
SOIL
News Topics:
COMPETITIONS
SCRC RESEARCH
VIRTUAL SCIENCE FAIR
Primary Audience:
ALUMNI
COUNTRY COORDINATORS
PARTNERS
SCIENTISTS
STUDENTS
TEACHERS
TRAINERS
Student Research Reports:
STANDARD RESEARCH REPORT
INTERNATIONAL VIRTUAL SCIENCE SYMPOSIUM REPORT
U.S. STUDENT RESEARCH SYMPOSIA (SRS)
MISSION EARTH REPORT
MISSION MOSQUITO REPORT
Teacher's Guide:
STANDARDS REQUIREMENTS
GRADE LEVELS
INVESTIGATION AREA DOCUMENTS
Many protocol-trained GLOBE members may have noticed a recent update to the GLOBE Program’s GLOBE Observer app. The change brings a new look and a new way to submit GLOBE atmospheric measurements. If you were used to entering meteorological conditions in the Cloud Tool, you’ll see this option is no longer there. Don’t worry, you can still submit these observations through the Atmosphere Data Entry section. You just need to do a few extra steps to get it all set up. The new update gives you the opportunity to save your favorite or go to observations as a bundle, a step you ...
Posted in:
GLOBE Science Topics:
CLIMATE
CLIMATE CHANGE
DATA INCLUDED
GENERAL SCIENCE
GLOBE PROTOCOLS
Investigation Areas:
ATMOSPHERE
EARTH AS A SYSTEM
Primary Audience:
ALUMNI
COUNTRY COORDINATORS
PARTNERS
TEACHERS
TRAINERS
Every time you take a cloud observation, the NASA GLOBE Clouds team matches your observation to satellite data. Why do we do this? Your view of clouds is from a different perspective than what is observed from a satellite. Satellites look down at clouds and see the top. When you make your observation, you are looking up towards the sky and seeing the bottom of the clouds. When there is a match, scientists then have a top-down view of clouds from a satellite and a bottom-up view from your spot. When you mix these two views together, you have a more complete picture of the sky. ...
Posted in:
Curriculum:
EDUCATION RESEARCH
SCIENCE AND MATH
STEM
GLOBE Science Topics:
BACKYARD SCIENCE
CLIMATE
CLIMATE CHANGE
DATA INCLUDED
GENERAL SCIENCE
GLOBE PROTOCOLS
EARTH AS A SYSTEM
EARTH SYSTEM SCIENCE
SCIENTIST SKILLS
Investigation Areas:
ATMOSPHERE
EARTH AS A SYSTEM
News Topics:
REGIONS
Primary Audience:
ALUMNI
COUNTRY COORDINATORS
PARTNERS
SCIENTISTS
STUDENTS
TEACHERS
TRAINERS
The NASA GLOBE Clouds team highlights cloud observers Hilde Fålun Strøm (Norway) and Sunniva Sorby (Canada), who created Hearts In The Ice to call attention to all the rapid changes occurring in the polar regions due to the changing climate. These citizen scientists made history last year by being the first women to overwinter solo in the high Arctic. They spent 12 consecutive months without running water or electricity at a remote trappers cabin called “Bamsebu” in Svalbard, Norway. While they were there, they made numerous GLOBE cloud observations as ...
Posted in:
Curriculum:
LANGUAGE CULTURE AND ARTS
STEM
GLOBE Science Topics:
BACKYARD SCIENCE
CLIMATE
CLIMATE CHANGE
DATA INCLUDED
GENERAL SCIENCE
EARTH AS A SYSTEM
EARTH SYSTEM SCIENCE
SCIENTIST SKILLS
GLOBE Working Groups:
SCIENCE WORKING GROUP
EDUCATION WORKING GROUP
Investigation Areas:
ATMOSPHERE
EARTH AS A SYSTEM
News Topics:
COMMUNITY LETTERS
NEWS BRIEFS
Primary Audience:
ALUMNI
COUNTRY COORDINATORS
PARTNERS
SCIENTISTS
STUDENTS
TEACHERS
TRAINERS
The NASA GLOBE Clouds team is continuously working with scientists around the world finding ways that cloud observations from citizen scientists impact the most. As we find new ways of using the data, we want to remind you how important each part of your cloud report is to the scientific community. All cloud observations can help with big questions such as the link between clouds and climate. Dr. Patrick Taylor is an atmospheric scientist at NASA Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia. In the Clouds and Earth’s Climate video , Patrick discusses how he studies clouds to ...
Posted in:
Curriculum:
ASSESSMENT AND EVALUATION
EDUCATION RESEARCH
SCIENCE AND MATH
STEM
GLOBE Science Topics:
BACKYARD SCIENCE
CLIMATE
CLIMATE CHANGE
GENERAL SCIENCE
GLOBE PROTOCOLS
EARTH AS A SYSTEM
EARTH SYSTEM SCIENCE
SCIENTIST SKILLS
GLOBE Working Groups:
SCIENCE WORKING GROUP
EDUCATION WORKING GROUP
Investigation Areas:
ATMOSPHERE
EARTH AS A SYSTEM
Learning Activities:
ATMOSPHERE AND CLIMATE
News Topics:
COMMUNITY LETTERS
NEWS BRIEFS
Primary Audience:
ALUMNI
COUNTRY COORDINATORS
PARTNERS
SCIENTISTS
STUDENTS
TEACHERS
TRAINERS
Student Research Reports:
STANDARD RESEARCH REPORT
Teacher's Guide:
INVESTIGATION AREA DOCUMENTS
Each cloud observation submitted using the GLOBE Observer app or through The GLOBE Program is compared to data from multiple satellites. A satellite match is when satellite data is identified that corresponds to a cloud observation. For orbiting satellites the observation must be within 15 minutes before or after a satellite’s overpass. Geostationary satellites, like the GOES satellites, are always observing the same location. If you are in the United States, you are likely to get a satellite match to a GOES satellite. These satellites are sending data every 15 minutes. As long ...
Posted in:
Curriculum:
SCIENCE AND MATH
STEM
GLOBE Science Topics:
BACKYARD SCIENCE
CLIMATE
GENERAL SCIENCE
GLOBE PROTOCOLS
EARTH AS A SYSTEM
EARTH SYSTEM SCIENCE
SCIENTIST SKILLS
Investigation Areas:
ATMOSPHERE
EARTH AS A SYSTEM
News Topics:
COMMUNITY LETTERS
NEWS BRIEFS
Primary Audience:
ALUMNI
COUNTRY COORDINATORS
PARTNERS
SCIENTISTS
STUDENTS
TEACHERS
TRAINERS
The NASA GLOBE Clouds team at NASA Langley Research Center is working with NASA scientist Dr. Bill Smith to use GLOBE Cloud observations made by people just like you to solve the Terminator Problem!
Wait, what? Well, the Solar Terminator or twilight zone is that line that separates the daylit side of a planet from the dark night side. The image on the left is an example. It was taken from the International Space Station as it crossed the terminator on April 17, 2019 as it orbits 254 miles above the Gulf of Guinea on Africa’s mid-western coast.
...
Posted in:
Curriculum:
EDUCATION RESEARCH
SCIENCE AND MATH
TECHNOLOGY
STEM
GLOBE Science Topics:
BACKYARD SCIENCE
CLIMATE
CLIMATE CHANGE
DATA INCLUDED
GENERAL SCIENCE
GLOBE PROTOCOLS
EARTH AS A SYSTEM
EARTH SYSTEM SCIENCE
SCIENTIST SKILLS
Investigation Areas:
ATMOSPHERE
EARTH AS A SYSTEM
Learning Activities:
ATMOSPHERE AND CLIMATE
EARTH AS A SYSTEM
News Topics:
COMMUNITY LETTERS
NEWS BRIEFS
Student Research Reports:
STANDARD RESEARCH REPORT
INTERNATIONAL VIRTUAL SCIENCE SYMPOSIUM REPORT
U.S. STUDENT RESEARCH SYMPOSIA (SRS)
In May 2020, citizen scientist Carmen Mandel met two major milestones: she marked her one-year anniversary of being a GLOBE Observer and she single-handedly expanded the Clouds satellite match data by 36%. Carmen uses GLOBE Observer to record clouds 2-3 times daily every time she gets a notification that a NASA satellite is overhead. She sends her data to GLOBE, but then she records her observation in her own clouds journal. When she receives an email from NASA Langley Research Center matching her observation to satellite data, she adds that to her journal as ...
Posted in:
GLOBE Science Topics:
BACKYARD SCIENCE
DATA INCLUDED
EARTH SYSTEM SCIENCE
GENERAL SCIENCE
Investigation Areas:
ATMOSPHERE
CLOUDS
Primary Audience:
ALUMNI
COUNTRY COORDINATORS
SCIENTISTS
STUDENTS
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