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Dorian Janney, GLOBE Scientist Mentor Blog for El Nino Field Campaign   I have had the pleasure of working with two groups of elementary school students this year as their GLOBE mentor. They attend Cedar Grove Elementary School in Clarksburg, MD. My primary goal was to install an instrument box with a rain gauge and a multi-day thermometer at their school, and to help them collect and report data to GLOBE.  Here they are collecting data:   As we observed the weather patterns, they began to ask what the difference was between weather and climate. I gave...

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...

Penguins have the right of way at land and sea!  The first thing I noticed when we landed at Peterman Island (off the west coast of the Antarctic Peninsula) was long sled tracks down the hillside.      As I walked to take a closer look, I had to wait for a fearless gentoo penguin to cross the path in front of me, since penguins have the right of way!         Winter childhood memories of sledding with my brothers in Ohio, USA flooded my heart when I then saw several penguins tobogganing, sliding down...

In the midst of a very up and down El Niño season, have you ever wondered: are all El Niños the same? For the answer to that question, we need to compare data imagery from two separate El Niño events. And what better way to do that then with global observations from space. One place to find what we’re looking for is the Center for Climate Sciences, El Niño page. http://climatesciences.jpl.nasa.gov/enso Here scientists compare multiple datasets from the largest El Niño on record, 1997-1998, with the current 2015-2016 El Niño season. Some of the datasets show what are called...

What do students in Lima Peru and Ida Michigan have in common? The answer is quite simple, the dramatic effects of this year’s El Niño. Thanks in part to The GLOBE Program’s worldwide reach in connecting schools with one another; mentorship from Dr. Kevin Czajkowski from the University of Toledo and the inquisitive nature of students from Ida Middle School. Students from Mrs. Lanna Harmon’s 6 th grade class of Ida Middle School in Ida Michigan reached out to work with students from ESD Coordinator Mrs. Milagros Gallegos’s 7 th grade ESD Club from Colegio Altair School in Lima, Peru....