clcApril2011

April 2011 CLC Summary

We would like to thank all of the student participants for their time and contributions to the 17 April- 22 May 2011 Climate and Land Cover IOP. All of the photos and information submitted are valuable to our research in land cover validation and land use evaluation. This past IOP resulted in 73 new site photos being documented. Most of these photos were taken by students in the United States. We encourage all GLOBE schools in every region, especially those in the Southern Hemisphere, to participate in the July 2011 IOP to help us learn more about Earth's climate and land cover. 

In preparation for the July 2011 IOP, we would like to make a few recommendations for participants:

  1. Since it is extremely important to take site photos that are representative of the local area. (i.e., urban, cropland, needle-leaf forest, wetlands), we suggest that you get to know your local landscape before choosing a site and taking your photos. To evaluate a representative landscape for your area look at satellite imagery to get a bird's eye view. Try the "Getting to Know Your Satellite Imagery and GLOBE Study Site" Learning Activity in the GLOBE Teachers Guide to help you with this. This activity walks you through identifying land cover types from LandSat satellite imagery for a sample site in Massachusetts. Google Earth is another tool that shows satellite views around the world, and can be used to familiarize you with the landscape in your community.  (Click here to download Google Earth.) Using satellite imagery will allow you to see the big picture in your area and will help you to identify a survey point (or two) that will represent the local landscape appropriately, and that may also need validating.
     
  2. Also, it is very important that the study sites where you take your photos are recorded accurately. Please ensure that the geographic latitude and longitude coordinates are accurate to at least three decimal places. This will enable the scientists who use the data to feel confident in the exact location they are analyzing to verify land cover for that specific place.
Again, we would like to thank all of the past participants for their time and information. After the July 2011 IOP, we will provide a scientific update of the data processing and analysis being done with the photographs. We encourage all GLOBE schools to participate in the next Climate and Land Cover IOP scheduled from 1-31 July 2011. Thanks!
 
Sincerely,
 
NOAA's Climate and Land Cover Team