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 well as...
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 look at our...
September/October/November 2020
Cloud Challenge Resources Available
Thanks to our cloud community, the 2020 Community Cloud Challenge was a great success showing how Science is Better Together! We received some great photos and artwork from participants, some of which were highlighted in the thank you video.
If you missed the challenge or want to keep working on it, visit the GLOBE Clouds Family Guide page for the resources. You will find videos about the Science of Clouds and the Family Cloud Challenge page with a Choice Chart for activities...
The NASA GLOBE Clouds team never imagined this time last year that we'd be holding our GLOBE 2020 Community Cloud Challenge in the midst of a global pandemic. But GLOBE is about community and showing how science is better together!
In the four weeks of the challenge, we had the opportunity to learn how eight different NASA scientists study clouds to better understand our atmosphere and the important role citizen science observations play in that. You also had the chance to learn about cloud-related activities from six different amazing GLOBE educators.
And considering the...
Audiencia: ¡Todos! (Estudiantes y maestros de todos los grados, educadores informales y el público en general)
Fechas: 15 de julio de 2020 - 15 de agosto de 2020
Cómo Participar: Disfruta del verano descubriendo las nubes desde una nueva perspectiva. Hay muchas formas de participar. Cada jueves puedes aprender más sobre las nubes con científicos y educadores de la NASA por medio de la página NASA Earth’s Facebook page. También puedes hacer actividades en casa o hacer observaciones de las nubes o el cielo a través de la herramienta Nubes en GLOBE o la aplicación GLOBE Observer app. ¡Todo...
Audience: Everyone! (Students and teachers all grade levels, informal educators, and the general public)
Dates: July 15, 2020 - August 15, 2020
How to Participate: Spend summer together by discovering clouds from a new perspective. There are many ways to participate. Learn more about clouds with NASA scientists and educators each Thursday on NASA Earth’s Facebook page, do at-home activities, or take cloud or sky observations through the Clouds tool on GLOBE or the GLOBE Observer app. It is all up to you! Show how you took part in this unique event by sharing on social media.
Choose...
Writing this blog does not mark a complete severance of my link with GLOBE Nigeria and GLOBE Africa as a whole, a country, and a continent, I espoused and loved right from my primary school about 25 years ago. As observed by many Nigerians, I am qualified to be described as a passionate GLOBE Man.
These successes can be traced back to the travel grant that I received in 2013 from the National Science Foundation through The University of Toledo, Ohio to attend the 18th GLOBE Annual Partners Meeting in Maryland. Since then, GLOBE has impacted my life tremendously and improved my...
The EPA is celebrating Air Quality Week (May 4-8) and the GLOBE Clouds team would like to ask everyone again for your photographs of dust events! We got a chance to chat with Anne Semrau, a biology teacher at New Mexico State University, who sent in some amazing photographs of a dust event.
Question: Where are you from? Where do you live now?
Answer: I am mostly from Texas (different parts: Dallas, Houston, Austin, rural northeast Texas) but I have lived in several other places (Navajo Nation, California, Montana, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Missouri, Washington DC).
...
The NASA GLOBE Clouds team has put together a family guide filled with activities and resources great to do as a family from your home.
El equipo NASA GLOBE nubes ha preparado una guía para familias llena de actividades y recursos tremendas para realizar haceren family en tu hogar.
Guide in English (Link). Guía en español (Enlace).
La Sra. Tina Rogerson es la programadora científica y analista para el equipo NASA GLOBE nubes en el Centro de Investigaciones Langley de la NASA en Hampton, Virginia con la compañía SSAI. Tina analiza tus observaciones de nubes y del cielo y escribe código de computadoras para realizar la correspondencia con data de satélites. Ella también está encargada de manejar todos los mensajes electrónicos de la NASA y se asegura que te lleguen por cada observación de nubes.
Pregunta: ¿De dónde eres?
Respuesta: Yo soy de Poquoson, Virginia un pueblo pequeño en la costa este de los...
March/April/May 2020
What is NASA GLOBE Clouds? Cloud observations through The GLOBE Program are led by the NASA GLOBE Clouds Team at NASA Langley Research Center in Hampton, VA. Every sky and cloud observation submitted through GLOBE Clouds, including through the GLOBE Observer app, is analyzed by the team to determine if it matches satellite data. If there is a match, a personalized NASA email is sent to you comparing your observations with satellites. Your observations and photographs help researchers better understand our atmosphere and how to make satellite data...
Hello GLOBE community,
The NASA GLOBE Clouds team is offering virtually connections or personalized videos (previously recorded) for your students. It can be in a variety of topics including:
Career Connections (Path to NASA)
The Impact of Your Observations
Clouds and Cloud Types
Earth's Atmosphere and Climate
Clouds and Atmospheres on Earth and Other Planets
Cloud Types in Masterpieces/Landscape Paintings
Any topic of Your Choice
If you are interested, comment below or contact NASA GLOBE Clouds Project Scientist Marilé Colón Robles.
We are asking for photographs of dust storms and dust events in cold climates (or high latitude areas), southwest United States and Northern Mexico, and desert (or arid and semi arid) areas. Follow these steps on how to take photographs of the horizon, not the sky in the direction of the dust event. Different flyers are now available to print or share that you can use to spread the word!
Special observations of airplanes and contrails are being collected by a select few as part of a pilot project the GLOBE Clouds team has been working on for a year. The project asks students to use an app that tracks aircrafts, then note if the airplane is or is not creating a contrail. The airplane tracker app suggested notes the height of the airplanes, giving the opportunity to note the altitude of the contrails if present.
The GLOBE Clouds team was able to present a first look at the data collected by students at Alpena Elementary/Middle School (Mr. Roger Rose teacher), Treadway...
The GLOBE Fall Cloud Observation Challenge brought in more than 45,000 observations from citizen scientists in more than 17,000 locations in 93 countries on every continent — including Antarctica. This influx of cloud observations is super helpful to NASA scientists who work with geostationary satellites and the suite of satellite instruments known as the Clouds and the Earth's Energy Radiant System (CERES). By comparing geostationary and CERES observations from a particular area to data submitted by citizen scientists, scientists can differentiate between wispy cirrus clouds and cold,...
A new article is now available on the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) Science Scope journal geared for middle school teachers on ways to integrate using the GLOBE Observer app in the classroom and take cloud observations. The article titled "Making Science Come Alive with Clouds" features GLOBE superstar educators Mr. Jeffrey Bouwman (Shumate Middle School in Gibraltar, Michigan, USA) and Dr. Caryn Smith-Long (Montverde Academy, Montverde, Florida, USA) as they share their classroom technology expertise and how they use the app with their students.
...
Story published on https://spaceweather.com/ on 10/29/2019. A sharable version of this story is available here. You can also look at Realtime Sprite Photo Gallery.
Image Credit - Chris Holmes.
This is the picture that captured everyone's attention! It is a photograph of a gigantic jet as observed by pilot Chris Holmes as he traveled at 35,000 ft over the Gulf of Mexico near the Yucatan Peninsula. He noticed the big thunderstorm (or cumulonimbus cloud) producing lots of lightning with sprites and jets.
Gigantic jets, sometimes...
Purple Skies observed Dallas, TX on October 27, 2019.
Purple skies during sunsets and sunrises (blog explaining science) have been observed by our GLOBE participants! Thank you to all those sending in their observations and participating of the Fall Clouds Challenge!
Educator Angie Rizzi, part of the Science Education team at NASA Langley Research Center in Hampton, VA, created this lesson for teachers who want to use this event to talk about aerosols and sky color. The activity incorporates the Elementary GLOBE Sky Observers activity with photographs of the observed...
Picture by Jan Curtin @ Vail, AZ (https://spaceweathergallery.com/indiv_upload.php?upload_id=156718)
Raikoke Volcanic Eruption
Have you noticed purple sunrises or sunsets where you live? Submit your photographs to GLOBE or GLOBE Observer, especially as we get ready to start the Fall Cloud Challenge: What's Up in Your Sky (Oct 15 - Nov 15, 2019)!
People around the world have been noticing purple skies at dawn and at dusk, calling it the Raikoke Sunsets (see photographs submitted). The purple color is because of sulfurous gas that was launched into...
NASA está solicitando tu ayuda para determinar “¿Qué ves en tu cielo?” El equipo NASA GLOBE nube quiere estudiar diferencias en nubes y aerosoles. La data colectada durante este reto del otoño en el hemisferio norte o primavera en el hemisferio sur será comparada con los resultados obtenidos durante el reto de primavera del 2018.
Puedes ayudar sometiendo observaciones de nubes, polvo atmosférico, calina, o humo (límite 10 por día) a GLOBE usando cualquiera de las opciones de entrada de datos, incluyendo la aplicación móvil GLOBE Observer.
Los participantes GLOBE y GLOBE...
Tú puedes reportar el cielo como 100% cubierto u obscurecido usando el protocolo de nubes en GLOBE y en la aplicación GLOBE Observer. ¿Cuál es la diferencia? Este blog tiene consejos para ayudarte. Todas las fotografías en este blog fueron colectadas por observadores como tú. ¡Gracias!
Al principio encontré la diferencia entre cubierto y obscurecido algo confuso, pero cuando entendí el significado de ambas, pude mejorar mis observaciones. Empecemos con definir ambos términos:
Cubierto – Noventa por ciento o más del cielo está cubierto por nubes. En esta situación vez bien poco o...
Audience: Everyone! (Students and teachers all grade levels, informal educators, and the general public)
Dates: October 15, 2019 - November 15, 2019
Observations: Clouds and aerosols (dust storms, haze, smoke). Limit 10 per day.
NASA is requesting your help to determine “What’s up in your Sky”. The GLOBE Clouds team wants to study differences in clouds and aerosols. The data collected during this fall challenge will be compared to results from the 2018 Spring Clouds Challenge. Help by submitting clouds, dust, haze or smoke observations (limit of 10 per day) to GLOBE using any of...
In the GLOBE Clouds protocol and GLOBE Observer app, you can report if your sky is “overcast” or “obscured”. But what’s the difference? Below are some tips to help! All the photographs featured were collected by observers just like you - Thank you!
I found “obscured” and “overcast” very confusing at first, but when I understood what they meant, things made much more sense. Let’s start by defining them:
Overcast – The sky is completely covered by clouds (cloud cover greater than 90%). This means that you will see little or no blue sky. When it’s overcast, you are looking at stratus...
NASA GLOBE Clouds team with summer intern (from left to right: Tina Rogerson, Kevin Ivey, Marilé Colón Robles.
The NASA GLOBE Clouds team has been delighted to have recent high school graduate Kevin Ivey this summer as our intern through NASA's Internships and Fellowships program [link]. Read about his experience this summer as he tackled big data!
I’m Kevin Ivey and I’ve been interning with NASA GLOBE Clouds at NASA Langley Research Center this summer. I graduated high school in June and I’ll be a first-year at the University of Virginia this fall where I plan to...
¿Vives en un área que tiene tormentas de polvo atmosférico? Nos gustaría que fotografíes el evento y envíes tus fotos usando el app GLOBE Observer. ¿Ya has estado enviando datos sobre tormentas de polvo atmosférico? ¡MUCHAS GRACIAS! Ahora queremos que todos sepan que pueden enviar datos sobre estas tormentas con GLOBE Observer usando los siguientes pasos.
Conoce a los científicos
Daniel Tong es un pronosticador de polvo atmosférico con el Programa Nacional de Capacidades de Pronóstico de Calidad del Aire de la NOAA y el Equipo de Ciencias Aplicadas de Salud y...
#19 August 2019
Prepared by Helen Amos, helen.m.amos@nasa.gov
How to Download Dust Observations Reported through GLOBE
Dust event on 10 July 2019. Photo credit: GLOBE
Citizen scientists from around the world have been reporting dust events using the NASA GLOBE Observer app. You can learn about how to get involved here.
This blog offers step-by-step instructions on how to download GLOBE dust observations. There are two options. Option 1 is to download...
Do you live in an area that has dust storms? The Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment Program (GLOBE) team would like you to photograph dust events in your area and submit your photos using the GLOBE Observer app.
Join NASA GLOBE Clouds Project Scientist, Marilé Colón Robles, to learn more about how to collect your observations and educational resources you can use with formal and informal audiences. Your observations will be used by scientists to verify satellite observations and see if their models have successfully predicted these dust storms...
Do you live in an area that has dust storms? We would like for you to photograph the dust event and submit your photos using the GLOBE Observer app. Have you already been reporting dust storms? We noticed and what to say THANK YOU! Now we want to get the word out that anyone can report dust storms with the app following the steps below.
Watch the recorded webinar on how to submit your observations using the NASA GLOBE Observer app and learn about educational resources you can use in your classroom or in an informal setting [link]!
Interested in the data?...
The NASA GLOBE Clouds team is looking for members of the GLOBE International STEM Network (GISN) or any researcher that would be interested in publishing research (as lead or co-author) using the GLOBE Clouds data.
We are looking for researchers that are interested in:
Cryosphere that would be willing to use cloud observations over the Arctic/Antarctica.
Satellite validation studies with collocated observations, particularly those collected during GLOBE Clouds Data Challenge (March 15-April 15, 2018).
Natural hazards to explore possibilities of using the...
I just updated HoloGLOBE to v1.0.2. For those of you new to this app, HoloGLOBE brings NASA and NOAA visualizations of the Earth to the palm of your hand through augmented reality (AR). You can read more about the app here: http://www.palmyracove.org/InstituteforEarthObservations/HoloGLOBE.aspx
In this latest release, I have added play/pause functionality to the MyNASAData module. The MyNASAData is essentially an augmented reality version of GLOBE's Earth System Poster. In addition the new ICESat-2 module has been added. The ICESat-2 module was built by Emme Wiederhold, a student at...
This week we are very excited to highlight the work of Ms. Jillian Anderson and her high school students at the Lexington School for the Deaf, in Queens, NY.
Ever since they joined the U.S. GLOBE Air Quality Student Research Campaign, they have been going outside to make observations of the atmosphere every day! The students have been submitting both Clouds and Aerosol Optical Thickness observations and we want to thank them for their valuable contribution to science.
We encourage them to keep up their great work and we invite other schools to continue submitting...
Posted in:
Curriculum:
STEM
GLOBE Science Topics:
Scientist Skills
GLOBE Protocols
GLOBE Working Groups:
Science Working Group
Investigation Areas:
Atmosphere » Aerosols
Primary Audience:
Teachers
Students
Partners
Scientists
Eight-grade students from Our Lady of Mount Carmel School have been very active during our GLOBE 2017-18 U.S. Air Quality Student Research Campaign. In fact, they recently submitted their team projects to the GLOBE 2018 International Virtual Science Symposium. All students have done remarkable work and one of the most important skills they have developed is collaboration. Among these students, one of them stood out for becoming a Calitoo expert user and for helping not only the members of her own team, but also the members of all other teams, with her accurate AOT measurements.
This...
Today we will get a closer at look at the values displayed on our Calitoo screen.
When you first turn on your Calitoo, you will get a screen like the following: note the serial number of your instrument will be displayed.
After the initial screen, your instrument will display basic information as shown on the following picture (Source: http://www.calitoo.fr/uploads/documents/en/usermanual_2016_en.pdf)
TIP: The temperature displayed by your Calitoo is actually the temperature inside the instrument.
When you...
Today we start a series of posts devoted to providing information, tips, tricks and answers to frequently asked questions by Calitoo users!
So, how do you measure Aerosol Optical Thickness (AOT) with a Calitoo?
First and foremost: NEVER look directly at the sun!
And…ONLY take measurements when the sun is not obstructed by clouds.
TIP: Use your hand(s) to cover the sun; if you see any clouds on either side of your hand(s), do NOT take any measurements. Wait until the sun is not obstructed by clouds.
Now, the Calitoo sun photometer measures AOT values at 465 nm, 540 nm and 619 nm. ...
A fourth grade student from Public School 122 (Queens, NY), recently visited NASA Langley for a week. During his visit, he studied the GLOBE Aerosol Protocol. He went outside the Atmospheric Sciences building and collected aerosol data using a Calitoo sun photometer, which measures Aerosol Optical Thickness (AOT) at three wavelengths: 465nm (blue), 540nm (green) and 619nm (red).
After downloading the data measured with the Calitoo to his laptop, the student learned how to access AERONET data. The AERONET (AErosol RObotic NETwork) project is a federation of ground-based remote sensing...
This past week was a very exciting one for the Science Education Team at NASA Langley Research Center! Four members visited one of the schools participating in the GLOBE Air Quality Student Research Campaign: Our Lady of Mount Carmel School, in Newport News, VA., where twenty middle school students, led by their science teacher Ms. Angie Rizzi, presented their team research projects and posters about aerosols.
After students started taking aerosol measurements and once they had selected their research project questions, Dr. Pippin, -lead scientist for the GLOBE Air Quality Student Research...
The 2017-18 GLOBE U.S. Air Quality Student Research Campaign is well underway in the United States! There are 34 school participating with more joining as the weeks go by:
Broadalbin Perth High School (Alicia Dobyns)
Cassadaga Middle School (Sandi Askin)
Crestwood High School (Diana Johns) *
Elizabeth City Middle School (Wanda Hathaway)
Fredonia Middle School (Amy Lauer)
Hamburg High School (Kaci Nowadly)
Kipp Intrepid Prep School (Robert Bujosa)
Life Academy (Sarah Pipping) *
Main Street Intermediate School (Marcy Burns)
Met Sacramento High School (Christopher Chu)
Mountain View...
By Olawale Oluwafemi (Femi), (Nigerian Space Agency) and DeStaerke Danielle (CNES)
The primary objective of every research project is not only about what you discover but also how do you communicate your discoveries to the interested audience. Delivering either a poster or oral presentation at a scientific meeting is not an easy task, but my passionate friend Danielle and I will present tips that will assist GLOBE Students and Teachers to deliver good scientific presentations.
Plate 1: Femi delivering poster presentation during GLOBE Annual Meeting at Estes Park, Colorado.
...
Learning science involves learning important concepts, conducting experiments to see first-hand how researchers discovered and confirmed some elements of science concepts, and learning how to think scientifically. With this complete approach to learning science, students are well-prepared to deal with the natural world around them and to make wise decisions when confronted with various choices. The ability to think scientifically is a valuable skill in almost all aspects of life and doing science teaches scientific habits of mind.
Students can do science through research projects beginning...
Gathering data
Once you have determined what protocols to use for your project, you will need to develop a plan for gathering the data. It might consist of using automated data collection or making your own measurements. Also, it may include finding data taken by others, such as when you compare your observations with those of another GLOBE school.
Automated Data Collection
If you are using an automated data collection device or devices, verify that the data are being recorded properly before your official testing timeframe. You will want to monitor that the data are being collected and...
Authors: Claudia Caro and Olawale Oluwafemi (Femi)
Our participation in the International Virtual Science Symposium (IVSS) as judges has allowed us to learn more about the scientific experiences of students involved in the GLOBE Program. As members of the GLOBE Science Working Group with backgrounds in Geography and Biology, we would like to share our findings about the importance of the IVSS in the GLOBE community and give you some advice to empower your participation in this extraordinary yearly event.
Why an International Virtual Science Symposium?
Knowledge about the...
When you start writing your GLOBE report for IVSS, it might be difficult because you might not sure where to start. We tend to start writing the Methods section first because it is something you did it yourselves and it should be relatively easy and straight forward to write. Second, you should write the Results section, do graphs, tables and texts (think of a best way to present your cool data to the whole world). Third, you should start writing the Introduction stating your hypotheses and predictions. The next step would be the Discussion section. It is funny to say but as scientists, we...
Observations of daily precipitation have been a part of GLOBE from the beginning. At the start, GLOBE’s participation model was that schools would take measurement following all of the original 17 protocols. Atmosphere temperature, precipitation, cloud, and soil moisture measurements were to be collected daily at a site easily accessible to the school. A permanent installation of an instrument shelter containing a max/min thermometer mounted to a post along with a rain gauge was the expected norm with other measurements taken nearby. Daily temperature and precipitation measurements were to...
From the start, the measurement of daily maximum and minimum air temperature within one hour of local solar noon has been a key GLOBE protocol. The low cost approach was to use a U-tube thermometer housed in a wooden instrument shelter facing away from the equator. The U-shaped tube contained mercury with pins on either side of the mercury. As the air temperature warmed the pin on one side would move while the other pin stayed in place; when the air cooled, the pin on the other side would be pushed up. The pins were held in place by magnetized strips behind the thermometer tube so that they...
This time was my first visit to Trinidad and Tobago and to the LAC region. The visit was first of its kinds, knowing vividly that Africans and the People of Trinidad and Tobago have so many things in common in terms of Geography and Historical antecedent. The motivation for my visit to Trinidad and Tobago started during the 17th GLOBE Annual meeting at Maryland. Initially, it was just a brief discussion with Henry Saunders (Country Coordinator, GLOBE Trinidad and Tobago). However, after a year, I met Mr. Michael at GLOBE Expedition in New Delhi, India where we had in-depth discussions...
Why should we study mosquitos in our area?
By Mullica Jaroensutasinee, Krisanadej Jaroensutasinee, Walailak University
Rebecca Boger, Brooklyn College and Elena Sparrow, UAF
Before we try to answer this, we should ask ourselves about how much do we know about them? For example, how many mosquito species present in our area? Would they carry some diseases? Where are their main breeding sites? Would they prefer to bite kids than adults and elderly? What time of year? What time of day would they most active (biting us)?
Let us give you some example on mosquitos that are main vector for...
Posted in:
GLOBE Working Groups:
Science Working Group
Thai Coral Reef and Climate Change
Assoc. Prof. Krisanadej Jaroensutasinee, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Mullica Jaroensutasinee, Centre of Excellence for Ecoinformatics, Walailak University, Thailand
Everybody loves to spend their vacation snorkling or diving, seeing coral reef, reef fish and other marine creature. Would it be very sad when we go diving and see lots of dead corals? Of course, we would. What can we do to prevent this to happen? How can we and our students involve in some coral conservation? It is everyone responsibility to help improve our world to be a better place to live in.
...
Posted in:
GLOBE Working Groups:
Science Working Group
My first empirical contact with the soil started almost 10 years ago when I was writing my B.Sc Dissertation on Grain Size Characteristics of Overbank Deposit on the Floodplains of Opa Reservoir Basin SW Nigeria. While undergoing this research I took 200 core bulk soil sediments along the three selected floodplains coupled with laboratory testing of samples, after a year the research was published by International Journal of Environmental Hydrology. http://www.hydroweb.com/journal-hydrology-2007-paper-22.html
The SMAP training at LA during the 20th GLOBE Annual and Partners Meeting...
Posted in:
Field Campaigns:
SMAP
GLOBE Working Groups:
Science Working Group
The Surface Temperature Field Campaign has come to a close, but please feel free to keep taking surface temperature observations. I know that many of you and your students are still taking observations and you are planning your projects to present at science fairs as well as the GLOBE regional science fairs.
The Surface Temperature field campaign ran through the first day of winter. In the Northern Hemisphere, the official first day of winter is December 22 this year and in the Southern Hemisphere, it was the first day of summer . The start of the seasons are actually defined in different...
Posted in:
Field Campaigns:
Surface Temperature
GLOBE Working Groups:
Science Working Group
This second week of the surface temperature field campaign has seem probably the warmest temperatures that we have seen in any field campaign in the eastern United States. I was at Ida Middle School in Michigan yesterday and the kids were outside in short sleeve shirts. The student was a little cold but it wasn’t terrible. Some years there is 200 mm of snow on the ground.
We have had 26 schools, 8 countries and 9 US states enter 414 observations. Roswell-Kent Middle School is leading the pack with 83 observations. Main Street School in Ohio and Crestwood High School in Michigan are keeping...
Posted in:
Field Campaigns:
Surface Temperature
GLOBE Working Groups:
Science Working Group
