Blog - Margaret Pippin

Lectures, lessons, and learning opportunities of all kinds are available online these days… luckily, air quality investigations can be, too! Publically available sources of air quality data, which can be accessed any time and anywhere, can be used in conjunction with or in lieu of the GLOBE Aerosols Protocol for students and teachers participating in the US Air Quality Student Research...

Lectures, lessons, and learning opportunities of all kinds are available online these days… luckily, air quality investigations can be, too! Publically available sources of air quality data, which can be accessed any time and anywhere, can be used in conjunction with or in lieu of the GLOBE Aerosols Protocol for students and teachers participating in the US Air Quality Student Research...

Data Data Everywhere! #1: How to get the 'T' out! You may have noticed that the time format when you retrieve data from the GLOBE web site recently changed. The new format is YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS.   We would like to show a quick and easy way to go back to the time format MM/DD/YYYY HH:MM:SS. 1) Select the column that has the time format you want to change. 2) Copy the column to...

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...

We would like to share with you some tips on how to keep your Calitoo instrument up and running: Keep your instrument indoors until the time of measurement. The instrument detector is sensitive to temperature and performs best near room temperature (~70F or ~21C). Don’t let your instrument overheat. Also don’t make measurements in extreme cold unless instrument is insulated from cold. ...

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,...

   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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...