NASA is inviting amateur citizen scientists worldwide to participate in measuring air temperatures and capturing images of clouds as the moon passes between the sun and Earth during April 8's eclipse. Their participation is set to contribute valuable data to researchers studying the sun's impact on various climates.
Students Will be Joining the Fun!
Among these citizen scientists are fifth- and sixth-grade students from Alpena Elementary in northwest Arkansas. Leading up to the eclipse, these students are diligently monitoring temperature readings and cloud cover at their school's weather station multiple times a day.
Their data will be uploaded to a phone app as part of NASA's Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment (GLOBE) program.
The GLOBE eclipse tool is just one component of the broader GLOBE project, where students and citizen scientists collect environmental data ranging from plants and soil to water and atmosphere conditions.
Participants in the eclipse project will require only a thermometer and a smartphone with the GLOBE Observer app to contribute their observations.
The GLOBE Eclipse Tool
NASA notes that this is not the first time the GLOBE eclipse tool has been utilized. During the 2017 North American eclipse, researchers analyzed the relationship between clouds and air temperature, finding that temperature changes were more pronounced in areas with less cloud cover.
Marilé Colón Robles, a meteorologist at NASA's Langley Research Center and the GLOBE project scientist overseeing the cloud study, emphasizes the critical role of amateur observers in such studies.
Ashlee Autore, a data scientist at NASA Langley, highlights the limitations of satellite observations and underscores the importance of ground-level observations provided by citizen scientists.
The upcoming eclipse presents an opportunity to study temperature variations across different climate regions, providing insights into regional climate dynamics.
Citizen scientists in various regions are expected to participate actively. John Olgin, a geophysicist at El Paso Community College, anticipates significant involvement from the El Paso community and neighboring Juarez, Mexico.
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Rare Astronomical Event
The eclipse offers a rare astronomical event that can inspire public interest in NASA's citizen science initiatives.
With millions of people living along the eclipse path, this event presents a unique opportunity for widespread public engagement.
Interested individuals can visit NASA's Citizen Science page to learn more about contributing to scientific research during eclipses and throughout the year. The GLOBE Program page offers resources for participants worldwide, facilitating data retrieval, analysis, and community engagement.
"This upcoming eclipse is passing through desert regions, mountainous regions, as well as more moist regions near the oceans," Colón Robles said.
She said that these areas "will help us dig deeper into questions about regional connections between cloud cover and ground-level temperatures."
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