The CloudSat Education Network: A Model for Worldwide Scientist/Student/Teacher/Community Partnerships
Abstract
CloudSat, a NASA Earth System Science Pathfinder Mission, will launch into orbit the world's most advanced weather radar designed to measure properties of clouds that are essential for accurate understanding of Earth's weather and climate processes. Providing the first vertical profiles of global measurements of cloud thickness, height, water and ice content and a wide range of precipitation data linked to cloud development, CloudSat measurements will fill a critical gap in understanding how clouds affect climate (http://cloudsat.atmos.colostate.edu/). Any mission of this nature requires extensive ground-based reference data. The CloudSat Education Network provides the opportunity for schools around the world to partner with the CloudSat Science and Education Teams. The Network will use proven science and education programs such as GLOBE (http://www.globe.gov) to link together scientists, students, teachers, and their communities to give students meaningful, authentic and contemporary high quality educational experiences. Student activities and learning outcomes designed within the program have been chosen to meet both general education outcomes and specific standards or objectives from local school curricula. The main focus of the knowledge development component of the project is to help students better understand long-term climate change and the climatic processes that maintain the Earth's Energy balance. Scientists will receive research-quality data in support of the mission and in return interact with students, teachers and their students to promote interest in science. Launch of the CloudSat satellite is anticipated for mid 2005. Participation in the network throughout the duration of the project will be monitored and schools will need to maintain levels of participation in order to maintain "Membership" in the network. The base level of participation is the reporting of environmental data identified in the project every 16 days coinciding with the CloudSat satellite overpass. The data requested will include cloud cover, cloud type, temperature, precipitation, relative humidity and barometric pressure. The CloudSat Education Network when fully complete will contain 100-150 schools from target sites around the world. Thailand and South East Asia, New Zealand and Australia, West Africa, Europe and Brazil have been identified as target sites for the Network and most already have participating schools.
- Publication:
-
AGU Spring Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- May 2005
- Bibcode:
- 2005AGUSMED12A..06K
- Keywords:
-
- 0800 EDUCATION;
- 0805 Elementary and secondary education;
- 0820 Curriculum and laboratory design;
- 0825 Teaching methods;
- 3309 Climatology (1620)