Student Research Reports

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The purpose of this project was to determine if surface temperatures are affected by atmospheric conditions such as cloud cover, high winds, geographic location, precipitation, or contrails present in the sky. The tested hypothesis was: if atmospheric conditions are present, then surface temperatures will be affected. Cloud cover and high winds may decrease surface temperatures. Contrails and warmer air temperatures may increase surface temperatures. The expected response was that cloud shadows would affect surface temperatures, then temperatures would decrease on cloudy days and increase on sunny days. Data was collected daily and recorded in the logbook for later analysis. An IRT, a noncontact infrared thermometer (Fluke 63 model), was used to measure the surface temperatures of each specific area over the period of one month. The surface temperatures measured included: street surface, sidewalk surface, grassy place, standing vehicle, and outside house wall. The same surfaces were used each time to ensure that the data was not skewed. Air temperatures were captured using an IRT. Data was collected daily at the same time over the period of one month and recorded at the time of collection. Atmospheric conditions were monitored and uploaded to GLOBE for scientific review. The results were analyzed and found to support the hypothesis: that atmospheric conditions do indeed affect surface temperatures.