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AOT is Blowing With The Wind

Student(s):Bayleigh Jetton Rhonnie Jetton
Grade Level:Middle School (grades 6-8, ages 11-14)
GLOBE Educator(s):Roger Glenn Rose
Contributors:
Report Type(s):Standard Research Report
Protocols:Aerosols, Air Temperature, Clouds, Wind
Language(s):
Date Submitted:05/03/2019
Bayleigh & Rhonnie Collecting Data
What is the relationship between temperature and wind speed and the relationship between Aerosol Optical Thickness “AOT” of the atmosphere, during the day at morning, mid-day, and afternoon? It was predicted that the temperature would rise during the day, causing the winds to become stronger. It was also predicted that aerosols in the atmosphere would increase during the day, resulting in a thicker aerosol optical thickness (AOT) measurement letting less sunlight reach the Earth's surface. Following the GLOBE protocols, the researchers collected and recorded the temperature and wind speed for 15 days using a digital anemometer and thermometer for 15 days and they also used a digital sun photometer to measure the AOT on 10 days when clouds were not blocking the sun. Approximate data collection times: 9:30am, 12:00 noon, & 2:30pm. The researchers followed the GLOBE protocols for weather data collection. Once the data was collected, the information was uploaded into the GLOBE atmospheric data base. Morning averages: wind speed 3.46Km/H, temperature 13.78˚C, AOT reading 0.667, 62.66% of sunlight. Mid-Day averages: wind speed 4.49Km/H, temperature 15.01˚C, AOT reading 0.923, 50.86% of sunlight. Afternoon averages: wind speed 3.64Km/H, temperature 15.17˚C, AOT reading 0.586, and 63.97% of sunlight. The hypothesis for wind speed and temperature was partially supported by the data. As the day went on, the temperature and wind increased over the morning, however the afternoon winds averaged 0.85Km/H less than the Mid-Day average. The hypothesis for AOT readings was also only partially supported by the data.



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