This week we welcome long-time friend of GLOBE, Dr. Peggy LeMone, Chief Scientist for the GLOBE Program from 2003-2009, as our guest blogger. Dr. LeMone is currently working in the field of weather and cloud formation at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR).

Originally posted at http://spark.ucar.edu/blog/measuring-rainfall on September 23, 2013.

Dr. Peggy LeMone is an NCAR Senior Scientist who studies weather and cloud formation. For more information about her research, visit Peggy’s home page.

A guest post by NCAR scientist Peggy LeMone

The Boulder, Colorado area received huge amounts of rain in mid-September.  You also learned that rainfall amounts vary a lot. Which brings us to the questions – How do you measure rain?  And how accurate are the measurements?  Even though I have done weather research for many years, during this storm I was reminded how hard it is to measure rain accurately.

This is the story of my attempts to measure rain during the storm. It’s also about the many possible sources of error when making rain measurements – from old rain gauges to growing trees and even, possibly, inquisitive raccoons.

By Monday morning (September 16), I had measured over 16 inches, or 405 millimeters (mm), in our backyard rain gauge from the storm which began September 10.  The gauge is the same type the National Weather Service uses. It has a funnel that deposits rain into an inner tube with a smaller diameter (like this one), but bigger. The inner tube’s diameter is just small enough to make the depth of rain ten times what it would be in a gauge without the tube and funnel.  Thus, each inch in the tube is equivalent to 0.1 inches (a tenth of an inch) of rainfall.  This is equivalent to how the GLOBE rain gauge measures rain: the inner tube acts like a 10x magnifying glass for the area of the rain gauge.  This makes it easier to read accurately!

My gauge is old. I inherited it from a weather-observing neighbor who moved away.  The funnel and inner tube doesn’t quite fit, so, I leave the gauge open and then pour the rain into the inner tube using the funnel.

On the morning of September 12th, the gauge was so full and heavy, with over seven inches (178 mm) of rain that I decided to stick a meter stick in the gauge to measure the rain amount, and save pouring into the inner tube for the end of the storm.  The gauge tilts slightly, so I took a measurement on the uptilt side and the downtilt side and calculated an average.   That evening I found that the bottom of the gauge sagged in the middle, leading to an even deeper measurement than the downtilt side.  With these flaws, the lack of the ten-to-one exaggeration of depth, and some measurements being taken in the dark with a flashlight, my data were only approximate. I recorded measurements to within the nearest quarter inch (see the graph below).

Were my measurements accurate? On Friday morning, September 13, I took measurement using a more accurate method to compare with my estimates.  After bailing out five full tubes of rain, I poured the remaining water through the funnel into the tube to a depth of 13.5 inches (343 mm), spilling a little bit during this process.  The result was 0.38 inches (9.5 mm) more than my rough estimate from the night before – a storm total of 14.52 inches (369 mm) up to this time. On the graph, this is marked as 1. (The lower shows the uncorrected values.)

But the rain hadn’t stopped.  I awoke on the morning of September 15^th and heard reports that up to 2 inches (51 mm) of rain fell overnight. I went outside to check our gauge – only to see that it had been knocked over (probably by raccoons).  Fortunately, I have a second rain gauge in my backyard – a plastic gauge that registered about 0.25 inches (6 mm). I added a conservative 0.2 inches (5 mm), since this gauge was under trees (marked as 2 on the graph).

The final number:  16.37 inches (416 mm) of rain, more or less.

The exposure of the rain gauge is undoubtedly the greatest source of error.  According to the National Weather Service and CoCoRAHS (both of which use citizen volunteers to measure rainfall), “exposure” of the rain gauge is important. Rain may be blocked by nearby obstacles causing the number to be lower than it should. Or, rain may be blown into or away from the gauge by wind gusts.  The recommendation is that the gauge be about twice the distance from the height of the nearest obstacles, but still sheltered from the wind.

The gauge was certainly sheltered from the wind.  It is located about 10 feet (~2 meters) south of the house, which is about 15 feet (5 meters) high, and to the west of a fence and small trees as well as the tree in the photograph.   There is a much smaller tree to the southwest.

All the obstacles suggest that some rain could have been blocked from reaching the gauge, which would imply that the rainfall total is too small.  On the other hand, some rain might have been running down the branch in the picture. (In fact, because of the large amount, I thought this might be the main effect before doing some research on exposure)

It is also recommended that the gauge be level, which it wasn’t.  I’m not too worried about this, since it was nearly vertical.

The conclusion?  There was a lot of rain.  It could have been an inch (25 mm) more or less than my measurement. Acknowledging this is called reporting error. It doesn’t mean that the measurements are wrong, it just gives an idea of how accurate they are. My total was not the largest; there were at least two other measurements near 18 inches (457 mm).

Now that I’ve described all that can go wrong measuring rainfall, let me add that, putting a rain gauge in the right place, and taking an accurate rainfall measurement is fairly easy. If you have a perfect cylinder, such as a GLOBE rain gauge, simply stick a ruler in and read the depth (make sure to correct for any offset of the “zero” line and correct for this offset; and see if the ruler pushes the water level up very much).

If you don’t have a rain gauge but have a bucket (or glass) with sides that aren’t straight up and down, you’ll need to do a little math to figure it out. Here’s what you’ll need to do:

1. Measure the diameter of the bucket at the level of the rain.  Subtract out twice the thickness of the walls.
2. Measure the diameter of the bucket at the bottom in the same way.
3. Calculate the average of the two diameters.
4. Divide by two to find the average radius.
5. Find the average volume of rain = Depth x radius x radius x 3.14.
6. Find the area at the top of the bucket (this is the area over which the rain is collected).
   1. Measure the diameter
   2. Divide the diameter by 2 to get the radius
   3. Area = radius x radius x 3.14 (remember that Area = pi x radius²)
7. Divide the rainfall volume by this area to get the rainfall.

It would be an interesting activity to put several buckets (or rain gauges) in different places in a field, your back yard, or your schoolyard to see how much the measurements vary within the area. Soup cans, though not perfect, would work pretty well for the activity, especially if they’re the same size.  I might try this during the next rainstorm.  (I hope not too soon!)

Does your school collect precipitation data? Have you had an extreme weather event that you were able to record? Let us know by adding a comment!

It is the change to these transitions, such as the average date of first frost, that are an important key to understanding a changing climate.  Even small changes can have a large effect on migrating birds.  The date of first or last frost can prompt birds to begin their flight patterns either too early or too late, which puts their survival at risk.  The Ruby-throated Hummingbird (Archilochus colubris), for example, may be prompted to migrate later due to temperatures remaining warm late into autumn.  However, as they migrate, they may encounter colder weather due to a transitioning Arctic weather system.  If they left their summering location at their normal time, they would avoid these extreme weather events.  You can see the normal migration pattern of the Ruby-throated Hummingbird in the map below.

Image from Journey North, depicting the migratory route of the Ruby-throated Hummingbird. Finish is their wintering location in Costa Rica

This idea is further supported in the following map, which was produced by the Audubon Society and NOAA which shows that migrating birds are spending their winters farther north due to warming temperatures.  The light blue dots symbolize the general location each species wintered in 1966-1967. The dark blue dots connected by the line represent where the species wintered in 2005-2006.

Map showing changes in wintering location for various bird species from 1966-67 to 2005-06. From Audubon Society and NOAA

In some cases, these birds are more than 650 km from their 1966-1967 wintering location.  In addition to putting the birds in the path of transitioning weather patterns, dramatic shifts like these can upset the delicate balance of local ecosystems; insects and plants that these birds naturally prey on may quickly become over-populated if the migrating birds are wintering elsewhere. An example of this can be seen in the Elementary GLOBE book, “The Mystery of the Missing Hummingbirds.”

As we venture further into autumn in the Northern Hemisphere and spring in the Southern Hemisphere, it is important to keep an eye to our GLOBE instruments to monitor the changes that are affecting not only birds, but plants and other creatures that rely on weather changes for their survival.

You, as a GLOBE student, are given a unique opportunity to collect and submit data that can be used to study the transition seasons.  Students in the Kingdom of Bahrain are already examining this change in order to understand how the birds are adapting to their changing climate.   Be sure to start performing basic protocols, such as air temperature, precipitation and soil temperature, and add in other phenological protocols, such as Ruby-throated Hummingbird observations, arctic bird migration and green up or green down, to monitor these important transition season events.  And be sure to let us know about your research as it develops. These activities also help students understand the Next Generation Science Standards of Crosscutting Concepts, such as “Cause and Effect” and “Systems and System Models,” found in the progression of Earth Systems Science.

When people think of life in the seas, it is often the majestic that comes to mind, such aswhales, sharks, rays and coral reefs, or our own sustenance in the form of the fish that feed billions of us around the world.  Rarely do we think of plankton, the tiny organisms found across the world’s oceans. Plankton are comprised of two general types: phytoplankton, which are microscopic plant-like cells, and zooplankton, the tiny animals that graze the phytoplankton (there are, however, some plankton that can reach nearly 2 m wide and weigh more than 200 kg, such as the Nemopilema nomurai, or the Nomura jellyfish)  Despite their size, these small life forms are enormously important for the planet in several ways.  First, they are the foundation of the marine food web as they provide 50% of the oxygen we breathe. Additionally, they play an integral role in the global carbon cycle, which you can learn more about through GLOBE’s global carbon cycle activities.

The word plankton is derived from the Greek word “planktos”, which means drifter, since plankton drift at the whim of the ocean’s currents.  While they have almost limitless distribution across the world’s oceans, their vertical extent is limited to the sunlit layer of the water, known as the photic zone. Here they use sunlight to photosynthesize, converting carbon dioxide (CO2) into organic compounds and producing half the oxygen we breathe. With this action, plankton are as important as the trees and plants in making our planet habitable.

Schematic showing the photic zone. Image from Pearson Education.

In addition, by converting CO2 into organic compounds, plankton play both short term (centuries) and long term (geological time frames) roles in the global carbon cycle. When they die and sink to the ocean floor, they may be part of a long term sequestering of carbon as part of the ocean floor or become part of a carbon pump cycle that moves carbon throughout the oceans and helps manage atmospheric CO2.  The oceans take in CO2 at greater levels in colder waters near the poles. Because that cold water is also denser, it sinks and transfers the carbon to the deep ocean where it can circulate. Eventually, this carbon-rich deep water returns to the surface at upwelling regions where plankton consume it as part of their biological processes and then return it back to the depths in death.

While there is still much to be learned about plankton, scientists are finding evidence that these organisms are under significant threat.  Two changes are of particular concern: rising ocean temperatures and changing pH. Since plankton live at the ocean’s surface, they are particularly susceptible to temperature changes in the water and scientists have begun recording alterations in the distribution, abundance, and seasonality of plankton in both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. In addition, increasing atmospheric concentrations of CO2 are affecting the ocean’s pH. As carbon dioxide (CO2) enters the sea surface, it dissolves in the water (H20) and forms a weak acid called carbonic acid. As atmospheric CO2 increases, more enters the sea and scientists are documenting increasing acidity in ocean water. Many zooplankton rely on calcium carbonates in the water to help build their structures and these minerals are less available in more acidic conditions.

A closeup view of plankton. Photo courtesy of Janis Steele

These changes occurring in the oceans will have profound consequences for the ecology of the whole planet.  Here aboard Llyr, we are participating in a citizen science campaign to monitor plankton.  We are using two simple tools to do these studies: a Secchi disk and a plankton net.

The Secchi disk is one of the earliest and simplest devices to study plankton in their environment. Because phytoplankton affect the turbidity, or clarity, of the water, an easy visual experiment can tell us a great deal. Invented in 1865 by Pietro Angelo Secchi, the latest version we’re using aboard Llyr is a weighted, white plastic disk attached to a length of rope marked in 50 cm intervals.  We lower the disk into the water and the depth at which is disappears is called the Secchi depth.  Not only are we recording the turbidity but also the depth to which phytoplankton can grow in the water column. Our data from these experiments in submitted to Plymouth Institute in England, where Dr. Richard Kirby has initiated a campaign to enlist seafarers in monitoring plankton around the world (See Ocean Drifters; A Secret World Beneath the Waves, R. Kirby, Firefly Books 2011).

Holding a secchi disk. Photo courtesy of Janis Steele

The second device we are using to study plankton is a plankton net. Charles Darwin used a plankton net during his famous voyage aboard the Beagle.   Our 200 micron net is sized for the collection of larger zooplankton. As we tow the net behind Llyr, zooplankton are strained from the water and washed in to the collector at the bottom of the net. We are then able to observe and photograph these creatures using Llyr’s microscope.  There are two types of zooplankton: the holozooplankton that spend their whole life cycle as plankton, and the merozooplankton, those creatures that spend just a part of their life cycle as plankton in larval stages, maturing to creatures that live on the sea bed, such as urchins, crabs, worms and mollusks.

A plankton net. Photo courtesy of Janis Steele.

Examining creatures collected from the net. Photo courtesy of Janis Steele.

Today, new and more sophisticated technologies are available to study plankton. It is even possible to observe them from space due to the fact that phytoplankton have photosynthetic and other pigments which color the water when they bloom!  Despite the importance of plankton and even though they live on the surface of the sea, there is still much more to learn about plankton, these tiny organisms that make life on Earth possible.

Suggested activity: While these studies are in the ocean, plankton are found in freshwater too.  In conjunction with GLOBE hydrology protocols, you can collect water samples to look under a microscope at the types and numbers of plankton. By continuing this experiment over many years, you can begin to learn of the relationship that Steele and McCutchen describe here.  If you’ve already examined plankton, we’d love to hear about it!  Leave a comment here or on our Facebook page, or send us an email to science@globe.gov.

In the Kingdom of Bahrain, over 290 species of birds have been observed, the majority being passing migrants.  Monitoring migratory birds isn’t always easy, as many migratory birds fly at a great height, making them hard to see. Some birds, such as cuckoos (family: Cuculidae) and orioles (family: Oriolidae), migrate during the night.  There are others which migrate during the day, such as hoop (family: Upupidae), swallows (family: Hirundinidae), pipits and wagtails (family: Motacillidae), and larks (family: Alaudidae).

In addition to these land birds, wader birds are also observed in the Kingdom of Bahrain.  Wader birds are birds that are characterized by their long legs and like to frequent shallow waters in search of food.  These types of birds are best seen during the low tide.  The Socotra Cormorant (Phalacrocorax nigrogularis), for example, is a wader bird that is commonly found during migratory season in the Kingdom of Bahrain.

Regardless of the species of migratory bird, the area near Muhrraq and south of the airport are considered great areas for migratory bird monitoring.  Additionally, the eastern coast of the Kingdom of Bahrain, such as along the Bay of Tubli and Arad, as well as coasts of Ghalalee and  Amwaj, are other areas that many of these migratory bird species can be found.

With the wealth of bird species observed in the Kingdom of Bahrain, The GLOBE Centre for Earth Sciences and Renewable Energy, in Collaboration with the University of Bahrain scientists, has been preparing a study on wading and migratory bird overflow in the country.  This project aims to expand students’ knowledge of scientific research and introduce them to the local bird species of their environment.  Furthermore, it is anticipated that through this project and through the use of GLOBE protocols and the collection of data, students will become more environmentally aware while at the same time learning the skills necessary to perform scientific research.  Students from 13 secondary schools and 8 intermediate schools will monitor bird migration throughout the Kingdom of Bahrain and learn to work together to achieve a common goal.

To reach the goal of the project, students will identify their local migratory birds and observe how they adapt to the local environment.  The students will then statistically analyze the specific types and numbers of birds, allowing them to hone their bird classification skills.  By analyzing bird observations in addition to other GLOBE protocols, students will be able to: identify the possible effects of climate change on the environment for the migratory birds; be able to identify endangered birds and suggest ways to protect them; and come away with an understanding of the human impact on birds and how to prevent further species loss.

Suggested activity:  Have you ever considered observing when certain migratory bird species arrive and depart your area?  Phenological projects such as this from the Kingdom of Bahrain can be repeated in your local area.  Investigate migratory patterns of species you are familiar with and begin making observations of not only the arrival and departure of the birds but also environmental conditions, such as air, soil or surface temperature, budding of trees and flowers, etc.  Collecting data can help you see if there might be a connection. The GLOBE Program offers students the opportunity to collect bird migration data through the following protocols, Arctic Bird Migration and Operation Ruby Throat: The Hummingbird Project, as well as the Phenology and Climate Intensive Observing Period. 

Early sailors traveling the world’s oceans were all too familiar with an area of the tropical seas characterized by lack of winds and violent thunderstorms.  They called this zone “the doldrums” and dreaded being “stuck in the doldrums.” In his Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner, English poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge offered the following description of the Pacific doldrums:

All in a hot and copper sky,
The bloody Sun, at noon,
Right up above the mast did stand,
No bigger than the Moon.

Day after day, day after day,
We stuck, no breath no motion;
As idle as a painted ship
Upon a painted ocean.

Today, we have a better understanding of this phenomenon and now know this area as the Intertropical Convergence Zone, or ITCZ.  It shapes atmospheric circulation patterns throughout the world and is considered to be the most prominent rainfall feature on the planet; critical in determining who gets fresh water and who doesn’t in the world’s equatorial regions.  The ITCZ is defined by the coming together, or convergence, of the northern and southern hemisphere trade winds and a decrease in the pressure gradient.  Specifically, in the north, trade winds move in a southwesterward direction originating from the northeast, with somewhat of the opposite effect in the southern hemisphere (where trade winds blow from the southeast to the northwest).

A) Idealized winds generated by pressure gradient and Coriolis Force. B) Actual wind patterns owing to land mass distribution.
From: Figure 7.7 in The Atmosphere, 8th edition, Lutgens and Tarbuck, 8th edition, 2001.

The intense tropical sun pours heat into the atmosphere forcing the air to rise through convection and results in precipitation.  Rain clouds up to 9,144 m (30,000 ft) thick can produce up to 4 m (or 13ft) of rain per year in some places.  The ITCZ is not a stationary phenomenon nor are its movements symmetrical above and below the equator.  Many factors, including seasons and land masses, influence its overall movement.

Southern shift of ITCZ in January.
From Figure 7.9 in The Atmosphere, 8th edition, Lutgens and Tarbuck, 8th edition, 2001.

Northern shift of ITCZ in July.
From Figure 7.9 in The Atmosphere, 8th edition, Lutgens and Tarbuck, 8th edition, 2001.

With this knowledge in mind, we first encountered some of the effects of the ITCZ last year, as we approached the Caribbean coast of Panama aboard our sailing research vessel (RV) Llyr in July 2012. The map above shows the ITCZ located very near to Panama, the narrow strip of land that connects North, Central and South America.   At a latitude of about 9°North, we met up with the storms of the ITCZ during the night.  We could see the arrival of a band of storms on our ship’s radar and plotted a course to avoid them.  The storms had other plans, and we spent the night in their midst, at times feeling like they were chasing us as we tried to take evasive action while they kept building right overhead. Lightning lit the sea around us in an eerie glow and we could see, through the rain, bolts striking not far from the ship.  The next morning, tired but safe, we sailed into the harbor in Bocas del Toro, Panama, having had our introduction to the ITCZ.

Image of the RV Llyr. From Berkshire Sweet Gold

We came to Panama as part of a multi-year research expedition aboard RV Llyr, studying coral reefs, sustainable fisheries and changes taking place in the ocean.  As farmers, we have studied weather for many years, understanding oceans and atmospheric circulation as integrated systems that help produce weather at our forest farm in New England. As social scientists and human ecologists, our interest lies in researching the myriad links between biological and cultural diversity as key elements in sustainable development.  In the coming weeks, we will transit the famous Panama Canal aboard our 53′ steel ketch, and once again pass through “the doldrums” as we make passage for the Marquesas in French Polynesia.  During the 30+ day passage, we’ll be participating in global plankton studies and weather surveys. During our passages through the Pacific Islands, specifically French Polynesia, the Cook Islands, Tonga, and finally Fiji, we’ll perform reef surveys on scuba and hopefully meet with local schools to share the findings and experiences of our expedition.  We are a family of five, with three boys on board, and additional crew members and scientists joining us on expedition.  We look forward to sharing our journey.

Suggested activity: Do you live in a region affected by the ITCZ?  We’d love to hear about your experience as these storms pass through.  Send us a story or an image you have captured about the ITCZ either through a comment here, our website, or our Facebook page.  Be sure to collect temperature and precipitation data to document how your location is affected by the ITCZ, and think about what influence these two atmospheric variables may have on other GLOBE protocols.

Asian Tiger Mosquito. From The Center for Invasive Species Research, University of California, Riverside

Beginning in Albania in 1979, this breed of mosquito was introduced into Europe through the transport of goods from its native region of Southeast Asia.  Since then, the population has increased dramatically and has spread to more than 15 countries along Europe’s southern edge.  Additionally, these regions have seen increasingly milder winters and warmer summers, which lend themselves to prime conditions for mosquito larvae to survive.

The Asian Tiger mosquito is known for transmitting various diseases, such as West Nile, yellow fever, dengue, St. Louis and Japanese encephalitis, and chikungyuna.  And while it is native to Southeast Asia, the species has become well adapted to life in a more temperature climate.  It has been found, in fact, that the eggs of the Asian Tiger mosquito living in temperature climates are more cold resistant than their counterparts in tropical climates.  In addition to Southeast Asia and Europe, there are Asian Tiger Mosquitos living in the Americas, the Caribbean, Africa and the Middle East.

Since 2005, the Asian Tiger Mosquito has been blamed for outbreaks of some of these vector-borne diseases in France, Italy and Croatia.  It is feared that as the climate in these regions continues to change, that the frequency of vector-borne diseases will increase.  To support this suspicion, the European Centre for Disease Control used widely-used computer models to simulate weather records for the years of 2030-2050.  They found similar trends of warming continuing, allowing the mosquito to spread to northern Europe.

Suggested Activity: Get involved in mosquito climate research now.  Start by getting involved in the Great Global Investigation of Climate and taking air temperature, soil temperature and precipitation measurements. You can then take these data and connect to the number of reported cases of one of the vector-borne diseases. And make sure to let us know about your research.  You can tell us about it through the GLOBE website or our Facebook Page.

-Jessica Mackaro

The Great Lakes are separated from the Mississippi River by six miles!  The Mississippi River (also known as the Great River) collects water from 31 states and 2 provinces on its 2350 mile course from Lake Itasca to the Gulf of Mexico. It was the inspiration for numerous explorations; famous explorers like LaSalle, DeSoto, Joliet, Radisson, Hennepin, Marquette, Nicollet, Zebulon Pike, and Schoolcraft labored to discover new lands in an undiscovered world.  Their expeditions took them throughout the Mississippi River Basin; the river reaching its source at a village along the banks of Lake Itasca.

A map of the location of Lake Itasca and the Mississippi River, as well as its watershed. From The University of Minnesota.

The Mississippi River is 3782 km (2350 miles) long and averages 1.6 km (1 mile) wide, making a surface area of 6086.5 square kilometers (2,350 square miles) while Lake Superior has a 2494.5 kilometer (1550 mile) shoreline and 82,102.6 square kilometers (31,700 square miles) of surface area.  Lake Superior’s shore is divided between three states and one Canadian Province while the Mississippi River has 10 states that share its shore.  But more impressive than the surface area of the two water bodies is comparing the two watersheds.  A watershed, also known as a catchment basin, is a large area where rain, rivers and other flowing water bodies, and runoff flow towards a single body of water (for example, an ocean).    For Lake Superior the watershed is only 127,686 square kilometers (49,300 square miles) – making an 82:128 ratio of water to watershed; a ratio of approximately 1.5 to 1.  The Mississippi River drains 3,108,000 square kilometers (1,200,000 square miles) – a ratio of 6.1:3,108 or 510 to 1.  The Mississippi River watershed includes 31 states and 2 Canadian Provinces.

Lake Itasca is the agreed upon source (some wanted to consider Elk Lake and its little outflow to Itasca to be the source, and others said Nicollet Lake and its small boggy stream is the real headwaters) due to the ruling of the Minnesota government.  It is an inspiring place with forests of large, old red and white pines and a picturesque beginning to the river that reflects our human influence – originally the river just ran out of the boggy landscape at the north end of the lake, but rocks were put in place and a channel designated to become the official start.  Millions have walked these rocks thinking that it is a natural spot and loving the idea of stepping in the water as it leaves for its rendezvous with the Gulf of Mexico.

A look at Lake Itasca. From gallivance.net

With this geographic landscape in mind we began to think of Minnesota as a distributary – a place which outsources its water to the Great Lakes and the Gulf, and in fact to Hudson Bay and the Arctic through the northern flow of the Red River on the Minnesota and North Dakota border.  We receive it in pure form and then it begins to move on, but what happens as it moves is the problem.  Lake Superior has its long axis on an East/West bearing so the people who share the waters also experience similar climate.

Unfortunately, rivers have been thought of as places to get rid of waste – all kinds of waste – because the water naturally takes the materials downstream.   Those who live upstream are more ignorant to the issue, but more people live downstream and have only a limited amount of resource to use as pesticides, herbicides, fertilizers, lawn and road runoff, petroleum products, invasive species, and concrete structures are added to its natural channel.  Living downstream is dangerous and the impact of thoughtless use of water is something we have to come to terms with.  The Mississippi flows from North to South and therefore crosses many biomes and climate lines and these in turn affect the cultures that share the river.  Another big difference is the fact that people do not all share the same waters.  Each new tributary stream adds to the river and that water moves downstream making each mile of the river different than what is upstream.

On our hike around Lake Superior we shared the message that there are two things that are most essential to life – clean air and clean water – and there is no room for compromise.  Both must be treated as the precious commodities they truly are.

So from Full Circle to Full Length, we decided to carry our message and hope to create a positive forum for people to think about their legacy, to care about future generations and to leave the two most precious commodities in the healthy state required for life.Through subsequent blogs, we will post the anthropological observations from our scouting trip, as well as  biology, engineering, hydrology, and phenology connections.

Suggested activity: Do you live along the Mississippi River or one of its tributaries?  You can use GLOBE hydrology protocols and collaborate with a school either down or upstream to compare the differences in your measurements.  You can find schools along the Mississippi and/or its tributaries on the GLOBE website.  Also explore the Watershed Dynamics ESSP as well as the “Model a Catchment Basin” learning activity to understand more about rivers and their watershed.   

Also, be sure to remember that World Water Day is March 22.  Let us know of your plans to celebrate this important day by sharing in a comment or on our Facebook page.

The Maldives are a great location for such an experiment because during the months of November through March, the country experiences its dry season with respect to the monsoon, and pollutant heavy air can be seen traveling from thousands of kilometers away from countries like India and Pakistan.  Furthermore, the island nation has a low elevation and is extremely sensitive to changes in sea level rise.

A map of the Maldives. From Worldatlas.com

Through the research, Ramanathan and his colleagues discovered that these pollutants are primarily composed of black carbon soot that comes from the burning of fossil fuels and biomass.  With the longevity of the research, they were able to understand that there is a strong heating effect of these pollutants.   But black carbon soot affects more than air temperature – it destroys millions of tons of crops annually and causes human health concerns.  The good news is that this type of emission is easy to reduce due to the face that its lifespan in the atmosphere is short.

Sources of black carbon emission. From AGU.org

If these types of pollutants are reduced quickly, the long-term negative effects of climate change can be reduced by nearly 50% in the next 20-30 years.  With Ramanathan’s research, The Climate and Clean Air Coalition (CCAC) was established.  The CCAC is focusing on the reduction of short lived pollutants by nearly one third to protect and improve human health and agriculture.

And while the relationship between black carbon soot and warming is better understood, and has recently been presented by the International Global Atmospheric Chemistry Project, the affect the black carbon has on clouds and the type that form is still unknown.  Further research is necessary to understand the feedback between black carbon affected clouds and climate change.

Suggested activity: If you’re a GLOBE school in an area that sees seasonal fluctuations in air quality, you can perform your own research study to see the affect that air pollution has on your local temperature, cloud type and cloud cover.  Start by taking air temperature, cloud clover, cloud type and aerosol measurements and enter them into the GLOBE database.  Then as your database grows, start to examine the relationships that exist between the variables.  Then, be sure to tell us about it.  You can share your future research plans with us through a comment, email or on our Facebook Page.  For more information on Ramanathan’s research, watch this video.

-Jessica Mackaro

Whenever I talk with teachers about studying phenology, their first question is always, “What is phenology?” To me, phenology is one of the most exciting observations we can make through GLOBE. The ability to observe, first hand, the life cycles of living things and how the processes change with seasons is an amazing connection to our environment. Sometimes it can be hard to visualize the potential impacts of climate change. This makes sense, because with climate we are talking about long time scales, so thinking about how our environment may be different in 30, 100 or even 1000 years from now can be difficult to understand. However, with plant phenology, you can start tracking real-life observations that may indicate how our environment is changing now.

The GLOBE Program provides some engaging protocols for phonological data collection. Scientists have been observing these changes in the environment for years using satellite images, measuring vegetation “greenness” using the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI). Students can observe this greening of Earth through the seasons using various web-based tools at several websites.

My NASA DATA allows students to access NDVI data and create their own color plots and time series graphs of NDVI

Satellite data can be used to monitor the health of plant life from space, and is visualized through this video (click the image to open a new window with the video) . The Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) provides a simple numerical indicator of the health of vegetation which can be used to monitoring changes in vegetation over time. This animation shows the seasonal changes in vegetation by fading between average monthly NDVI data from 2004. The loop begins on September 24 and repeats six times during one full rotation of the globe at a rate of one frame per day. The fade for each month is complete on the 15th of each month.

The GLOBE Program also provides learning activities to facilitate the understanding of the science behind this investigation. One such learning activity is Green-up Cards. Creating your own class set of Green-Up Cards is a great way to start tracking local plant phenology.  As a trainer, I have incorporated this learning activity into my workshops, but have always wanted to showcase local plant species.  Teachers see the usefulness of this activity because it uses sequencing and pattern skills and helps illustrate the importance of detailed observations.  Teachers often ask if there is a database of photos they can use to help train their students in determining the vegetative phases of plant development.  By having GLOBE students around the world make their own Green-Up Cards, we can create a library of plant photos showcasing green-up across the globe.

NASA Langley engineer David Beals has spent time looking at plant phenology and captured the following images.  These are great examples of what you can include in your Green-Up Card.

Similar cards can be created for Green-Down, exhibiting the colors of plant senescence.  Documenting your plant phenology observations through photos and sketches is a great way for students to track plants’ life cycle and it creates a resource for future student observers.  This can be a part of your Student Climate Research Campaign  activities. You can extend this activity further by comparing your plant observations to local temperature and precipitation measurements.

Suggested activity: Start gathering your equipment and define a site for documenting Green-Up if you’re in the Northern Hemisphere.  You can learn additional information about this activity on the GLOBE website.  Once you begin taking photographs or drawings, share them with us on Facebook.  You could also use this activity as an inspiration for your entry into the GLOBE Earth Day Video Competition, which is occurring right now.

An intricate network of soil microorganisms From: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CISRO).

The study, performed by scientists from the University of New Hampshire, the University of California-Davis and the Marine Biological Laboratory, examined how microorganisms in the soil respond to temperature changes.  By learning more about that process, scientists could then improve the prediction of how much carbon dioxide is released from the soil.

Microorganisms in the soil release carbon dioxide as a byproduct of how they utilize their food source.  There are two types of food sources: glucose, a simple food source that is release from plant roots, and phenol, a complex food source that comes from decomposing organic matter such as wood and leaves.  Under normal conditions, they release at least 10 times the amount of carbon dioxide that human activities do in a year through the breakdown of these two food sources.  For a perspective on what this amount means, take a look at the graph below, taken from a study from 2010.

Time series of global carbon emissions from fossil fuels. Image from EPA.

This dramatic amount of carbon dioxide is usually absorbed through the root uptake of trees.  But if the soil warms too much, then these microorganisms are not as efficient at breaking down their food, and thus release more carbon dioxide as they expend the energy.  They are then over-producing, and the trees and plants will not take up as much.  In the short term, it may lead to a positive feedback cycle – where more carbon dioxide is emitted contributing to the rising amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

However, this same research showed that these microorganisms may have the once again become efficient with their food breakdown after many years of warmer soil temperatures.  After approximately 18 years, the community once again became efficient in their ability to break down food.  This may be due to one of the following things: a change in the community of microorganisms (i.e. the type of microorganism changes), a change in the available nutrients,  and/or species adaptation.

While GLOBE doesn’t have protocols to look directly at microorganisms in the soil, it does have protocols to examine soil temperature.  This is just as important, because soil temperature directly affects many things, such as the timing of Budburst, Green Up and Green Down.  The timing of the phenological processes is important because it informs farmers when to plant crops.   For these reasons, it is very valuable to collect soil temperature data and monitor its changes through the seasons and years.

Suggested activity: Have you collecting soil temperature data?  Did you participate in December’s Surface Temperature Field Campaign?  Have you seen any changes?  We’d love to hear about your experience!  Leave a comment, share with us on our Facebook page, or send us an email.  And make sure you enter the data you’re collecting into the GLOBE database!

-Jessica Mackaro