Stars and STEM Stories
GLOBE Oman: GLOBE Students Paint the Road Blue to Gather Data About Surface Temperatures
In December 2024, GLOBE Oman students participated in an
exciting activity of data collection to see if the color of the road
in front of their school would affect the temperature of and around
that road. With the support of their teacher, Mustafa Ahmed Mohamed
Abu Taleb, and approvals from Musandam Municipality, students Mohammed
T. and Mohammed S. painted the street in front of their school, Abu
Bakr Al Siddiq School for Basic Education, blue to help them research
surface temperatures using the GLOBE
Surface Temperature Protocol. Once the paint dried, students
measured the surface temperature in two places: the normal black areas
of asphalt and the areas painted blue. By analyzing the data, the
students found a noticeable difference in temperature of between 5°C
and 6°C, with blue painted surfaces being lower in temperature.
Students then researched and found the following potential
benefits of a decrease in road surface temperature:
Environmental benefits:
- Cooling effect: Blue, like white, reflects sunlight, which reduces the absorption of heat by the road surface. This reduction in temperature could effectively reduce temperatures in areas surrounding blue roads.
- Improving air quality: The lower temperature of the road surface cools the surrounding air, reducing the chemical reactions that lead to the formation of harmful air pollutants such as smoggy ozone. Painting roads blue could improve air quality and reduce the risk of respiratory diseases.
- Conserving water resources: By reducing the temperature of the road surface, the evaporation of water from neighboring soils could be reduced, which would help conserve water resources.
Health benefits:
- Reducing health risks from heat: Reduced road-surface temperature could reduce the risk of heat exhaustion and heat stroke, especially in hotter regions of Oman.
- Improving human health: Cleaner air resulting from reduced air pollution could improve overall health and reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease.
Economic benefits:
- Saving energy: The lower temperature of buildings adjacent to blue-painted roads could reduce the need to use air conditioning, which has a positive impact on electricity bills and reduces energy consumption.
- Increasing road life: Some types of blue coating contain substances that help protect the asphalt from damage and corrosion caused by thermal changes and could increase the life of the road and reduce maintenance costs.
Other benefits:
- Improving visibility: The blue color improves visibility, especially in bad weather conditions such as fog or rain, which could contribute to increased traffic safety and fewer accidents.
- Improving aesthetics: Blue-colored roads give a distinctive aesthetic appearance to cities and could contribute to improving the overall impressions of those cities.
Educator Taleb and his two students conducted personal
interviews with local community institutions to present students’
findings to them and to recommend they adopt and implement the
practice of painting roads blue for the potential benefits noted above.
GLOBE opened a window through which Omani students and educators look at the environment around them, and the program has provided them with tools through which they can measure, analyze, and share environmental indicators with others, as well as carry out scientific research that serves the environment and the local community. The GLOBE Oman program in Khasab city serves the local community and gives students opportunities to use GLOBE protocols to record and analyze data and communicate with local community institutions.
Learn more about GLOBE Oman.
Story and photos courtesy of Mustafa Ahmed Mohamed Abu Taleb, GLOBE Oman educator.