News - University of Arkansas
2020 GLOBE Cloud Challenge Builds Citizen Science Community
Who on Earth would've imagined this time last year that we'd be holding our GLOBE 2020 Community Cloud Challenge in the midst of a global pandemic? Certainly not us, but here we are, wrapping up our third challenge since 2018.
The challenge was conducted a little differently this year, of course, with safety as the guiding principle. Rather than putting the focus entirely on making cloud observations, which may not have been possible for everyone, the scope was broadened to encompass learning, creating and engaging. These elements are every bit as important to citizen science as making observations. Science is better together, after all.
In the four weeks of the challenge, the GLOBE citizen science community had the opportunity to learn how eight different NASA scientists study clouds to better understand our atmosphere and the important role citizen science observations play in that. Our citizen scientists also had the chance to learn about cloud-related activities from six different GLOBE educators (to view, check out our 2020 Community Cloud Challenge YouTube video playlist).
And considering the circumstances, the number of cloud observations received was something to be excited about – more than 26,000 observations from more than 80 countries around the world. (That's about half the number received during last year's fall challenge.) To put it in better perspective: That's almost double the amount of observations received in July and August of 2019. These data points will still be incredibly useful as we measure how clouds vary globally across seasons.
GLOBE also wanted to commend challenge participants for all the great photos and artwork we received, some of which are highlighted in the following “thank you” video:
The following is a breakdown of the observations received:
- Total number of cloud observations: 26,564
- Total number of satellite matches: 27,269
- Total photos received: 66,249
The GLOBE Program would like to thank everyone who participated in the challenge!
For more information on the challenge, click here.
For a link to the challenge badge, click here.
For a link to the challenge certificate, click here.
For a link to the shareable (square), click here.
For a link to the shareable (rectangle), click here.
type: globe-news
News origin: GLOBE Implementation Office