WELCOME TO

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WELCOME TO
Dr. Lin Chambers Director of SCOOL
Susan Moore Education Specialist
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SCOOL stands for
S tudents
C loud
O bservations
O n-
L ine
Project where students interact with
N A S A
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What are we doing in todays session?

• Overview of SCOOL
• Importance of cloud observations
• How to do an observation
• Practice an observation
• Time for exploration and questions

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Where is S'COOL in NASA?
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Who is submitting SCOOL observations?
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Trends in Student Observations

• Cyclic trend in observations
• Total number is lower during American schools
  traditional summer break.
• Opportunity
• Increased efforts to engage summer schools,
  year-round schools, and special summer camps and
  programs, such as Gifted and Talented or At Risk
  summer sessions.

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NASA has a science project also!
The name of this science experiment is
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The CERES Experiment

• Question
• What is the Effect of Clouds on the Earths
  Climate?

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So What
?
is so important about a few Clouds in the Sky?
?
Daily Global Cloud Cover
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Clouds are the largest variable in the climate
question.
Without clouds, things would really HEAT
UP !
What would happen if there were no clouds in the
atmosphere?
Let's find out Why!
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How do clouds transmit and/or reflect radiation?
__________ Do clouds cool down or heat up the
Earths climate?
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How do Clouds Affect the Climate?

Clouds Dominate the Energy Budget of the Earth
Thin, high-altitude cirrus clouds trap outgoing
infrared radiation
Dense clouds such as cumulus and
low-altitude stratus reflect sunlight back to
space
Warming effect
Cirrus Ice crystals
Cooling effect
Cumulus Ice crystals/Water
droplets
Stratus Water droplets
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How do we monitor the Earths Energy Budget?
The CERES instruments are remote sensors that
measure the solar reflected and Earth emitted
radiation.
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Remote Sensing

• Remote sensing has been defined as "a
  technique used
• to gather information about an object or an
  area without actually touching it" Our eyes,
  ears, and skin, as well as more sophisticated
• 
  instruments, all aid us in remote
• 
  sensing.

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Satellite View of Clouds
What the Students Observe
" GROUND TRUTH "
What else did the students report seeing?
Mountains with snow ice
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TERRA SATELLITE

• The Terra Satellite is known as a EOS-AM
  satellite because it makes an overpass at about
  1030 AM every day. Great for morning classes
  !

Aqua Satellite

• The Aqua Satellite is known as an EOS-PM
  satellite because it makes an overpass at about
  130 pm every day. Great for afternoon classes !

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Do Humans Affect Cloud Cover?

• What are Contrails?
• Contrails are CLOUDS that form in the wake of
  aircraft.
• Contrail is a shortened name for condensation
  trails.
• Also known as vapor trails, jet trails,
  chemtrails

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Why Do We Study Contrails?
When the upper atmosphere is moist enough, the
contrails continue to grow. Under
these conditions, the contrails become persistent.
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Persistent contrails occasionally cover large
areas. Like cirrus clouds, contrails likely
contribute to global warming.
We currently estimate that contrails add an
additional 0.5 to 5 percent warming to the
greenhouse gas effect.
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So what kind of long-term impact are we looking
at?
Air traffic and persistent contrail coverage will
continue to increase.
By 2050, the warming due to contrails may be
2.5 to 25 percent of the current greenhouse gas
warming.
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Contrail Education Web Site
http//asd-www.larc.nasa.gov/GLOBE
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What to Observe
CIRRUS
CUMULUS
Cloud Types and Levels
Cloud Cover
(Percentage)
Visual Opacity
(How much light penetrates the cloud)
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Do you have any CLOUD EXPERIENCE?
Well, I have looked at clouds in the sky since I
was a little kid. One time I saw a cloud that
looked like.
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Any other experience with clouds?
I cant think of any, Im in a FOG. Thats it!
Yes, Ive been in a CLOUD. Ive walked through
FOG (a cloud formed near the ground)
Lets get out of this fog and move into clearer
visibility.
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Necessary Ingredients
?
WATER (vapor)
CHANGE IN TEMPERATURE (cooler)
CONDENSATION NUCLEI (aerosols)
Hygroscopic nuclei consist of particles such as
sea salt which have an affinity (attraction) for
water. Water vapor condenses on these particles.
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Cloud Types
POSTER
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About 200 years ago, Luke Howard used Latin words
to name the cloud types.
Cumulus means pile and describes heaped, lumpy
clouds
Cirrus means hair and describes wispy looking
clouds. This term is also used to
describe high level clouds
Stratus means layer and describes clouds that
form in sheets and do not have
any unique features
Cumulus means pile and describes heaped, lumpy
clouds Cirrus means hair and describes wispy
looking clouds. This term is also
used to describe high level clouds Stratus
means layer and describes clouds that form in
sheets and do not have any unique
features
Nimbus means cloud and describes low grey rain
clouds
Alto describes mid level clouds
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Cumulus lumpy Cirrus wispy
Stratus - layered
Special Cloud Terms
Nimbus means cloud and describes low grey rain
clouds
Alto describes mid level clouds
Contrails short for condensation trails are
the only man-made cloud
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Cloud Cover
1 2 3 4 5
6 7 8 9 10
Imagine this picture represents a certain
number of clouds in the sky !
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
100
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Now Guess!
1 2 3 4 5
6 7 8 9 10
How Many ?
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Be ready with an answer in 5 seconds !
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What is your answer ?
Write your guess down on the back of the SCOOL
sticker provided and hold it up high.
Print Large !
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CLOUD COVER GUESSES
85 80 75 70 65 60 55 50 45 40 35
Where do we put the dependent variable?
GUESS
Let's practice some graphing skills !
A good Title !
?
Where do we put the independent variable?
(Y-axis)
PARTICIPANT (Xaxis)
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CLOUD COVER GUESSES
85 80 75 70 65 60 55 50 45 40 35
GUESS
Draw a best fit line graph
PARTICIPANT
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Results from Guess the Cloud

Total Guesses 726 Average Guess ?
66.4
Not So Fast !
Correct Answer ?
68
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Opaque
What is Visual Opacity?
Imagine that you are looking through a window.
Notice the dark grey patches on the cloudslack
of light.
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Translucent
Note the silhouette of the sunthere is some
light penetrating through the cloud cover.
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Transparent
Note the clear outline seen of the moon despite
the cloud cover.
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What TIME is it ?
LOCAL TIME
vs
UNIVERSAL TIME
How do we find out when the satellite is
passing over our school ?
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You can get a print out On-Line or you can
request one with advance notice and it will
be
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Overpass Schedule for 29.8 N 95.4 W
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LETS OBSERVE!
Lets make an observation on what we see on this
beautiful day!
What cloud types are present?
Whats the percentage of cloud cover?
How much light penetrates the clouds?
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Observation Report Form for use in
the field.
Once inside, students can log on to SCOOL
database to enter their observations.
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Can you think of a name for this cloud before I
keep going and going and going ?
Name this cloud !
Do you have any
Questions ?
"Energizer Bunny" Cloud