Science Collaborations - CIRA AO

ATTENTION: SOIL MOISTURE AND TEMPERATURE RESEARCH PROJECT NEEDS GLOBE DATA ACROSS THE CENTRAL UNITED STATES STARTING IN 1998.

Scientists working at the Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere (CIRA) would like to compare satellite estimates of surface soil moisture and soil heating rates with observations made by GLOBE schools. This is a great opportunity to get involved in the kind of authentic scientific investigations that make this program so exciting!

How to Participate:

Make regular observations of near-surface (5 and 10 cm) soil moisture and temperature following standard GLOBE protocols (1997 version) with two minor changes in frequency and timing. The star sampling pattern and the gravimetric technique are recommended. Transect sampled data and properly calibrated gypsum block data are also acceptable. Use the regular GLOBE II Data Entry pages to enter your data for this project.

Area of Interest

The study area is bounded by the lines 80 - 105 deg.W and 50 - 30 deg.N. This area encompasses most of the Mississippi and Missouri River Basin states. The Great Plains States of ND, SD, NE, KS, OK, IA, and MO are of particular interest. Soil moisture observations within 15 km of large (>4 km2) water bodies cannot be used by these investigators.

Timing and Frequency

We are basically asking you to make a few more observations than stated in the 1997 Teacher's Guide and on a schedule such that we will have the most data on the same day of the week, which will make it easier to compare the satellite and ground data.

Make BOTH soil moisture and temperature measurements EVERY Wednesday within one hour of 10:00 local time, beginning after spring (soil) thaw and continuing as long as possible, up until July 1, 1998. For example, this represents 16 observation dates between March 4 and June 17.
On the first mostly clear (<50% cloud cover) Wednesday of every month, make diurnal soil temperature observations during the school day (hourly during the morning, if possible), as described in the GLOBE Teacher's Guide.

Sites

Natural or undisturbed relatively open fields are the best place to make soil moisture and temperature observations but we realize most observation sites will be on school grounds to facilitate the frequent observation schedule.

Auxillary Observations (for this investigation)

Atmosphere (particularly precipitation), Soil Characterization (particularly soil particle size distribution and bulk density) observations and MUC classification of your site will be of great help in interpreting your data. A gypsum block calibration curve must be sent to the GLOBE Soil Moisture scientist (if this is the method used) for this data to be used (Please contact me at the address below if you have any questions).

Partial Contributions Welcome!

We welcome your participation in this validation experiment even if you cannot provide all the observations above or make observations as frequently as stated. Triplicate observations (except for diurnal temperature measurements) are prefered so your data consistency can be evaluated. However, we will still consider any of the data you submit.

Background Information & Feedback

Background information on the satellites and experimental plan will be located on the GLOBE soil moisture home page. Examples of the data and other interesting information related to this experiment will be posted regularly. We will hold two web chats this spring to facilitate communication between the scientists and students involved. Please send in your questions or comments about your participation.

Academic Benefits

We hope that this opportunity makes the whole GLOBE experience more meaningful for you and your students. Academic benefits include: working as part of of a team, collaboration, experiment planning, data collection, thinking about a larger problem based on local observations, data and satellite analysis, and much more.

Products

We hope to give GLOBE schools a good idea of how there observations compared with the satellite data by the Fall of 1998. If there are significant findings, these will become part of scientific talks and papers which may take several years to work there way through the peer-reviewed science process. Because of the large number of potential contributions from GLOBE schools, we anticipate acknowledging the GLOBE Program as a whole rather than schools and people individually in these publications.

Notification

Please contact me with any questions and to notify me of your interest and ability to participate (the sooner, the better):

      ----------------------- Cheers -----------------

   Jim Washburne GLOBE Soil Moisture Scientist/ jwash@hwr.arizona.edu
                    Department of Hydrology and Water Resources
                  Harshbarger Bldg. #11, Rm 238 OR P.O. Box 210011
                    University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721-0011
                      520 626-4107 (Off);  520 621-1422 (FAX)

UA/GLOBE Home; Last updated: 12/07/97; Comments? globe@hwr.arizona.edu