Scientists and educators from NASA and UCAR have written a storybook entitled “What’s Up in the Atmosphere? Exploring Colors in the Sky” aimed at elementary school-aged (K-4) children, in which atmospheric aerosols play a starring role. The story follows a group of curious students who, under the guidance of their teacher, investigate the connection between the appearance of the sky and asthma symptoms in their fellow students on a given day. The students in the story (and the readers) learn about atmospheric aerosols in the process. The storybook includes a teachers’ guide with glossary.
Recommended Resource: UMBC Atmospheric Lidar Group U.S. Air Quality Smog Blog
We recently came across the ‘Smog Blog’ maintained by the Atmospheric Lidar Group of the University of Maryland – Baltimore County/NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Joint Center for Earth Systems Technology . They make frequent posts on current U.S. Air Quality, usually incorporating cool graphics from NASA or NOAA satellites, National Parks Service webcam images, or air quality model results. Check it out!
UMBC U.S. Air Quality: The Smog Blog
From the mailbag: “How far do pollutants from one place travel? Can we detect pollutants from far away places in our air here?”
Question: How far do pollutants from one place travel? Can we detect pollutants from far away places in our air here? – S.S., Seattle, WA
Answer: Some atmospheric gases and particles can travel over long distances, making air quality an international issue. Dust from dust storms in Africa and China regularly reaches the Western Hemisphere, and there is evidence that the long-range transport of pollution from Asia is raising the background levels of pollutants on the West Coast of the US. INTEX was a recent major collaborative NASA science campaign to study the intercontinental
transport of atmospheric pollutants.
Go to S’COOL with NASA #SkyScience!
Haga click aquí para ver esta publicada en Español
Next week (Oct. 12-14) is Earth Sciences Week. This is a great opportunity to get to know the educational programs offered by NASA. Our favorite is “S’COOL.” In this program, you learn about the different types of clouds, and you can make observations of the clouds in your area, record them, and report them back to NASA. By doing this, you can help NASA validate the performance of the CERES satellite. This satellite observes the same clouds you see from the ground, but from space!
Get to know the different types of clouds: Cloud Identification Chart (NASA)
Record your observations: Report Form
Report them to NASA: S’COOL Ground Observation Report
Vete pa’ S’COOL con NASA #SkyScience
La próxima semana (Oct. 12-14) es la Semana de las Ciencias de la Tierra. Es una gran oportunidad para conocer los programas educativos ofrecidos por la NASA. Nuestro programa favorito es “S’COOL.” En este programa, se aprende sobre los diferentes tipos de nubes, y se pueden hacer observaciones de las mismas en su área, registrarlas, y reportarlas a la NASA. De esta manera, se puede ayudar a la NASA a verificar la funcionalidad del satélite CERES. Este satélite observa las mismas nubes que se pueden ver desde el puto de vista terrestre, al igual que desde el espacio!
Conoce los tipos de nubes: Carta de Identificación de Nubes (NASA)
Registra tus observaciones: Forma de Reporte
Reportarlas a la NASA: Reporte de Observaciones Terrestres de S’COOL