NASA is asking people to look at the sky and photograph clouds starting next week to help scientific research. The agency hopes people will go outside and record their observations when the PACE satellite passes overhead.
The PACE satellite, whose name is derived from “Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem,” was launched into orbit in February 2024 to help scientists better understand the oceans, the atmosphere, and Earth’s climate change. Now NASA needs citizen ground observations to complement the satellite data so that the correspondence between the satellite’s top-down view of clouds and what is seen from the surface can be determined.
Dr. Andrew Sayer, the atmospheric science lead for the Ocean Color instrument on this satellite, explained that the goal is to accurately determine whether each pixel of a satellite image is cloudy or clear and, if cloudy, to identify the cloud’s properties. According to him, assessing the accuracy of these methods is particularly difficult at cloud edges and in areas with broken clouds, and that is why ground observer observations can help evaluate this accuracy.
These citizen data can help with weather forecasting, tracking air pollution, and better understanding air quality and cloud composition.
To participate, people should install the free GLOBE Observer app, available for iOS and Android, create an account, and set an alert for the time the satellite will pass overhead (it orbits the Earth every 98 minutes).
Participants should go outdoors during the five-minute satellite pass window, take six photos in different directions, and record sky conditions, color, visibility, and cloud types. Indicating the type of camera device can also be useful because it shows what portion of the sky each photo covers. Depending on the satellite pass timing, it is possible to submit data up to twice a day.
NASA will send a thank-you email and a certificate of appreciation to participants who record and submit their observations at the optimal time. Those who cannot take part next week need not worry, as the program runs from 15 September to 15 October (24 Shahrivar to 23 Mehr).
The article concludes by explaining that the Ocean Color instrument (OCI), one of PACE’s main instruments, is an advanced optical spectrometer that measures light properties in parts of the electromagnetic spectrum and collects key data about the color of the oceans.