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GLOBE Certifications

I am trainined and certified in Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment (GLOBE), a NASA-supported program to collect and share environmental data across over 120 countries. GLOBE is a science and education program that connects a network of students, teachers, volunteers (citizen scientists), and scientists from around the world to better understand, sustain and improve Earth’s environment at local, regional and global scales. GLOBE examines all the parts of the Earth system:

• Atmosphere- Air

• Hydrosphere- Water

• Biosphere- Life

• Pedosphere- Soil

In this Climate Change Research, we learn about Pedosphere - Soil. GLOBE participants can collect data about soil temperature and humidity, as well as information about soil structure and color, volume and particle density, particle size distribution, pH and fertility. Saturated water content is also measured according to a methodology. In addition to soil conditions, GLOBE participants collect data on phenology, land cover, hydrology, and atmospheric variables. These data are relevant to all other GLOBE inquiry areas.

My GLOBE protocol training certifications include:

1. Landcover classification:

   • Land cover is organized into different categories or classifications. Some of these classification categories might be obvious like "Sandy" or "Cropland" while others might be unfamiliar - like "Closely Spaced, Evergreen, Needle Leaved Trees (a forest of pine trees).

   • Many satellites orbit the Earth, providing data that contribute to our understanding of land cover. These satellites carry sensors that measure light reflected from Earth. Scientists can use this information to map land cover.

2. Soil Moisture and Temperature:

   • Soil acts like a sponge spread across the land surface. It absorbs rain and snowmelt, slows run-off and helps to control flooding. The absorbed water is held on soil particle surfaces and in pore spaces between particles. There are 3 sampling strategies to measure soil moisture based on research goals: Transect Pattern Sampling, the Star Pattern, and Depth Profile Pattern Sampling.

   • Soil Temperature is a physical property that regulates chemical and biological processes taking place within the soil. Soil temperature has a significant effect on the budding and growth rates of plants as well as leaf fall and decomposition. Soil temperature can be measured within 10 m of the atmosphere shelter or near the soil moisture site if we are taking either of those measurements.