Our dynamic planet is an intricate patchwork of forests, fields, cities … However, mapping Earth's diverse landscapes is an immense challenge for scientists. Satellite imaging has its limitations, while traditional field surveys are time-consuming and sparse. Now, help is coming from an unexpected source: crowds of everyday citizen scientists. Read a summary of a new scientific paper exploring the power of crowdsourcing for land cover data.  >>

Thank you to everyone who participated in data collection during the annular solar eclipse on 14 October 2023! Our team is working on a more detailed analysis of the data (stay tuned for more on that later), but we wanted to share a few preliminary stats and highlight some images from volunteer scientists and GLOBE Observer team members.  >>

When you submit data to GLOBE through the GLOBE Observer app, it goes to a public database where your observations are available for anyone worldwide to do research. Those researchers include students such as Christopher Sun, Jay Nimbalkar, and Ravnoor Bedi.  >>

Most people who live in North, Central, or South America will experience an annular or “ring of fire” eclipse on 14 October 2023! On this day, the Moon will move between the Earth and Sun, blocking all but a glowing ring of light for several minutes. What happens in the atmosphere when the Moon blocks the Sun’s light, even briefly? GLOBE invites everyone to help answer that question by recording changes in temperature and sky conditions on 14 October, even if you are only experiencing a partial eclipse. The updated GLOBE Eclipse tool is available in practice mode now in the app! (Visible to users in North, Central, and South America.)  >>

¡La mayoría de las personas que viven en América del Norte, Central o del Sur experimentarán un eclipse anular o “anillo de fuego” el 14 de octubre de 2023! En este día, la Luna se moverá entre la Tierra y el Sol, bloqueando todo excepto un anillo de luz brillante durante varios minutos. ¿Qué sucede en la atmósfera cuando la Luna bloquea la luz del Sol, aunque sea brevemente? GLOBE invita a todos a ayudar a responder esa pregunta registrando los cambios en la temperatura y las condiciones del cielo el 14 de octubre, incluso si solo estás experimentando un eclipse parcial. ¡La herramienta GLOBE Eclipse actualizada ya está disponible en modo práctica en la aplicación! (Visible para usuarios de Norteamérica, Centroamérica y Sudamérica).  >>

Solar eclipses can generate lots of excitement, but we often talk about “seeing” or “viewing” an eclipse as if it were a purely visual phenomenon. However, there are many ways to experience a solar eclipse. You may feel the air get chilly. You may also feel or hear the wind change. Plus, you can listen as animals around you respond to these changes. Eclipse Soundscapes provides a way for you to report your observations of animal behavior.  >>

Dr. Brant Dodson, a researcher at NASA's Langley Research Center, describes the effects on the atmosphere we can expect during an eclipse and the research he did using data collected by GLOBE volunteer scientists during the total solar eclipse on 21 August 2017.  >>

Over the last five years, observations of tree height have become a major observation within The GLOBE Program. This is primarily due to several things: The launch of the NASA Ice, Cloud, and land Elevation Satellite-2 or ICESat-2, the start of the Trees Around the GLOBE Student Research Campaign, the release of The GLOBE Program’s GLOBE Observer Trees tool, and the ability to compare ground-based tree height observations, from GLOBE, to space-based observations of Earth’s tree heights from the NASA Ice, Cloud and land Elevation Satellite-2 or ICESat-2. In this blog, we will explore these various programs and methods of measuring and making sense of tree height observations through historical information, observations, and data metrics over the last five years.  >>

Angelina Tsai has been a communications intern for GLOBE Observer for several years, but this summer branched out into computer coding to work on improving the My Observations page to make existing cloud satellite matches more easily accessible, as well as other user interface enhancements. Read on to learn about the improvements Angelina made.  >>

This summer, NASA Intern Sidd Jasti worked on creating code to compare observations collected via the GLOBE Observer Land Cover tool to various NASA satellite data products and imagery and compile it in a table to share with users. Read on to learn about Sidd's process and the resulting comparison table.  >>