GLOBE Eclipse Data

Before major solar eclipses, GLOBE Observer adds a special limited time tool to the app to allow citizen scientists observers to submit air temperature data in addition to the usual data types available. For more information about the eclipse tool, please visit the Eclipse area of the Do GLOBE Observer section.

Current eclipse data sets available:

• 21 August 2017 (path of totality over North America; clouds and air temperature)
• 02 July 2019 (path of totality over South America; clouds and air temperature)
• 14 October 2023 (path of totality over North, Central and South America; clouds, air temperature, land cover and wind)
• 08 April 2024 (path of totality over North America; clouds, air temperature, land cover and wind)

Citation for Eclipse Air Temperature Data: GLOBE Eclipse Dataset v1, <date of eclipse>, The GLOBE Program, https://observer.globe.gov/get-data/eclipse-data

Citation for the Clouds Data with Satellite Matching : Rogerson, T.M., M. Colón Robles, J.E. Taylor, 2019, GLOBE Clouds Dataset v1, NASA Langley Research Center,  https://observer.globe.gov/get-data/clouds-data

Acknowledgements: The data obtained from NASA Langley Research Center (LaRC) and GLOBE are free of charge for use in research, publications and commercial applications. When data from NASA LaRC and GLOBE are used in a publication, we request this acknowledgment be included: "These data were obtained from NASA Langley Research Center and the GLOBE Program." Please include such statements, either where the use of the data or other resource is described, or within the Acknowledgements section of the publication.

Basic documentation information:

During solar eclipses, the ability to enter current air temperature data has been made available to users of the app who have not gone through GLOBE training, but are using the GLOBE Eclipse tool. For eclipses after the 2017 event, the appearance of the GLOBE Eclipse tool has been constrained geographically to roughly the area experiencing the eclipse (notes about region with each individual eclipse below.)

Air temperatures reported through the Eclipse tool (by trained or untrained users) can be distinguished by the field labeled “airtempsComments” in the API and “air temps:comments” in ADAT. Data points with comments in the format {"temp":"36.2","units":"C"} were entered via the Eclipse tool. The unit value will be C or F depending on whether the app user reported measurements in Celsius or Fahrenheit although temperatures are converted as needed and stored in Celsius only in the “airtempsCurrentTemp” or “air temps:current temp (deg C)” fields for the API/ADAT respectively. Other values in this comments field may indicate automated weather stations, such as (Phase 4 Email Data Entry), Earth Networks, or Weatherbug. Trained GLOBE users entering data via other means (online web forms or the Data Entry app, which was incorporated into GLOBE Observer for the atmosphere protocols in July 2021) also have the opportunity to enter custom comments associated with the data, including observations about current conditions.

The Eclipse tool was opened to users during these five eclipse events:

Total Solar Eclipse 21 August 2017 (North America):

• Limited testing with a few data points in the database beginning 15 August, full availability for data submission 18 August through 22 August
• No geographic limitation on visibility of Eclipse tool

Total Solar Eclipse 02 July 2019 (South America):

• Data submission available on 01 July and 02 July
• Eclipse tool visibility: -65 to 20 latitude, -100 to -35 longitude

Total Solar Eclipse 14 December 2020 (South America):

• Data submission available from 07 December to 15 December
• Eclipse tool visibility: -70 to 3 latitude, -100 to -25 longitude

Annular Solar Eclipse 14 October 2023 (North, Central and South America):

• Data submission available only on 14 October
• Eclipse tool visibility: polygon represented in this GeoJSON file for 2023

Total Solar Eclipse 08 April 2024 (North and Central America):

• Data submission planned to be available from 01 April 2024 to 08 April 2024
• Eclipse tool visibility: polygon represented in this GeoJSON file for 2024

Documentation links:

GLOBE Data User Guide

Related data sets:

Clouds Data (with satellite matching)