null

Observer News

GLOBE Breadcrumb

NASA GLOBE Observer’s Weekly Roundup: 11-17 February 2018

02/17/2018

A view of international flags lining a hallway. Four young men walk down the hallway with their backs turned to us.

The Olympics, ICE-POP and more in this week’s edition of the roundup.  

1. IMAGE OF THE WEEK: If you watched the opening ceremonies the other night from PyeongChang, Korea, and if you are like me, then you were undoubtedly delighted with all of the wonder and beauty displayed by the projections and the performers. And the sports events we will be able to witness will no doubt make history.

Now, winter sports need ice and snow.  Without these, well, it just would not be possible.  If you have been following us on social media then you will have noticed that NASA scientists can always use your cloud observations to help them distinguish between snow, ice and clouds from space. 

Here is a challenge for you, if you are present in South Korea for the Winter Olympics we would love to see your cloud observations. If you don’t have the app, you can download it in the link below.

2. WEATHER: Did you know that NASA and other international agencies will also be watching the skies from the ground in order to take a look at the snow?  NASA's ICE-POP (which stands for International Collaborative Experiments for Pyeongchang 2018 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games) will help to provide better data for snowstorm predictions.

And apparently it is going to be a cold Olympics.

“Meteorologists are predicting bitterly cold temperatures for these 23rd Winter Olympics -- a stark contrast from the slushy and unseasonably warm games in Vancouver (2010) and Sochi (2014). In fact, the 2018 Olympics could be the coldest in the history of the games, as frigid westerlies tend to blow in from Siberia.”

Weather conditions can make a big impact on Olympic events.  Weather monitoring is so important to keep our athletes safe and performing at their top levels. Learn more about weather at the Olympics with NASA's ICE-POP.

3. UNIFORM: Speaking of athletes and NASA.  The US snowboarding teams' uniforms were inspired by the outfits worn by NASA astronauts. Take a look in the first link below.

4. INTERNATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES: Would you like to be a part of an international and scientific experience? If you are a student then you should consider joining the GLOBE Program.  If you are already a member then you should definitely consider entering this year’s International Virtual Science Symposium (IVSS). Deadline to enter the IVSS is March 1, 2018. And if you would like to present your research to students just like you, or to scientists active in the field then you should apply to be a part of this year’s GLOBE Learning Expedition (GLE). 

You could even focus your report on this last year’s solar eclipse and the data submitted to NASA GLOBE Observer.  If you do, then you will have the opportunity to earn a special virtual badge only for eclipse projects.

5. WEEKLY VIDEO: Here are our favorite cloud observation submissions from the past week from all around the world. 

BE OUR VALENTINE: I just wanted to send a shout out to you all and wish you all a very Happy Valentine's Day! Thank you for all of your observations and for being citizen scientists. 

Return to News Listing

Comments

News Sidebar

A graphic showing silhouettes of two people taking observations with their phones. They are standing between water with mosquito larvae in it, grass, trees, and clouds, which represent the tools within the GLOBE Observer app.

View more GLOBE Observer news here.