Photograph the emergence of seasonal wildflowers in large areas and note the predominant bloom color. A NASA scientist will use these photos to identify blooms in satellite data. By analyzing how the blooms look in the data, scientists can then identify blooms at other places and times. Your land cover observation will help scientists look back in time through the satellite record to identify the timing and extent of blooming events  and understand change.

Wildflower observations collected through the GLOBE Observer app will help scientists identify large-scale blooms in satellite data. This will help scientists to: 
   + Monitor blooming desert phenomenon in arid and semiarid ecoregions
   + Assess dry/rain patterns 
   + Forecast blooms and super blooms
   + Track pollinator dynamics
   + Map invasive species

24 March 2025 to 01 June 2025

1. Use the Land Cover tool to photograph large natural areas that are in bloom. If the bloom isn't in your north-east-south-west photos, select feature photo and upload a photo centered on the bloom area. 
2. Write the predominant flower color in the field notes.
3. Take a close-up photo(s) of the predominant flower(s) and submit it through the feature photos.

Example photos of Amsinckia menziesii blooms found in the Jack and Laura Dangermond Preserve in California during the Surface Biology and Geology High-Frequency Time Series (SHIFT) campaign in spring 2022. The left photo shows a useful wide-shot photo  showing the extent of the blooms. The right photo shows a close-up on the flowers. Additional useful information would be to add "yellow" in the field notes as the predominant color of the flowers.

For questions, contact Dr. Yoselin Angel, Assistant Research Scientist as NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center.