MY NASA DATA Science Project Ideas

+ Visit NASA.gov
+ Visit the ASDC Home Page

Science Project: PicturePost Project Ideas	Image courtesy Penny Oots Left Oct 7, 2006 Right Oct 9, 2006
Web Id: P6
Purpose: To obtain consistent imagery for a location that can then be compared to MY NASA DATA parameters.
Age Range: 10-99
Time Required: A few minutes a day (longer if the site is remote) over a period of time.
Background: The use of a stable platform for repeat photography from a location is an idea that is being developed by, among others, the Measuring Vegetation Health Project. Their Introduction to PicturePosts provides a succinct description of the concept. Citizen scientists may wish to adopt this idea for use as part of a project comparing to MY NASA DATA parameters.
Significance: Digital cameras offer some new possibilities for scientific image analysis.
Project Links: Introduction to PicturePosts Live Access Server
Real Time Data Source: Current satellite imagery is available from a variety of sources for comparison to PicturePost photos.
MY NASA DATA Source: Some parameters that might be compared to PicturePost photos include: - aerosols and tropospheric ozone (compare to amount of haze in photo) - Clouds (coverage, type, and opacity) - Precipitation, including Snow and Ice on the ground - Leaf Area Index (comparing to observed vegetation types and vigor) - NDVI (comparing to observed vegetation state) Most of these parameters are monthly averages in MY NASA DATA, so a fairly long-term observation strategy would be required.
Project Ideas: Repeat photography can be used to monitor change over time in lots of things. Seasonal changes and human-caused changes are two easy possibilities. Related to MY NASA DATA, images might be used to help on monitoring haze (see Aerosols or Ozone), Clouds, Precipitation including Snow and Ice, and Vegetation.
Analysis Ideas: Aerosols scatter sunlight in preferential directions depending on the particle shape. You might be able to use PicturePost photos of the sky in different directions to say something about the aerosol amount and type. To do this, you would need to make note of where the Sun was at the time the photos were taken. Sky pointed photos can be used for a variety of cloud-related projects including recording the presence and characteristics of contrails at that location.
Related Projects: Measuring Vegetation Health
Questions: 1. Look at several (at least 7) days of PicturePost photos of the horizon at sunrise, sunset, or both. Is there any difference in the amount of haze present at sunrise versus sunset? Describe any differences and similarities in the photos. 2. Do you notice changes as time elapsed over several days? Describe any changes you noticed. Extension: Refer to satellite imagery or MY NASA DATA. Were there any aerosol events which might explain any changes? 3. One of the contributing factors in vegetation health is precipitation. Using at least three months of PicturePost photos of the same location, preferably one with vegetation, compare the appearance of the vegetation with the amount of precipitation for that location. Extension: Place a rain gauge or ruler so that it is included in the photos. Record the amount of precipitation as the photos are taken.
Going Further: Image analysis tools might be used to add more rigor and quantification to the analysis of PicturePost photos. Tools such as Image J and others might be useful for this purpose.
Project ideas contributed by Lin Chambers

+ Freedom of Information Act + The President's Management Agenda + Privacy Policy and Important Notices		NASA Official: Lin H. Chambers Last Updated: May 16, 2008 + Contact Us + Interested in our Monthly E-note?