Act.1.3 Doing Environmental Measurements

In the GLOBE program students conduct daily local environmental measurements.  The measurements are useful to the scientific community who use the measurements in research. Students can do research too, using their own measurements and measurements from the many other schools who participate in GLOBE.

Your teacher will post a schedule showing which days  you are responsible for doing the GLOBE measurements at your school.  Measurements need to be done daily, between 11:00am and 1:00pm, every day of the year, if possible! You and the other students in your class can share the responsibility and try your best to measure on as many days as possible. You will use a data sheet like this to record your measurements.

GLOBE  scientists have developed an exact procedure, called a protocol,  for doing each environmental measurement. The GLOBE protocols are designed to ensure consistent and accurate data collection.  All schools must collect the data accurately and in the same way.


Get the GLOBE Note-taking Guide.
Answer the questions using the following information:


In this activity you will learn the protocol for these measurements:

1. Temperature
2. Precipitation (liquid and solid)
3. Cloud type
4. Cloud cover

For You To Do:
Go here to learn How to read the Min/Max Thermometer
and complete the Min/Max Thermometer section of your Unit 1C questions.  

Be sure to empty the rain gauge completely after each measurement.



For You To Do:
Go here to review Precipitation
and complete the Precipitation section of your Unit 1C Questions.  

About Clouds:
Study the GLOBE Cloud Chart in your classroom to learn the different types of clouds. Take notes from the chart. Learn a little more about cloud types in the GLOBE Cloud Chart. Notice the cloud groups are a little different.

A cloud is a visible form of condensed water in the atmosphere. This may include particles of water and ice.

Make Cloud cover and cloud type observations at solar or astronomical noon, when the sun is highest in the sky, and at the same time that you make your temperature measurements.

High Clouds:  These clouds are made up of mostly ice crystals. The base of these clouds can range in height from 5 to 13 km (16,000 to 45,000 feet)  in the air.

 Middle Clouds:  These clouds are made up of mostly water. The base of these clouds can range in height from 2 to 7 km (6,500 to 23,000 feet).

 Low Clouds:  Low clouds mostly contain water but can also be made up of snow and ice particles. The bases of these clouds range in height from near the surface to 3 km (10,000 feet).

For You To Do:
1.  Go here to study cloud types:  The Cloud Catalog
and complete the Clouds Types Section of your Unit 1C Questions  

2.  Practice your Cloud identification Skills:  The Cloud Quiz

  4.  CLOUD COVER
Description: Students report the amount of cloud cover present.

Instrument:  The student's own eyes.

  Cloud cover refers to the amount (in tenths) of the sky which is covered by clouds. Cloud cover can sometimes be a little difficult to estimate because of our limited view of the sky.  Study this picture and compare the gaps between the clouds that the student sees and what they really are.

Here's the Cloud Cover protocol:

Find an unobstructed view of the sky. Observe the average cloud cover according to the following classifications:

• Clear: Sky is cloudless or the cloud coverage averages less than one tenth.
• Scattered Clouds: One tenth to five tenths (one-half) of the sky is covered with clouds.
• Broken Clouds: Five tenths to nine tenths of the sky is covered by clouds.
• Overcast: More than nine tenths of the sky is covered by clouds.

Sending your environmental data to GLOBE  Your teacher will suggest a time when you will send your data to GLOBE from your desktop computer. You will need your school's GLOBE password (see your teacher). To enter data, go to the GLOBE Environmental Data Entry web site and follow the directions carefully.

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