On-campus weather stations to provide data for science classes

By Ashton Smith, staff writer
Posted on December 3, 2007

ISAT professor Cindy Klevickis plans to use the four new weather monitoring stations, located at ISAT, Wilson Hall, Memorial Hall and the Edith Carrier Arboretum, to create hands on data collection and interpretation experiences for next semester’s GSCI 160 series classes.

“Everything ties together,” she said.  “We get to research the air quality and we get to reach out to the community.”

The stations measure surface ozone, temperature, wind direction, relative humidity, cloud coverage and cloud type. GSCI 160 students will periodically check the stations and reset them so that the data is consistent. 

“The data is real, not like in a lab, but it is data that is really used,” Klevickis said. 

The weather monitoring stations were purchased through Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment (GLOBE), a program funded by the National Science Foundation and NASA.

Lynn Radocha, outreach program administrator for the department of integrated science and technology, and Tiffany Tumer, air quality outreach coordinator for the SHENAIR Institute, installed the stations Nov. 8.  

“The air monitoring stations are an educational component of GLOBE, a worldwide teaching and learning program to enhance scientific discovery and environmental stewardship,” Tumer said.  “Through the air quality stations, students can take scientifically valid measurements and report the data they collect through the Internet.” 

JMU partnered with GLOBE in 2006 and now students will be able to use the weather monitoring stations to get more data to GLOBE analysts.

“Project GLOBE lets students post data on a national database because they only have satellite readings,” Klevickis said.  “Now they will get ground readings too.”

The weather monitoring stations were purchased through a $2800 grant from the Integrated Science and Technology department.  Klevickis was inspired by one of the GLOBE workshops that taught teachers about the stations and how to make weather equipment on their own.

“I knew my students would relate to that,” Klevickis said.

Klevickis said she knows her students are not the only ones who will benefit from the stations.

“Students can use this to develop research protocols,” Klevickis said.  “The program will then be used in middleand high schools nationwide.”

Klevickis is the only professor implementing the program in her classes right now, but she said she expects others will utilize them soon.

“The stations are visible around campus, so it is not just for my students, but other JMU students can take away [research opportunities] from them as well.”

JMU inspired other schools to take advantage of the opportunity. 

“Recently, JMU’s Center for Energy and Environmental Sustainability has collaborated with several primary and secondary schools in the area,” Tumer said.  “Both Broadway High School and Grace Christian School now have these stations installed and available for use by their science classes.”

SHENAIR is currently working on a project to extend the JMU GLOBE network to the Richmond area by installing the stations at Fred D. Thompson and Lucille M. Brown Middle Schools.