Community-Based Rain and Hail Studies - Practical Geoscience Education for All Ages

PielkeRain是复杂大气过程的简单结果，是水文循环中最普遍的部分，也是农业的命脉。 冰雹是一种不太常见但更引人注目的降水形式，它会破坏财产和农作物，偶尔还会伤害动物和人类。 1998年，在科罗拉多发起了一个项目，利用感兴趣的4-12年级学生沿着以及成年人和老年人观察和记录与夏季降水有关的详细的当地降雨和冰雹模式。 这个项目非常成功地让孩子们与科学家和社区领导人一起参与简单但非常重要和实用的当地研究，研究降雨和冰雹的小规模变化及其后果。 该项目将以1998年备受推崇的示范活动的成功为基础。 学生和教师的热情，以及成年人和老年人对天气的普遍好奇心，将被用来帮助建立以社区为基础的降雨和冰雹观测网络。 志愿者、教师、学生领袖、社区商业合作伙伴、当地科学家和感兴趣的政府官员将共同努力，利用互联网通信和其他有用的工具，生成地图，显示与每一场风暴相关的降雨和冰雹的非常详细的当地模式。 这些地图，以及制作它们的过程，成为课堂教育、应用研究、商业和公用事业应用、媒体分发以及社区兴趣和支持的科学信息来源。 这个项目被称为协作社区雨和冰雹研究（CoCo RaHS）。 将开发各种工具，使全国各地的社区能够建立自己的地方项目。 工具和材料将包括宣传培训视频、详细介绍项目设立步骤的领导手册、用于测量降雨和冰雹的高质量但简单低成本的仪器、处理数据的计算机软件以及CoCo RaHS网站。 为教师编写的教育材料和课程计划将利用这一独特的参与性科学教育项目，并帮助实现几个教育标准，现在是科学教育的基础。 将制定鼓励社区参与和支持的战略，以帮助当地科学家和从业人员获得课堂教学机会，为学生提供与科学家合作进行研究发现的机会，并展示观测到的降雨和冰雹模式对当地产生的直接和直接影响。 一个国家的重要科学应用将被强调。 近年来，多普勒雷达越来越多地用于遥感估计降雨率、确定山洪暴发地区、确定冰雹发生地点和确定其他恶劣天气事件。 这项技术非常有用，但仍然容易出错和不确定。 通过与国家科学基金会支持的CSU-CHILL国家雷达设施的雷达科学家合作，将测试远程区分降雨和冰雹的新算法，并将从偏振雷达（CSU-CHILL）和常规多普勒雷达（NEXRAD）的角度评估降雨估计程序。 这个项目将证明，科学并不需要是不可理解的复杂是重要的。 它将表明，所有年龄段的社区成员都可以做出科学贡献，帮助他们的社区，并支持国家的研究工作。 该项目将有助于推动新一代具有应用意识的年轻科学家。

9907671PielkeRain is the simple outcome of complex atmospheric processes, the most universally apparent portion of the hydrologic cycle, and the lifeblood of agriculture. Hail is a less common but more dramatic form of precipitation that can damage property and crops and, on occasional, injure animals and humans. In 1998 a project was initiated in Colorado using interested students grades 4-12 along with adults and senior citizens to observe and record the detailed local rain and hail patterns associated with summer precipitation. This project was very successful in getting kids involved with scientists and community leaders in simple but very important and practical local research examining small-scale variations in rain and hail and their consequences. This project will build on the successes of the highly regarded 1998 demonstration. The enthusiasm of students and teachers, and the universal weather curiosity of adults and senior citizens, will be tapped to help create community-based rain and hail observation networks. Volunteers, teachers, student leaders, community business partners, local scientists, and interested government officials will work together, using internet communications and other helpful tools, to generate maps showing very detailed local patterns in rain and hail associated with each passing storm. These maps, and what goes into making them, become the scientific information source for classroom education, applied research, business and utility applications, media distribution and community interest and support. This project is called the Collaborative Community Rain and Hail Study (CoCo RaHS). A variety of tools will be developed so that communities across the country can set up their own local projects. Tools and materials will include a promotional training video, a leadership handbook detailing steps in setting up a project, high quality but simple low-cost instruments for measuring rain and hail, computer software for handling data, and a CoCo RaHS website. Educational materials and lesson plans for teachers will be written to take advantage of this unique participatory science education project and help achieve several of the educational standards that are now a foundation for science education. Strategies for encouraging community participation and support will be developed to help connect local scientists and practitioners with classroom teaching opportunities, to provide student opportunities to work with scientists in research discovery, and to demonstrate the direct and immediate local impacts derived from observed rain and hail patterns. One scientific application of national importance will be emphasized. Doppler radar has been used increasingly in recent years to remotely estimate rainfall rates, locate areas of flash flooding, determine where hail is occurring and locate other severe weather events. This technology is extremely useful, but is still prone to error and uncertainty. Through collaboration with radar scientists with the National Science Foundation-supported CSU-CHILL National Radar Facility, new algorithms for remotely distinguishing rain from hail will be tested and rainfall estimation procedures will be evaluated from the perspective of polarimeteric radar (CSU-CHILL) and conventional Doppler radar (NEXRAD). This project will demonstrate that science does not need to be incomprehensibly complex to be significant. It will show that community members of all ages can make scientific contributions that help their community and also support national research efforts. This project will help propel a new generation of application-minded young scientists.