Convective clouds are clouds that develop vertically appearing like big stacks of clouds. One very common example is cumulonimbus clouds. Convective clouds are commonly connected to stormy weather. Monthly Cloud Coverage for Deep Convective Cloud data can be used to predict patterns in weather. The specific pattern associated with this data is tracking and predicting thunderstorms. In this lesson, ... Full description.

Our atmosphere is warmed by shortwave radiation received from the Sun. Some of the energy is reflected back to space depending on cloud cover and the surface characteristics of Earth. Some of the energy is absorbed by the surface, then re-emitted back to space as longwave radiation. As this occurs, clouds and atmospheric gases can reflect, absorb and re-emit this energy -- the so-called greenhouse ... Full description.

The atmosphere is a mixture of gases including nitrogen, oxygen, carbon dioxide and other trace gases. Additionally, the atmosphere contains small, suspended liquid and particle matter called aerosols. Aerosols come from various sources, both natural and anthropogenic (man-made). Aerosols are important to study and monitor because they have direct and indirect effects on regional weather and global ... Full description.

One of the strongest observed ENSO events of the century began to unfold in 1997. Fortunately, an extensive network of satellite and ocean buoy instruments was prepared to monitor and record the historical event. In this lesson, students will collect data from the MY NASA DATA Live Access Server to understand how scientists detect the onset of El Nino conditions and the reversal to La Nina conditions ... Full description.

Students will examine data in several formats in order to determine the presence or absence of seasonal variability in tropospheric nitrogen dioxide (NO2) concentrations. The dataset used in this lesson is monthly averages of NO2 as measured from NASA's EOS Aura spacecraft. Full description.

There are several factors that influence the climate or prevailing weather conditions for any given location on Earth. The most important factor is the latitude of the location because that affects the amount of solar radiation received throughout the year. Other factors include its distance from a body of water (its moisture source), elevation and local topography. In this 6 to 10 day unit plan, ... Full description.

Using the Internet as a resource to locate and graph scientific data, students will explore the seasonal changes in precipitation for the Costa Rican Region. They will generate and analyze satellite data for precipitation to identify the two seasons of Costa Rica and relate their importance to the travel industry. Full description.

This lesson is designed to help students gain knowledge in using the MY NASA DATA Live Access Server (LAS) to specify and download a microset of data, then to use the data to estimate percentage of snow cover for each continent. The data used in this lesson come from the International Satellite Cloud Climatology Project (ISCCP). ISCCP computes fractional snow and ice coverage by scanning the Earth ... Full description.

This lesson is designed to help students gain knowledge in using the MY NASA DATA Live Access Server (LAS) to specify and download a microset of data, then to use the data to create graphs comparing the amount (percentage) of snow cover along selected latitudes. Students will make graphs from the data microset, then use the graphs to investigate the percentage of snow cover by latitude. The lesson ... Full description.

This lesson is designed to help students gain knowledge in graphing a microset of data, then using the graphs to investigate the relationship between volcanic activity and the presence of atmospheric aerosols. The lesson provides detailed procedure, related links and sample graphs, follow-up questions and extensions, and Teacher Notes. Full description.