Starting Sept. 15, NASA is asking the public to point their phones at the sky and take pictures of the clouds. [1] These photos will help scientists verify environmental data collected by a satellite.
The Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, Ocean Ecosystem (PACE) satellite circles the Earth every 98 minutes. It measures how clouds and atmospheric particles absorb and reflect sunlight.
The ground-level photos will help fill in the gaps left by the satellite.
Each pixel in the PACE satellite images represents a distance of about 0.75 miles across. Â The ground-level photos will help fill in the gaps left by the satellite.
Volunteers can participate by downloading the Globe Observer app. Users should set an alert for when the PACE satellite is passing overhead.
Five minutes before the satellite passes, participants need to go outside and click the app’s cloud tool. The app will instruct users to take photos in six different directions.
Researchers ask that all cloud photos be taken during daylight hours. The project runs for a month and ends on Oct. 15.
The PACE satellite launched in 2024 to observe the atmosphere and oceans from 420 miles away. Scientists hope the public’s observations will improve weather forecasting, including the timing of hurricanes and toxic algae blooms.
Notes:
- ^Staff. (2026). NASA wants to see your pictures of the sky. Here’s why. The Hill. Retrieved from https://thehill.com/policy/technology/6080059-nasa-wants-to-see-your-pictures-of-the-sky-heres-why/ (go back ↩)
