Clouds and the Earth's Radiant Energy System
Comments
Contributed By
Description
The Clouds and the Earth's Radiant Energy System (CERES) instrument is one of five instruments that will be flown aboard the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) observatory. Data from the CERES instrument will be used to study the energy exchanged between the Sun and the Earth's atmosphere, surface and clouds, and space. This webpage describes the TRMM mission, the CERES insrument, and how Earth's daily weather and climate are controlled by the balance between the amount of solar energy received by the Earth (both by its surface and its atmosphere and clouds) and the amount of energy emitted by Earth into space. School children worldwide will be involved in the CERES program, enabling them to be part of a scientific project. As a CERES instrument passes over, students will make local observations to determine the types of clouds over their school, the clouds' altitudes and how much of the sky they cover. Via the Internet, the students will then place their data in the NASA Langley Distributed Active Archive Center where the data will be stored for further analysis by the CERES science team. Less
Learning Registry Activity
Bookmarks
Topics and Grades
Grade: 9 to 12
Topics: Weather, Climate & Atmosphere, Measurement, Tools, and Data Analysis, Science, Physics, Nature & Method of Science, Earth & Space Science, Nuclear Energy, Chemistry, Ecology & Ecosystems, Earth's Resources
Resource Pedagogy
Resource Type/Classification:
- Source Materials