Start Date
25-6-2015 2:40 PM
End Date
25-6-2015 3:10 PM
Abstract
The Arkansas BalloonSAT team has successfully launched and recovered 37 BalloonSAT’s dating back to the first flight on December 16, 2006. Numerous instruments measuring such things as atmospheric temperature, humidity, radiation, and light intensity have recorded data from different locations over the State of Arkansas. The initial focus of this project was outreach with the k-12 schools, and still involves outreach; however atmospheric research has become a significant component for this endeavor. This ongoing collaborative projection has involved a number of faculty and students from different academic backgrounds, including physics, chemistry, biology, and astronomy among different ASGC schools who have contributed to this effort. Members of the team have presented at state, regional, national, as well as international conferences. The outreach work with k-12 teachers/students was highlighted in an article Students at the Edge of Space published in the journal The Science Teacher produced by the National Science Teachers Association (January 2008). A photograph taken from a camera mounted in one of the payload boxes flown on Arkansas BalloonSAT 6 made the cover of this journal. Tethered Blimps are a new additional to this program. The investigators have form an initial network of five Arkansas middle & high schools to observe weather trends across the state and engage midlevel & secondary teachers and students in a collaborative research project. These teachers will receive training, equipment, and 13 foot tethered blimps in June 2015. The project aims include but are not limited to identifying urban heat island effects by comparing schools from rural areas and urban areas, and daily variations in relative humidity. A number of these schools are located in rural farming areas where CH4 and CO2 levels will be measured from just above the surface with the blimps to the lower stratosphere via balloons.
Presentation Slides
Included in
Integrating K12 Outreach with Undergraduate & Graduate Student Research through BalloonSAT: High Altitude Balloons
The Arkansas BalloonSAT team has successfully launched and recovered 37 BalloonSAT’s dating back to the first flight on December 16, 2006. Numerous instruments measuring such things as atmospheric temperature, humidity, radiation, and light intensity have recorded data from different locations over the State of Arkansas. The initial focus of this project was outreach with the k-12 schools, and still involves outreach; however atmospheric research has become a significant component for this endeavor. This ongoing collaborative projection has involved a number of faculty and students from different academic backgrounds, including physics, chemistry, biology, and astronomy among different ASGC schools who have contributed to this effort. Members of the team have presented at state, regional, national, as well as international conferences. The outreach work with k-12 teachers/students was highlighted in an article Students at the Edge of Space published in the journal The Science Teacher produced by the National Science Teachers Association (January 2008). A photograph taken from a camera mounted in one of the payload boxes flown on Arkansas BalloonSAT 6 made the cover of this journal. Tethered Blimps are a new additional to this program. The investigators have form an initial network of five Arkansas middle & high schools to observe weather trends across the state and engage midlevel & secondary teachers and students in a collaborative research project. These teachers will receive training, equipment, and 13 foot tethered blimps in June 2015. The project aims include but are not limited to identifying urban heat island effects by comparing schools from rural areas and urban areas, and daily variations in relative humidity. A number of these schools are located in rural farming areas where CH4 and CO2 levels will be measured from just above the surface with the blimps to the lower stratosphere via balloons.