Solar Eclipse Data Collection
Eclipse data submitted from South Dakota Wing “made an important contribution” to Civil Air Patrol’s report to NASA on data collected during the recent solar eclipse.
South Dakota Wing had seven teams ready to collect "citizen science" data in partnership with NASA's GLOBE Observer program. Most faced cloudy skies, but teams were still able to collect data.
Lookout Mountain Composite Squadron recorded the lowest air temperature in the contiguous United States during the eclipse, according to CAP’s national coordinator for the eclipse mission, Capt. Shannon Babb.
The eclipse mission enabled CAP “to demonstrate teamwork on a continental scale,” she said.
CAP teams across the country uploaded over 250,000 bits of data in just one day about the effects of the eclipse on weather (air temperative, cloud cover/type, wing speed/direction, and precipitation) and tracked the impact of the eclipse on VHF radio operations. Because the teams carefully documented each observation, NASA can merge them all into a scientific database.
Nationally, over 40,000 CAP members signed up to collect data at 630 sites in all states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.
