Data Demo: Atmospheric Visualization Collection Christopher Klaus 05/18/05

Overview of the Atmospheric Visualization Collection The Atmospheric Visualization Collection (AVC) was developed to enhance physical science education and research through visualization of atmospheric data. This collection includes an archive of atmospheric data images and educational material based on these images. The use of collaboration tools encouraged contributions from the educational and research communities to develop AVC content.

The Atmospheric Radiation Measurement program The AVC data image archive focuses on the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Program. The ARM Program is the largest global change research program supported by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). ARM scientists focus on obtaining field measurements and developing models to better understand the processes that control solar and thermal infrared radiative transfer in the atmosphere (especially in clouds) and at the earth's surface.

Background on the ARM program  A multi-laboratory DOE project started in 1989  3 research sites across the globe  Over 25 terabytes of atmospheric data The ARM community includes: many DOE laboratories, other government laboratories, private organizations, international collaborators, and over 30 universities.

The AVC visualization efforts The AVC collected, combined, and implemented visualization tools from the ARM community. The resulting data image archive met research needs for data quality and decision-making during campaigns. For their own benefit, researchers involved with ARM data, reviewed the visualization work to ensure scientific quality.

AVC contour plots Scientists suggested further improvements to visualization tools from merging of data sets to calculation of new data sets. Scientists to students contributed code to make these suggestions become a reality. These contour plots went through many generations of such improvements.

Monthly Climatological Statistics

Original interface into AVC data images

Research interface to access data images Input from research users resulted in an improved interface for research access to these atmospheric data images.

Use of the NSDL Communication Portal  Allows access to download visualization tools for use with ARM data.  Tracks bugs, feature, and support requests.  Support forums and lists.  Remote CVS and document management capabilities. The Source Forge environment allowed for collaborative code development. This allowed researchers, graduate students, and undergraduate students to help create and improve visualization tools.

Initial involvement of K-12 school teachers The initial involvement of elementary, middle, and high school teachers focused on teachers from the Masters of Science in Natural Sciences at Eastern Illinois University. These teachers developed rubrics for reviewing educational material and contributed educational material developed for class projects. These teachers also reviewed data images and user interfaces, making suggestions for improvements.

Educational interface to access data images Suggestions from educators and students resulted in an improved interface for educational access to the AVC atmospheric data images.

The Lesson Plan Sandbox Educators develop educational material using the Lesson Plan Sandbox. This allows teachers to submit their lesson plans to share with others, to review submitted lesson plans, and to improve existing lesson plans, while keeping a copy of the previous version. The NSDL Comm Portal Wiki makes this possible.

Educational review mechanism Eastern Illinois University (EIU) lead an educational review process covering the middle school, high school, undergraduate, and graduate levels. These reviews examined the AVC educational material with respect to: appropriate level of scientific and mathematical content ease for access and comprehension appropriate grade level and pedagogical clarity Initial reviews took place in workshops involving teachers in the MSNS program. Teachers performed classroom testing during the school year. Later reviews involved using the DLESE Community Review System to collect teacher input.

NSDL Collections Sampler, Volume 1: Earth's Atmosphere NSDL Collections Sampler, Volume 1: Earth's Atmosphere, is the first in a series of CDs featuring collections and resources around a central topic. The NSDL Core Integration, in partnership with the Eisenhower National Clearinghouse (ENC), developed the CD that spotlights the multimedia resources and lesson plans of the AVC. The AVC lesson plans, QuickTime movies, and java based conceptual models are a direct result of user contributions to the Lesson Plan Sandbox and leveraging other DLESE collections.

Educational workshops During the first year posters and papers were the main push for dissemination efforts. In the second year workshops played a larger role. The EIU MSNS program helped with testing the AVC workshop material. Then workshops were run at the National Science Teacher Association, the American Meteorological Society, and Digital Library of Earth Science Education (DLESE) Annual Meeting.

Teacher projects for student involvement in the AVC The AVC has been very fortunate to have the involvement of highly active teachers. Some of these teachers have been awarded smaller grants allowing their students to become even more involved with the AVC. The most active grant writer has been Tim McCollum. One grant purchased a weather station, so students could gather atmospheric data for comparison with the AVC data. Another grant purchased digital cameras to allow students to take cloud pictures forming a Digital Cloud Library, to which other students can submit cloud photos. The AVC has written various letters of support for teachers to encourage their funding for closer AVC collaboration.

Initial involvement of the international community When we discovered teachers from Puerto Rico were translating AVC lesson plans, we implemented Babelfish to supply basic translations for foreign users. Since then the AVC has had users from over 75 countries.

The data collection life cycle Data Collection Produce Data & Data Tools Provide Scientific Knowledge Review Science Content Students Dig. Lib. Developers NGOsPublic Researchers GovernmentTeachers Education Developers Provide Synthetic Products Influence Policy Make Policy Provide Funding Manage Resources Ask Questions and Explore Data Provide Feedback Interactively Explore Data Collect Data Assign Standards Review Lessons Develop Lessons Produce Rubrics Develop Lessons Assign Standards Develop Collection Portal Integrate Tools & Services Engage Research & Educational Community