In a previous post I briefly described World Water Monitoring Day (WWMD), a national water quality testing project. The project seems to be primarily focused towards testing conducted by kids as part of a school project, but anyone can order a rudimentary test kit for $19.95 and enter data collected between now and October [...]
I’d like to get more information about citizen storm watchers. The skywarn.org web site has been down, though the Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine has archived versions of the site.
The National Weather Service in Norman, OK has a good Introduction to Storm Observation and Reporting.
If you have any information about citizen participation in storm spotting, [...]
One of the great things about citizen science projects is that you can often get free training. The Great Annual Fish Count offers free seminars where divers and snorkelers can learn how to identify and count fish.
The Great Annual Fish Count is used by the REEF Fish Survey Project to publicize its ongoing need [...]
I’d love to set up a home weather station, and contribute the data to a central source; and I’d especially like to be able to access a historical record of my own. I’d like to be able to answer questions like “Was it really this hot last year?” or “Why are we [...]
Another program through the AAVSO; the Solar Observer Program one collects sunspot obesrvation data from amateurs and compiles it for the American Relative Sunspot Numbers, distributed to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), subscribing universities, scientific organizations, and interested individuals.
There’s also the related SID Program, where participants monitor very low frequency radio stations for [...]
Perhaps the granddaddy of modern citizen science, the American Association of Variable Star Observers (AAVSO) “was founded in 1911 at Harvard College Observatory to coordinate variable star observations made largely by amateur astronomers.” 300,000 observations are collected from members each year. See this page for more about the organization.
AAVSO manages several observation [...]
The International Meteor Organization (IMO) collects observation reports of sporadic meteors and meteor showers. Observations can be made visually, with photography, or with video recording. Cost to participate can be very little to just count meteors, or very high if you want play with some of the more advanced equipment. You [...]
World Water Monitoring Day introduces people to the fundamentals of water quality testing and provides a collection of data about the health of watersheds over time. Volunteers monitor temperature, acidity (pH), clarity (turbidity) and dissolved oxygen (DO) during a one-month period each fall. The project managed by America’s Clean Water Foundation (ACWF) and [...]
PlantWatch is a Canadian project hosted by the Canadian Nature Federation and Environment Canada’s Ecological Monitoring and Assessment Network Coordinating Office.
PlantWatch is a phenology project where participants monitor flowering plants and report when they flower (phenology). Data is added instantly to web maps showing bloom times across Canada. Some plants are blooming [...]
The monarch butterfly is well-known, but its population variances are poorly understood. In a long-term study organized by the University of Minnesota, citizen scientists gather data on milkweed habitat and larval monarch populations. See The Monarch Larval Monitoring Project web site for details.
Additional monarch projects you can participate in, including tagging of monarchs [...]
