<div style="float: right; margin-left: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"> <a class="snap_shots" title="photo sharing" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/plakboek/2415894648/"><img style="border: 2px solid rgb(0, 0, 0);" alt="" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2382/2415894648_16e59280e8_m.jpg"></a> <br>
<span style="font-size: 0.9em; margin-top: 0px;"> <a class="snap_shots" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/plakboek/2415894648/">Cloudsat mirror facing South</a> </span></div>We posted our first CloudSat images today as part of our participation with the <a class="snap_shots" href="http://cloudsat.atmos.colostate.edu/education/">CloudSat mission</a>. This time, the images we loaded actually corresponded to a real CloudSat flyover. CloudSat
is part of a constellation of satellites known as the A-Train that was
assembled in orbit on 1 June 2006.<br> <br>An enthusiastic and dynamic student teacher, Tony helped me out with a
Year 9 Research Science student along and a bunch of year 7 maths
students. You can <a class="snap_shots" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/plakboek/tags/cloudsat/show/">view a slideshow</a> of our cloud dance and images on the basketball court. <br><br>Some
of the maths skills we covered included how to divide the sky up into
quadrants and measuring the percentage cloud cover. I smiled when the
year 7 maths students kept glancing over their shoulders to see if they
could spot the inbound satellite train. The satellites fly in a
nearly circular orbit with an equatorial altitude of approximately 705
km so they don't have too much to worry about.<br><br>The photographic images that we
took help ground truth the "radar images" taken from space. <a class="snap_shots" href="http://www.cloudsat.cira.colostate.edu/dpcstatusQL.php">You can view them here</a>. Clouds
exert an enormous influence on our weather and climate. This work will
help scientists better understand and improve climate models etc .. and teach some Maths with IT ;-)<br><br>Regards Roland<br><br>(now back to paying attention at a gripping school meeting)<br><br>-- <br>Roland Gesthuizen - ICT Coordinator - Westall Secondary College<br>
<a href="http://www.westallsc.vic.edu.au">http://www.westallsc.vic.edu.au</a><br><br>"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed it is the only thing that ever has." --Margaret Mead