City University of New York (CUNY)

Year Three Report Summary (2002-2003)

Objective

The strategic focus of the CUNY NRTS program is the continuation and expansion of local and regional scale meteorological and microclimate research and education program initiated by the CUNY NRTS with MUSPIN's investment. The goals of the program are to: (1) create and provide local and regional highly detailed surface meteorological datasets for original investigations and research at both the undergraduate and high school level targeting under-represented students; (2) provide increased opportunities for faculty research and competitiveness for NASA funding; (3) provide a resource for strengthening the meteorology component of Earth Science programs and understanding the linkages between weather, climate and global change and (4) provide a continuing framework for in-service and pre-service teacher training to strengthen the delivery of scientific content at the K-12 level.

During the 2002-2003 school year the METNET (Metropolitan Network) project has expanded to include the integration of Space Science and astronomy into high school, elementary school, and undergraduate curriculum, research opportunities for MSET students interested in Space Science and computer-related faculty development in both Earth and Space Science to support interdisciplinary research. Additionally, the CUNY NRTS has developed a partnership between the METNET data network and the NYC Mayor's Office for Emergency Management. Most recently, the network has expanded to Native American reservations in Maine and Holyoke Community College in Holyoke, Massachussetts.

The following details the activity of the SCSU NRTS project as it relates to research, education, and technology:

Research Activity

The IDL Training Workshop was initiated by the MUSPIN-funded SCSU workshop for faculty training in Summer, 2002. That workshop included IRAF, IDL, Unix, etc. and was intended to expose faculty to tools used in Space Science research. The CUNY NRTS decided to continue the training in our region to train faculty and students in Astronomical Image Processing and Visualization using IDL. Workshops have been conducted at CCNY, Medgar and Holyoke Community College. NASA Broker-facilitators in Wheeling, VA and Chicago have requested that we run the workshops in their regions for faculty from HBCU's and minority institutions. Plans are underway to collaborate with NASA scientists to enhance the material and partnering with SCSU, we intend to produce a workbook and possibly an online course.

In pursuit of the CUNY NRTS goals, research initiatives are underway involving inter-college cooperation in micro-climate investigations, including CCNY, Medgar and LaGuardia Community College. Additionally, CUNY integrated various research related project activities into existing courses as well as institutionalizing new courses. These courses included Earth Science/GIS course, Remote Sensing, Database and Artificial Intelligence courses. Undergraduate students are also engaged in research activities that include Earth Science/Meteorology, Environmental Science, Computer, and Space Science.

Educational Activity

Through a collaboration with the NASA/NOVA program, several campuses have created courses combining science content with educational pedagogy. These courses are: Physical Sciences and Geology at York, Astronomy at Queensborough Community College and Physical Sciences at Medgar Evers. All of the courses are general educational science courses but their target audience is preservice teachers. The purpose is to strengthen scientific literacy and understanding by infusing NASA science and better serve the educational community. Each course makes extensive use of existing NASA products and data. Another course, Computer Applications in Earth and Space Science was developed at Medgar Evers for image processing, visualization and data analysis related to NASA missions. The course is inter-disciplinary and is becoming a multi-campus initiative as CCNY and Lehman are participating (and team-teaching) the fall, 2003 offering.

CUNY NRTS organized a number of education activities in 2001-2002 in which 69 students participated throughout the year. These activities included courses such as GIS, Special Projects, and Computer Applications. A workshop was also conducted for faculty and students, during which opportunities at NASA were presented to participants.

Additionally two conferences were held in 2002 related to educational goals of the CUNY NRTS including the AMS 81st Annual conference in January as well as the AAS Fall Conference in January.

Technology Activity

As mentioned above, through the METNET data network, the CUNY NRTS has developed a relationship with the NYC Mayor's OEM. The OEM is using the METNET data network as a basis for a planned city-wide expanded network. This dense network of stations has proved vital to the operational interests of the OEM in areas ranging from the identification of planned resources for heat-waves and other local weather events to the 9/11 clean-up at Ground Zero.

The METNET project also impacted K-12 middle and high school level activities. Five CUNY colleges and sixteen K-12 schools, participated in technology workshops. These activities involve the integration of data collection and analysis into the Earth Science curricula consistent with New York State Education Standards. Five CUNY colleges and four high schools networks represent MU-SPIN's original investment with additional funding from the local colleges and the New York City Board of Education.

During the transition from the City College of New York to Medgar Evers College, the NRTS program has leveraged the existing resources in the region. Computer lab facilities, scientific instrumentation, and departmental support from both the Earth and Atmospheric Science and Computer Science departments at CCNY and the Physical, Environmental and Computer Science Departments at Medgar Evers College have been leveraged. A mobile wireless laptop network is being used for regional training related to software and analysis tools for research and education. Four computer science departments in the region support research and educational technical needs. They are Medgar Evers College, York College, LaGuardia Community College, and City College of New York. Seven students from three different colleges participated in research, education and technical support efforts.

Future Activities

The Heat Island research is continuing and has been augmented utilizing MM5. This investigation has also expanded to include a study of the impact of Hurricane Floyd in the NYC metropolitan area.

Additional courses, related to the CUNY NRTS research activities are planned for the coming year.

CUNY plans to increase the number of peer-reviewed papers related to the METNET weather project as well as research to support visualization and multimedia delivery of Earth Science related data for educational use. We also plan to seek funds to institutionalize maintenance of the weather network. We will also provide additional research opportunities for students in math, science and technology at external locations including GSFC, JPL and SCSU.

We also plan to develop online educational modules for curriculum integration for surface data and LANDSAT Imagery, aligned with national standards for both science and math. Additional links for teachers and students with NASA educational programs will be provided. We will expand and modify the suite of courses offered using the NASA NOVA methodology and disseminate evaluations and comparative analysis via educational conferences and journals.