NASA and SciStarter enlist citizen scientists for nationwide research that examines soil moisture conditions and water availability

National Resource Conservation Service (Flickr/CC BY 2.0) Philadelphia, PA – NASA scientists are on a mission to map global soil moisture, and through SciStarter, they’re teaming up with citizen scientists to gather valuable data from the ground to complement and validate what is seen from space. Known as the Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) satellite mission, the research will help scientists understand links among Earth's water, energy and carbon cycles; reduce uncertainties in predicting climate; and enhance the ability to monitor and predict natural hazards like floods and droughts. SMAP data have additional practical applications for citizens everywhere, including improved weather forecasting and crop yield predictions. Youth Learning as Citizen Environmental Scientists (YLACES.org) has announced a $50,000 grant to SciStarter (SciStarter.com) to recruit, train, and equip teams in all 50 states to measure and report soil moisture measurements at regular intervals. Data will be made available to local decision-makers and ...