Above: Weather station on Mount Vesuvius (Wiki Commons)
Have you always wanted to be a meteorologist or just always had a fascination with it (a weather enthuiast)? Maybe you just like to volunteer and have an interest in the science? Either way, there are a few ways that anybody can get involved and help the scientific community! These only involve some training, a little bit of your time, and can make a huge impact in the scientific/meteorological community. The programs help to fill in gaps in the meteorological data that is currently available and also allow for 'eyes on the ground', where you act as a human observer seeing things that a computer or machine may not. Below are three opportunities for you to take part in::
Storm Spotters
This is a program run by NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administraion) that allows for volunteers to be trained and act as a supplement to scientific data from weather station observations and doppler radar. The training provided covers the basics in severe weather about storm structure, development, and safety. The storm spotters then act as the aformentioned 'eyes on the ground' during severe weather outbreaks reporting in flooding, hail, tornadoes, etc. This better allows for meteorologists to know exactly what's going on on the ground along with the information that they already have. Storm spotters allow for better storm response time in issuing warnings that help to give people more time to get to safety and save lives. For more information and how to volunteer, visit http://www.volunteer.noaa.gov/weather_stormspotter.html.
Daily Weather Observers
If you'd like to become even more involved volunteer for a few minutes on a daily basis, then maybe becoming a daily weather observer is for you! This Cooperative Observer Program (COOP) is run by NOAA and is a network of volunteers across the country. As an observer, you'd maintain your own weather station on your property and take meteorological observations at least once a day measuring different weather parameters, such as temperatures, precipitation, and snowfall. These observations help to fill in the gaps in current observations between existing stations and allow for users of your information to have an even better idea about the current weather across the region. For more information and how to volunteer, visit http://www.volunteer.noaa.gov/weather_dailyobservers.html.
CoCoRaHS (Community Collaborative Rain, Hail & Snow Network)
This is yet another program sponsored by NOAA and also the National Science Foundation (NSF). It is a network of people (young, old, and in-between) across the nation who take daily observations of precipiation and snowfall daily using low-cost equipment and only takes a few minutes at most each day. This network acts to fill in the holes in data and create a dense coverage of precipitation/snowfall reports across the country. It is extremely useful information for meteorologists, farmers, government agencies, and many more. For more informations and how to sign up, visit http://www.cocorahs.org/Content.aspx?page=aboutus.
As seen above, volunteers are a huge and useful part of meteorological data observations across the country and provide priceless information for everybody, from meteorologists to the farmers growing crops to the everyday person curious about what's happening in their neck of the woods. It is a great opportunity to volunteer and provide tremendous information for the scientific community.
