How Photos of Clouds Taken on Your Phone Can Help NASA’s PACE Mission

NASA’s PACE satellite will orbit Earth every 98 minutes from September 15, collecting detailed environmental data on clouds, aerosols and oceans. The mission is also inviting members of the public to help scientists by taking photos of clouds from the ground.

PACE, which stands for Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, Ocean Ecosystem, measures how clouds and particles in the atmosphere absorb and reflect sunlight as the satellite passes over different regions.

Scientists want to compare observations collected from space with observations made by people on the ground. According to PACE environmental lead Dr Andrew Sayer, public photographs can help researchers better understand satellite observations.

Each pixel in PACE satellite imagery represents an area of about 0.75 miles, or 1.2 kilometres, meaning ground-based observations can provide additional details and help fill gaps in the satellite data.

Scientists want to determine whether clouds are present within each satellite pixel and, if so, identify their characteristics. When clouds are absent, they will study the characteristics of the atmosphere and Earth’s surface.

How to Take Part

People can participate by downloading the Globe Observer app and setting an alert for when the PACE satellite is expected to pass over their location. Researchers say timing is crucial, so participants should be prepared in advance.

Around five minutes before the satellite passes overhead, participants should go outside and find a suitable location for observing the sky.

At the observation time, users can select the Clouds tool in the app and follow the instructions to take photos of clouds in six different directions.

Researchers have asked participants to take and submit the photographs only during daylight and not to send observations taken at night.

The project will continue until October 15, giving people around a month to participate after its launch.

The PACE satellite was launched into space in 2024 to observe Earth’s atmosphere and oceans in detail from an altitude of around 420 miles, or 676 kilometres.

At the time of the satellite’s launch, mission scientist Jeremy Werdell said PACE would provide an unprecedented view of Earth.

Scientists hope observations from the mission will help improve weather forecasting, including more accurate predictions of the timing of hurricanes and the spread of harmful algal blooms.