MECSAT Shermane Austin Medgar Evers College CUNY Affiliate

MECSAT Shermane Austin Medgar Evers College, CUNY Affiliate: New York State Space Grant Consortium National Space Grant Director’s Meeting March 2, 2007, Washington, DC

About Medgar Evers College Senior college in the City University of New York – approximately 5, 500 students u Student enrollment - primarily African. American and Caribbean-American u Primarily teaching institution u Emphasis on undergraduate research in STEM areas u Partnerships with other CUNY units u Located in heart of Central Brooklyn u

NASA Programs at MEC u New York State Space Grant Consortium – Affiliate Director – Shermane Austin – Area: Balloon. SAT – Target: undergraduate and high school students u MURED-supported programs: – MUSPIN Areas: Earth Science, Space Science and Technology Target: faculty, undergraduate and K-12 – OSS/MUCERPI: New York City Space Science Research Alliance Area: Space Science education & research, CUNY BS in Space Science Target: faculty, undergraduate – SEMAA and Honorable Major Owens Aerospace Education Lab Areas: Earth Science, Space Science and Robotics Target: Middle and high school students

Colorado Workshop Graduates Attended Student Hardware Workshop in June, 2004 u Team partner, Michael Fortney, launched ongoing collaboration with Vermont State Space Grant u

MECSAT u Balloon. SAT based at Medgar Evers College with launches in upstate New York and Northern Vermont u 25 or so launches in the past two years - 13 were ozonesondes u Student payloads: data logger, Geiger counter, CO 2 monitor, thermopile array, cameras, etc.

Occasional travel to observe and learn Other launch from other Balloon. SAT groups u Great Plains Super Launch - July, 2005 (hopefully again this summer) u Borealis/Montana State University – August, 2005 u activities

MECSAT Launch Base Located in Paradox, NY in the Adirondacks on 400 acres of private property u Used for yearround student and faculty launches and workshops u Base station for ozone profiles u

MECSAT – Vermont Launches u u u Better terrain for landing and recovery Hosted by Vermont State Space Grant and Milton High School Student housing provided Vermont Space Grant – often in UVM dorms Payloads from MEC undergraduate and New York City high school students Flights also used as Cricket. SAT platforms developed by Michael Fortney with Vermont high school students

Ozonesonde Launches u u u Provide students with links to NASA science Physical variables include: ozone mixing ratio (ppmv), temperature and frost point Required additional equipment: – ECC 2 Z ozonesondes with interface board for Vaisala 80 -15 radiosondes – Calibration and Test Unit u u u Equipment funding from Aura EPO program Training provided by John Merrill, University of Rhode Island Continue to use KTU at URI for lab prep of sondes

Integrating High School Students Summer Academy for NYC high school students u Surface ozone investigations using GLOBE protocols u Linkages to ozone profiles u

IONS 06 Participation u u u Intex Ozonesonde Network Study – PI: Anne Thompson, Penn State U. Transport and distribution of tropospheric ozone Part of Aura Data Validation Team Intensive observation campaign in April and August including validation of OMI and TES instruments during satellite overpasses MECSAT/Paradox base is one of the IONS stations

“Mapping Ozone” u New York Times video of one of our ozonesonde launches

Curriculum Integration Existing courses: Air and Water Pollution Scientific Computing (for Data Analysis) Remote Sensing Special Topics in Space Science (Physics) – Applications in Earth and Planetary Science Special Topics on the Environment

Additional Partnerships and Workshops Workshop for University of Houston, Downtown and South Carolina State University faculty and students interested in ozone monitoring programs u CUNY units: CCNY, LAGCC, QBCC, York u Upcoming workshops and launches with faculty and students in MUCERPI and MUSPIN networks u Workshops and launch participation for area high schools u

Acknowledgements New York State Space Grant Consortium u Vermont State Space Grant Consortium u Bill Hiscock, Montana State Space Grant Consortium u John Merrill, University of Rhode Island u NASA AURA E/PO Program u NASA/MUSPIN-CUNY NRTS u NASA/MUCERPI-NYCSSRA u HP Teaching with Technology u