STEVENS POINT – Solar Eclipse data collected locally is on the way to NASA to help improve weather models and forecasting, as well as to provide engineers with the information they need to design radio communication systems that will be more resilient against the effects of solar storms.
Twelve members of the Stevens Point Composite Squadron of the Civil Air Patrol – including nine cadets ages 12-18, participated with more than 40,000 CAP members and classroom students around the nation in Civil Air Patrol’s Solar Eclipse Mission in partnership with NASA.
“It was a very successful day of data collecting for NASA,” said Cadet Staff Sgt. Micah Ritter, 13. “It was a cool opportunity and I was happy to be part of it.”
During the 6.5 hours of the eclipse, the Squadron collected data about the effects of the solar eclipse on weather (air temperature, cloud cover/type, wind speed/direction and precipitation) and tracked the impact of solar eclipses on VHF radio operations.
The Stevens Point Composite Squadron’s data will help increase humanity’s knowledge of the sun, the ionosphere and Earth’s atmosphere by adding to the scientific data collected at more than 630 CAP data collection sites stretching across seven time zones, 50 states, and 2 U.S. territories.
Since datasets of this type can only be collected during this short window of the eclipse once every few decades, the data collected will be used by scientists to better understand the universe for hundreds of years into the future.
Throughout history, solar eclipses have been some of astronomy’s most important natural laboratories.
Observations made during past eclipses have been used to discover elements, helped us understand space weather, and even provided the evidence proving Einstein’s Theory of Relativity.
Cadet 2nd Lt. Lily Schaefer, 14, the squadron’s Cadet Emergency Services Officer and a qualified ground team member and radio operator, hopes this introduction to emergency services missions will help grow the unit’s ground team.
“This mission took what we have learned in the classrooms and put it into our hands, and we got to work with NASA and help with a bigger mission,” she said.
While the squadron had a relatively cloudy day, it didn’t deter them from enjoying the eclipse. The clouds parted in time to get a great view of the area’s 81.9 percent coverage, and the darkness made the runway lights come on and the birds quiet even though there was still plenty of light compared to the path of totality.
The squadron’s next mission will be as precautionary ground support for incoming aircraft to EAA’s Airventure this July.
