CoCoRaHS (THE COMMUNITY COLLABORATIVE RAIN, HAIL AND SNOW NETWORK): ON-LINE CITIZEN SCIENCE ENGAGING THE PUBLIC IN PRECIPITATION MONITORING

CoCoRaHS (The Community Collaborative Rain, Hail and Snow network) is a "Citizen Science" project where volunteers of all ages have the opportunity to measure and report the amount and type of precipitation that falls in their own backyard. The network's goal is to foster greater climate literacy and environmental awareness among its participants. CoCoRaHS began as a local community project in Fort Collins, Colorado in 1998 following a devastating local flash flood the previous year. Starting with a few dozen volunteers in northern Colorado, CoCoRaHS now engages over 15,000 active volunteers nationwide. Measurements taken using simple low-cost rain gauges and hail pads are recorded daily on-line and made publicly available on the CoCoRaHS website: www.cocorahs.org <http://www.cocorahs.org>. Data are of such high quality that National Weather Service offices and many other professional organizations are now using CoCoRaHS data routinely for monitoring, research and education.

Our presentation will include an overview of the network, a look at what has made it successful and discussion on future efforts for engaging new audiences.