COCORAHS: USING CITIZEN-SCIENCE TO PROVIDE VALUABLE DATA TO DECISION MAKERS WITHIN THE COMMUNITY WHILE SIMULTANEOUSLY EDUCATING FORMAL AND INFORMAL AUDIENCES IN CLIMATE LITERACY

Following the devastating 1997 flood of Fort Collins, Colorado that caused more than $200 million in damages and the loss of five lives, CoCoRaHS has signed up over 40,000 volunteers of all ages to measure and map precipitation from their backyards in all 50 states. On a daily basis, the network receives approximately 10,000 observations. The data are used by several NOAA entities including the National Weather Service River Forecast Centers, the Hydrologic Prediction Center, the National Operational Hydrological Remote Sensing Center and many more. Besides providing high quality data to scientists, CoCoRaHS strives to increase weather and climate literacy among its volunteers by providing daily messages, monthly e-newsletters, informational webinars and data analysis tools. Social media has also been utilized as a means of informal education as well as the use of animations for training purposes.

As a school program, CoCoRaHS has been a useful tool to provide students with an opportunity to collect and report real scientific data while meeting state and national standards for science, math, geography and more. As a community outreach program, volunteers are motivated to provide high quality data, knowing it is important to a broad range of users from county commissioners in rural counties to planners and managers in small, medium and large cities.

How did CoCoRaHS become so successful? This presentation will discuss the history of CoCoRaHS and how it grew to become the single largest source of daily high-quality, manually-measured, year-round precipitation (rain, hail and snow) data in the U.S. The new use of Social Media and the implementation of original animations created for training and education will be discussed and highlighted. Session attendees will learn who uses the data and how they are used, and will also receive hands-on instructions on how they can measure and report precipitation for CoCoRaHS at their home, office or school. Educators will learn how this popular program can be implemented in the classroom and will be provided with lesson plans and activities.