GLOBE MUC-A-THON: a method for effective student land cover data collection

The Land Cover/Biology Team of The GLOBE Program has the challenging task of encouraging students and teachers in K-12 GLOBE schools to collect land cover data and interpret satellite imagery. There is a serious lack of experience among GLOBE teachers in this area and the result has been a lack of Land Cover/Biology data. The Land Cover/Biology Team has been a part of The GLOBE Program since its inception in 1995. Since then, the team has developed a land cover classification system by modifying the UNESCO classification system and renaming it the MUC (Modified UNESCO Classification) System. K-12 schools use this system to classify the land cover in a 15-kilometer×15-kilometer area around their school. One goal of The GLOBE Program is for GLOBE schools to collect as much data as possible about their area. The Land Cover/Biology Team specifically needs as much qualitative land cover data as possible to verify the accuracy of maps made using satellite imagery. Collecting large amounts of data is a difficult task for a school to organize. A GLOBE franchise in Dutchess County, NY developed the first “MUC-A-THON,” an event that takes place over a short period of time when a school or group of schools collect large amounts of qualitative land cover data for a specific area The Land Cover/Biology Team created an “Official MUC-A-THON Guide” which describes what a MUC-A-THON is, how to prepare and plan for one, who to involve, and steps to take during a MUC-A-THON