We are pleased to announce that Congressman Brad Sherman has obtained an $85,000 grant through the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to upgrade and expand the Pierce College Weather Station!

This award will provide the station’s local, state, national & international audiences with a plethora of real-time high-quality atmospheric data. We will expand our sensor array to include fire weather data as well as transpiration rates.

Congressman Sherman and Michael Tou, Policy Director for the congressman, have taken keen interest in the growing threat of global climate change and the impact such change will have on communities both here and around the globe.

As leaders of our community, a community which is home to one the world’s oldest and most consistent weather stations, they have foreseen the great potential of the Pierce College Weather Station as a premium source of invaluable meteorological and climate data.

One of the keys to understanding and preserving the environment begins with accurate data collection of a wide variety of variable and observing changes over time. In addition to upgrades of station equipment, sensors and additional sensor arrays, the NOAA grant allows our faculty to develop curriculum meeting K-12 science standards to enhance educational field trips from over 100 local K-12 schools. The intent is to encourage young people to develop a genuine interest in knowledge, data-driven research, and scientific inquiry.

Pierce College’s students, faculty, staff and I would like to thank Congressman Brad Sherman for this very important and well received grant and the great benefit it will have on our communities both in the San Fernando Valley and beyond.

-Steve Woodruff, 30 July 2009