David R. Brooks, PhD

President Institute for Earth Science Research and Education 2686 Overhill Drive Eagleville, Pennsylvania 19403 USA Phone: 610-584-5619 E-mail: brooksdr@drexel.edu Visiting Research Profesor Drexel University Department of Mechanical Engineering and Mechanics

Much of the work described on this site has been made possible by support from the National Science Foundation, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration.

Pyranometer kit from the Institute for Earth Science Research and Education, for measuring solar radiation at Earth's surface. $20, including shipping in U.S.
Also, NEW two-channel (broadband-near IR) radiometer/reflectometer from IESRE.

Parasitized tobacco hornworm, Manduca sexta September, 2008. The tobacco hornworm is a regular visitor in our garden. This one is sitting on a pepper plant. These hornworms and their close relatives, tomato hornworms, (Manduca quinquemaculata) are caterpillars of sphinx moths (also called "hawk" or "hummingbird" moths). Brachonid wasps have infested this hornworm and some of the pupa cases have fallen off. By the way, the "horns" are on the rear, not the front.

Links to some other useful and interesting sites:  
NEW:
Notes from a Temperate Climate. A site dedicated to students, teachers, and my friends living in Thailand's tropical climate.

In light of recent controversy surrounding poor siting of many "official" weather stations around the country, this link to information about sites in Pennsylvania, with photos from 1983 and 2003, is very interesting: http://pasc.met.psu.edu/PA_Climatologist/cooptan/. Almost without exception, the quality of these sites is good and the surrounding environment has not changed significantly.

Insolation data from McMurdo Station, Antarctica.

These data were collected with an Institute for Earth Science Research and Education pyranometer taken to Antarctica by Ann Linsley, a teacher at Bellaire High School, Bellaire, Texas. It is not surprising that, under these extreme conditions, the pyranometer data do not agree perfectly with a clear-sky solar noon insolation model that assumes a much different atmosphere. Thanks, Ann!