# Track Satellite Images

Part of the Oceanography Merit Badge Digital Resource Guide: [Introduction & Overview](https://merit-badge.university/merit-badges/oceanography/guide/index.md)

*7. Hands-On Investigation*

> **7f.** With your counselor's and parent or guardian's approval and permission, track and monitor satellite images available on the internet for a specific location for three weeks. Describe what you have learned to your counselor.

This option makes you an ocean observer from space. Instead of collecting one sample at one moment, you follow the same location over three weeks and look for changing patterns.

## Pick a Good Location

Choose a place where the ocean or coast is active enough to reveal change. Good choices include:

- a tropical storm or hurricane region
- a stretch of coastline affected by surf or sediment plumes
- an estuary where river water meets the sea
- a region known for cloud bands, sea-surface patterns, or changing storms

The most important choice is consistency. Stick with one location long enough to notice what changes and what stays the same.

[Weather Satellite Images (website)](https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/satellite.php): NOAA satellite imagery that lets you monitor storms, cloud patterns, and ocean regions over time.

## What to Record

Each time you check the images, write down:

- date and time
- what location you viewed
- major cloud patterns
- storm position or growth, if relevant
- any obvious changes from the previous image
- questions you have about what you are seeing

**Questions to Ask the Images** — Use these prompts to turn watching into investigation

- [ ] Is the same weather pattern still present or has it shifted?
- [ ] Do cloud bands look tighter, weaker, or more organized?
- [ ] Is sediment or runoff visible near the coast?
- [ ] Are waves, storms, or fronts affecting the same region repeatedly?

## How to Tell Your Counselor What You Learned

By the end of three weeks, do more than say "I watched satellite images." Explain the pattern.

For example, you might say:

- the coast looked different after storms than during calm periods
- cloud systems followed a repeated track
- one storm strengthened over warm water and weakened later
- the same location showed changing turbidity or plume patterns after runoff

> **Tip**
>
> Screenshots are great evidence. Save a few images from the beginning, middle, and end of the three weeks so you can compare them side by side.

This finishes the hands-on investigation choices. Next you will choose a way to report what you learned through reading, visiting, or speaking.

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- Previous: [Build a Wave Tank](https://merit-badge.university/merit-badges/oceanography/guide/req7e/index.md)
- Next: [Choose a Reporting Project](https://merit-badge.university/merit-badges/oceanography/guide/req8/index.md)