Framing Question
How is knowledge constructed in science and how is its validity assessed?
This question deals very broadly with the production of scientific knowledge and the validity of the outcomes. Meteorology and climate science are related and intersecting fields that have become increasingly important because of climate change. I plan to answer this question by examining the disciplinary history of meteorology and climate science with an emphasis on the production of knowledge. I will consider the social and political forces as well as how human observations and technology are developed and used and how that, in turn, affects our understanding. My research question asks the same question but at the level of automated cloud classification.
Focus Question
Where does our understanding of cloud classification come from and how accurate is it?
Automated cloud classification exists within a network of agencies and organizations, instruments and data streams, and algorithm and models. It is my intention to investigate how the forces above lead to our understanding of clouds and inform cloud classification as well as how well the automated classification replicates human observations. While I do my very technical research, I will constantly ask myself about how the tools and algorithms I am using have led to these results.