Infrared balloon image reveals Gowanus plume

Great work! This infrared image shows how cool low cost photography can provide useful information to the community, and give us clues for further research work.

This particular site is well known to researchers mapping Gowanus historical stream patterns.

If you look at Frame 19 of this movie:
http://vimeo.com/23532919
you will see a welded steel plate against the bulwark, right under the graffiti of the flying bird.

If you go out at low tide, and stick your head near the mud and look up, you can see a pipe discharging clear water into the Canal. This water is most likely a historical stream remnant of the Denton Mill's Pond / Vechte's Canal wetlands system, now buried under what will become the Whole Food's parking lot. This running water presents an opportunity for the new Whole Foods waterfront park designers.

To see where the water may be coming from see:
http://issuu.com/proteusgowanus/docs/0_gowanus_history_map_1766

It must have been designed historically as a concealed discharge, maybe for industrial activities. It is unclear why the steel plate was put there, as this site was historically a coal and construction yard. The pipe may have linked to the recently decontaminated Whole Foods Site, which historically handled more toxic chemicals. Because of the steel plate camouflage, this particular site was missed in the Superfund Gowanus Canal pipe survey.
(http://www.epa.gov/region2/superfund/npl/gowanus/ri_docs/Appendix_G_Outf...)

Ecologically, this spot is interesting because the clear water pools in the sewage contaminated canal attracts spawn fish, which in turn attracts herons. Th oysters that had colonized this particular steel bulwark were killed when the flushing tunnel was turned off (causing water pollution level to rise). It is hoped that by better mapping such as what is being done here, we can identify opportunities to improve the Gowanus estuary's health and water quality.