🎈 Public Lab: Revisions for 'stories'

Revisions for stories

46	gretchengehrke	July 21, 2015 21:08 \| almost 9 years ago Public Lab was inspired by the information blackout surrounding the 2010 BP Oil Disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. Despite having a massive impact on residents and the environment, local communities received sparse, incomplete data that contradicted what they could see unfolding in front of them. As news of the spill’s severity spread and outrage about limited access to information simmered locally, three of Public Lab’s would-be co-founders, Shannon Dosemagen, Jeff Warren and Stewart Long, convened in the Gulf Coast with a plan to use helium balloons, kites and inexpensive digital cameras to loft their own "community satellites" over the spill. The trio, in partnership with local New Orleans nonprofits and collaborators from across the United States, trained over one hundred local volunteers and activists who then collected over 100,000 aerial images of the coastline before, during, and after the oil spread. Using MapKnitter, an open source platform created by the group, residents stitched these images into high-resolution maps of the disaster. Through a partnership with Google Earth Outreach, these community-created maps were then uploaded to Google Earth making them globally accessible. The maps of the spill received broad media coverage, including being featured by the New York Times, BBC, PBS, and the Boston Globe, allowing residents to speak their truth to the world about what was going on in the Gulf Coast. Grassroots Mapping becomes Public Lab The success of the grassroots mapping effort galvanized Public Lab's founders, along with other collaborators, to found Public Lab as a new research and social space for the development of low-cost tools for community based environmental monitoring and research. With early support from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation via the Knight News Challenge, the group formally launched Public Lab as a nonprofit organization in summer 2011. Balloon Mapping of River Restoration at Mardi Gras Pass Mardi Gras Pass, Louisiana Gulf Restoration Network (GRN), a wetlands watchdog group and a valuable partner of Public Lab, has repeatedly used aerial mapping tools to advocate for wetlands restoration projects and to keep community and partner organizations abreast of progress (or lack thereof). One specific instance is the use of kite photography to educate and agitate for the closure of a new branch of the Mississippi River, “Mardi Gras Pass.” If left alone, this new distributary arm would feed protective marshes and swamps with nourishing sediment and water. Image by @eustatic United Bulk Coal Terminal Monitoring Ironton, Louisiana With Public Lab training, tools, and support, Public Lab organizer Scott Eustis of Gulf Restoration Network (GRN) and Devin Martin of Sierra Club successfully captured low-altitude photos of ongoing coal export dumping in the Mississippi River. The images they secured of the coal pile over time changed GRN’s understanding of the extent of Oiltanking/United Bulk’s alleged environmental crimes and led to funding for further documentation and water quality analysis of this facility, culminating in a notice of intent to sue under the Clean Water Act. Although GRN had been passively monitoring this site via aircraft, the kite photo, because of its low-altitude and oblique angle, led to a new understanding that moved Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality to do a site visit. GRN, Sierra Club, Louisiana Environmental Action, Tulane Law, and Public Citizen, have prepared to sue to improve the facility and levy fines against the company for their damages to Louisiana’s waters: they are currently in negotiations with the company. The image itself is one of a series in legal proceedings, but is more value than others taken by planes because of its level of detail. The photo is used as an organizing tool to demonstrate effective imagery for officially documenting Oiltanking’s water pollution crimes to volunteer pilots and GRN members who reside in the area. Image CC-BY @gwirth Documenting Restoration Projects in Yellow Bar Jamaica Bay, New York Public Lab organizer Gena Wirth and Eymund Diegel, along with Rob Holmes of the Dredge Research Collaborative, conduct aerial imaging documentation on various restoration islands in Jamaica Bay. Aerial maps document progress on the Army Corps of Engineers initiative to restore eroding salt marsh habitat with recycled dredge material, show shoreline and vegetation change over time, and document citizen participation in these efforts. Jamaica Bay’s Islands are in constant transformation. For decades, Yellow Bar hummock (pictured here) has been shrinking and losing ground due to intensifying urban impacts in the Jamaica Bay watershed. This pattern recently reversed course under the direction of the Army Corps of Engineers, who use the island as a site to dispose of dredge material and as a test case for expanding ecosystems in decline. Like much of Jamaica Bay the resulting landscape is neither fully industrial or fully natural, though it retains aesthetic and performative qualities of both. The flat expanse of newly constructed ground is composed of clean sand dredged from the Ambrose Channel, the main shipping channel leading to the port of NY/NJ. Aerial maps reveal the regularized distribution of the complex marsh matrix of sediment, Spartina, and ribbed mussel, which grow together in a functional ecosystem and stabilize the marshland. Beyond the dotted fringe of cordgrass clumps our photos document the expansive island interior, touched by the Army Corps of Engineers in a more economical fashion with a grid of fences marking Spartina plug planting zones. Some mapping events have been led in partnership with the American Littoral Society and Jamaica Bay Ecowatchers. Image by @cfastie Monitoring Invasive Aquatic Plant Removal Amherst, Massachusetts UMass Amherst, the US Fish & Wildlife Service, and Pioneer Valley Open Science monitored invasive aquatic plant removal using DIY multispectral aerial photography and balloon mapping kits. Aerial photographs of the lake effectively reveal the invasive water chestnut, as it is distinguishable by both color and texture at low altitudes. The goal is to use normal and color infrared images to locate patches of water chestnut as part of the much needed yearly monitoring to prevent the plant from spreading. Through continued technical development, Pioneer Valley Open Science is interested in automating classification of NDVI (Normalized Difference Vegetation Index) images as a “one-click” solution for citizens monitoring invasive species in their waterways. Monitoring an Open Landfill Saugus, Massachusetts Public Lab worked on a multi-year project with Basurama.org to monitor the growth and treatment of ash at the open landfill bordering the Saugus waste incinerator, adjacent to both wetland and residential areas, with annual DIY multispectral kite photography. The project engaged residents of the Boston area in investigating local waste cycles as well as the toxicity and exposure issues related to the waste incineration process and the storage of ash. Public Lab organizer, Pat Coyle has recently worked on a 3D (Surface From Motion) reconstruction of the site using images collected from the kite photographers. Project lead Pablo Rey Mazón hopes to work towards connecting the 3D map with volume estimates that other Public Labbers are researching to compare with official data. Rey Mazón plans to replicate the project with a similar trash incinerator in Bilbao, Spain. Image by @mlamadrid Use of Balloon Mapping to Temporarily Stall Eviction Proceedings Kampala, Uganda Using aerial mapping, the Craft Market near Kampala worked with María Lamadrid to combine a high resolution map of the area with community narratives. The goal was to gain time so the community could organize next steps and create a dialogue around urban planning and displacement. The Craft Market was able to legally stall their eviction for a month by using the map to acquire a court injunction from local authorities. They also interfaced with the Ministry of Tourism via the map they created, demonstrating their value to the tourism industry. The Ministry of Tourism sent a team to evaluate the Market and tried to advocate to the Ministry of Land on behalf of the Market. In the end, the Ministry of Land went through with evicting the community. The Craft Market decided to do a second map to record the progress of clearing and to document the lack of support during the eviction, demonstrating how the eviction displaced the previously flourishing market to a side street. Using this map, the Craft Market is still in the process of advocating their case. View the map here: https://mapknitter.org/map/view/juakali. Gowanus Low Altitude Mapping (GLAM) Brooklyn, New York Public Labbers are working with the Gowanus Canal Conservancy and Proteus Gowanus to conduct environmental investigations in the Gowanus Canal Superfund Site and broader watershed using aerial imagery. There are three distinct goals within GLAM: 1) researching biodiversity to better manage the urban ecosystem; 2) conducting eco-detective work to improve the government’s Superfund clean-up plan; and 3) advocating for watershed health by identifying upland sites that can be used for storm water absorption to reduce downhill sewage overflow events into the canal. GLAM has succeeded in improving the Superfund clean-up plan: diligent investigation led to the discovery of an unknown freshwater inflow in the Gowanus First Street Basin, and their presentation to the EPA’s Community Advisory Group was so effective that Superfund restoration expanded an additional city block. Through vigilant aerial surveying, despite ice and blazing sun, the subsequent analysis identified four active pipes and inflows that the EPA’s survey missed which is leading to other improvements in the clean-up plan. Other independent research projects of the Gowanus have uncovered what appear to be historical Revolutionary War burial grounds which have since led to partnerships with the Brooklyn Preservation Council and the local Veterans Affairs chapter, as well as support from the Governor of Maryland and coverage in the NY Times. Image by @cfastie Documenting and Quantifying Soil Treatments Lee, New Hampshire Public Lab is part of a multi-year project to document and quantify cover crop soil treatment and silvopasture trials using infrared photography and aerial mapping. This is part of a broader effort to develop data-driven analysis tools to support small-scale organic farmers, and is being pursued in partnership with Green Start, Farm Hack, Pioneer Valley Open Science, and the sustainable agriculture program at the University of New Hampshire. Through this work, collaborating farmers have gained a better understanding of the health of their crops as well as a greater capacity for regularly comparing crop health at low cost. In addition to providing a compelling case study and proof of concept for the tools that are being developed through this work, the research has produced new insights and initiated new projects— such as more affordable and robust single-camera multispectral imaging that forms the basis of the Public Lab Infragram program. Image by @warren Refining Methodologies for Oil Identification Somerville, Massachusetts Testing at a Boston-area meet up helped to refine “do-it-yourself” methodologies for identifying different contaminant oils— ranging from motor oil to tar balls washed ashore after a crude oil spill. Attendees to the event, hosted by the neighborhood education group Parts & Crafts, included local residents, as well as members of the Mystic River Watershed Association and Pioneer Valley Open Science. The prototype testing involved a new technique for distinguishing oil samples via florescence using an inexpensive blue laser pointer. The tests were promising, and the technique appears robust: showing similar fluorescence curves despite slight variations in sample preparation. These were included in our alpha-stage prototype oil contamination test kit and continue to be developed. These methods show great promise, and will likely be included in our prototype oil contamination test kit. Follow progress on the oil testing kit here: publiclab.org/tag/oil-testing-kit. Documenting Code Violations by Metal Recycling Center East Providence, Rhode Island Local residents and Northeastern University faculty used kite mapping kits to monitor a metal recycling center for code violations and contamination. This is a long, complex investigation involving legal battles. A neighborhood in East Providence, RI adjacent to a large construction waste-grinding business has noted toxic dust from the plant filtering into homes and yards. Many in the neighborhood suffer from respiratory and other health problems thought to be associated with the dust. Neighborhood activists managed (with Toxic Action Center’s help) to have the waste grinding stopped. However, the same business owner re-opened the plant as a scrap metal processing operation, but with a permit that allows for limited operations for under fifteen tons of wood products. After the waste grinding stopped, balloon mapping was organized in March 2013 to document whether there was unpermitted processing of materials other than wood. Advocates have added detailed annotations to their aerial imagery to communicate the issues on the ground and attempt to convince authorities to take action to determine whether the plant is in fact processing materials beyond wood. Image by @karenv Pilgrim Nuclear Power Plant Mapping Plymouth, Massachusetts Using images collected via kite mapping, organizers are challenging the lack of a permit for new construction of a waste storage facility at the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station. To date, two aerial imaging trips led by Cape Cod Bay Watch have given local residents the ability to keep themselves informed about the progress of the construction, in addition to generating images and a compelling story which has resulted in press coverage (WBUR Boston-NPR) of their monitoring and advocacy efforts. Wetlands Restoration Lake Pontchartrain, Louisiana Aerial imagery is useful in planning and monitoring ecosystem restoration projects. The Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation has developed and implemented wetlands restoration programs throughout the Lake Pontchartrain watershed, including a marsh-creation project in Bayou St John spearheaded by wetland biologist Andy Baker. Andy and colleague Scott Eustis have used Public Lab kite mapping kits to collect a long-term time series of aerial images along Bayou St John, first to determine the appropriate scale of restoration, and then to observe plant growth and channel migration, and highlight potential problems. Aerial images documented the migration of excess dredged material into the new marsh area, and the effectiveness of corrective measures. The time-series of aerial images has demonstrated differential growth patterns along the two shores of the bayou, which has implications for future restoration programs. Flood risk-reduction Advocacy New Orleans, Louisiana To promote and facilitate the implementation of the Greater New Orleans Urban Water Plan, a multidisciplinary and multifaceted network was created: the Greater New Orleans Water Collaborative. With more than 100 individual, community, and organizational members -- including the founding organizations of Global Green, Waggonner & Ball, the Gulf Restoration Network, Urban Conservancy, Water Works, and Committee for a Better New Orleans -- the Water Collaborative convened to coordinate and advocate for improved regional water management. The Collaborative is led by a Steering Committee and activities are driven by Working Groups in the areas of Builders & Designers, Community Education, K-12 Education, Research & Policy, Advocacy, and Communication. Working groups engage community members and City Council members in tangible, contextual walk-and-learn sessions showing various aspects of the city’s stormwater management system, and other activities. City Council members are approached on an individual level and invited to participate in activities and partner on policy work. With a diverse base, the Working Groups can appeal to the various interests and backgrounds of different municipal officials and authorities. Miriam Belblidia, CEO of Water Works, Certified Floodplain Manager, and a founding Steering Committee member of the Water Collaborative, has found that many city officials are receptive to data such as aerial maps because it brings them new and relevant information. Belblidia has also found that officials are receptive to information about actions and strategies that have been successful in other cities facing similar concerns. For New Orleans, several Collaborative relationships were built between architects and planners in New Orleans and in The Netherlands, which also has cities below sea level and faces significant flood risk. Economic arguments can be powerful too, but also can be difficult to navigate. In the case of the Urban Water Plan, the overarching goal is to reduce flood risk, which required upfront investment in infrastructure improvements. Building that appropriate infrastructure (such as building freeboard) was highly incentivized by the reduction in flood insurance costs through the Community Rating System, and became a useful economic argument to bring together various city agencies for sustainable development to achieve risk-reduction goals, with a very quick return-on-investment. If there is a clear economic incentive to the work being promoted, that is often of interest to decision-makers and tax-payers alike. While economic incentives are important, arguably the most important feature in any advocacy is the ability to organize, mobilize, and activate grassroots community members. Community direct action to reduce flood risk New Orleans, Louisiana At the New Orleans office of Global Green USA, staff are working with communities with the goal of building support for green infrastructure in the most at-risk communities. Their Water Wise program is both a community education program and a direct action program, where Global Green leads workshops in people’s neighborhoods at times and locations that are accessible to community members. The workshops focus on issues that directly impact each neighborhood, such as flooding or stormwater runoff, rather than focusing on more conceptual matters like climate change; the goal of the workshops is to provide tangible education. They also have community-engaged workshops centered around immediate do-it-yourself action such as rain barrel construction and rain garden design. Community members take the opportunity to have agency in their own solution, in addition to strengthening community ties. Another community education initiative was launched by the Environmental Sustainability Working Group of the Equity Caucus, in collaboration with the Foundation for Louisiana, led by Global Green staff member Jeff Supak. Community surveys showed the need and desire for education around flooding and stormwater issues, and the need for documentation of events to provide more visibility to issues marginalized communities are facing. Residents were asked to take pictures of flooding events on their block to provide compelling evidence for the need for infrastructure improvements. As this work continues, community-collected aerial images would also be useful to provide a wider perspective in concert with on-the-ground flooding documentation, enabling communities and municipal authorities to visualize geographic relationships between areas experiencing flooding, and address the network of issues effectively. Community wetlands education Southern Louisiana At the Audubon Louisiana Nature Center, Disaster Recovery Coordinator Amy LeGaux uses a two-pronged approach to education and advocacy around climate change and wetlands restoration. Engaging local community members and school children, LeGaux educates with pictures and data that are relevant to South Louisiana specifically, such as local flooding and ingrowth of invasive species. However, in order to grow support to leverage national pressure on an environmentally regressive state legislature, LeGaux emphasizes the importance of Louisiana wetlands to the whole country. Over 30% of the nation’s oil and gas industry and 30% of the nation’s shell fish come from the Gulf of Mexico, and are distributed through the United States’ largest port, in Louisiana. Working with local and national groups, LeGaux utilizes aerial maps to demonstrate wetlands loss over time, starting with a map from 1932 made by the United States Geological Survey. Using maps, LeGaux is able to demonstrate the magnitude of loss on a regional scale.	Revert
45	Shannon	August 14, 2014 19:00 \| almost 10 years ago Public Lab was inspired by the information blackout surrounding the 2010 BP Oil Disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. Despite having a massive impact on residents and the environment, local communities received sparse, incomplete data that contradicted what they could see unfolding in front of them. As news of the spill’s severity spread and outrage about limited access to information simmered locally, three of Public Lab’s would-be co-founders, Shannon Dosemagen, Jeff Warren and Stewart Long, convened in the Gulf Coast with a plan to use helium balloons, kites and inexpensive digital cameras to loft their own "community satellites" over the spill. The trio, in partnership with local New Orleans nonprofits and collaborators from across the United States, trained over one hundred local volunteers and activists who then collected over 100,000 aerial images of the coastline before, during, and after the oil spread. Using MapKnitter, an open source platform created by the group, residents stitched these images into high-resolution maps of the disaster. Through a partnership with Google Earth Outreach, these community-created maps were then uploaded to Google Earth making them globally accessible. The maps of the spill received broad media coverage, including being featured by the New York Times, BBC, PBS, and the Boston Globe, allowing residents to speak their truth to the world about what was going on in the Gulf Coast. Grassroots Mapping becomes Public Lab The success of the grassroots mapping effort galvanized Public Lab's founders, along with other collaborators, to found Public Lab as a new research and social space for the development of low-cost tools for community based environmental monitoring and research. With early support from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation via the Knight News Challenge, the group formally launched Public Lab as a nonprofit organization in summer 2011. Balloon Mapping of River Restoration at Mardi Gras Pass Mardi Gras Pass, Louisiana Gulf Restoration Network (GRN), a wetlands watchdog group and a valuable partner of Public Lab, has repeatedly used aerial mapping tools to advocate for wetlands restoration projects and to keep community and partner organizations abreast of progress (or lack thereof). One specific instance is the use of kite photography to educate and agitate for the closure of a new branch of the Mississippi River, “Mardi Gras Pass.” If left alone, this new distributary arm would feed protective marshes and swamps with nourishing sediment and water. Image by @eustatic United Bulk Coal Terminal Monitoring Ironton, Louisiana With Public Lab training, tools, and support, Public Lab organizer Scott Eustis of Gulf Restoration Network (GRN) and Devin Martin of Sierra Club successfully captured low-altitude photos of ongoing coal export dumping in the Mississippi River. The images they secured of the coal pile over time changed GRN’s understanding of the extent of Oiltanking/United Bulk’s alleged environmental crimes and led to funding for further documentation and water quality analysis of this facility, culminating in a notice of intent to sue under the Clean Water Act. Although GRN had been passively monitoring this site via aircraft, the kite photo, because of its low-altitude and oblique angle, led to a new understanding that moved Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality to do a site visit. GRN, Sierra Club, Louisiana Environmental Action, Tulane Law, and Public Citizen, have prepared to sue to improve the facility and levy fines against the company for their damages to Louisiana’s waters: they are currently in negotiations with the company. The image itself is one of a series in legal proceedings, but is more value than others taken by planes because of its level of detail. The photo is used as an organizing tool to demonstrate effective imagery for officially documenting Oiltanking’s water pollution crimes to volunteer pilots and GRN members who reside in the area. Image CC-BY @gwirth Documenting Restoration Projects in Yellow Bar Jamaica Bay, New York Public Lab organizer Gena Wirth and Eymund Diegel, along with Rob Holmes of the Dredge Research Collaborative, conduct aerial imaging documentation on various restoration islands in Jamaica Bay. Aerial maps document progress on the Army Corps of Engineers initiative to restore eroding salt marsh habitat with recycled dredge material, show shoreline and vegetation change over time, and document citizen participation in these efforts. Jamaica Bay’s Islands are in constant transformation. For decades, Yellow Bar hummock (pictured here) has been shrinking and losing ground due to intensifying urban impacts in the Jamaica Bay watershed. This pattern recently reversed course under the direction of the Army Corps of Engineers, who use the island as a site to dispose of dredge material and as a test case for expanding ecosystems in decline. Like much of Jamaica Bay the resulting landscape is neither fully industrial or fully natural, though it retains aesthetic and performative qualities of both. The flat expanse of newly constructed ground is composed of clean sand dredged from the Ambrose Channel, the main shipping channel leading to the port of NY/NJ. Aerial maps reveal the regularized distribution of the complex marsh matrix of sediment, Spartina, and ribbed mussel, which grow together in a functional ecosystem and stabilize the marshland. Beyond the dotted fringe of cordgrass clumps our photos document the expansive island interior, touched by the Army Corps of Engineers in a more economical fashion with a grid of fences marking Spartina plug planting zones. Some mapping events have been led in partnership with the American Littoral Society and Jamaica Bay Ecowatchers. Image by @cfastie Monitoring Invasive Aquatic Plant Removal Amherst, Massachusetts UMass Amherst, the US Fish & Wildlife Service, and Pioneer Valley Open Science monitored invasive aquatic plant removal using DIY multispectral aerial photography and balloon mapping kits. Aerial photographs of the lake effectively reveal the invasive water chestnut, as it is distinguishable by both color and texture at low altitudes. The goal is to use normal and color infrared images to locate patches of water chestnut as part of the much needed yearly monitoring to prevent the plant from spreading. Through continued technical development, Pioneer Valley Open Science is interested in automating classification of NDVI (Normalized Difference Vegetation Index) images as a “one-click” solution for citizens monitoring invasive species in their waterways. Monitoring an Open Landfill Saugus, Massachusetts Public Lab worked on a multi-year project with Basurama.org to monitor the growth and treatment of ash at the open landfill bordering the Saugus waste incinerator, adjacent to both wetland and residential areas, with annual DIY multispectral kite photography. The project engaged residents of the Boston area in investigating local waste cycles as well as the toxicity and exposure issues related to the waste incineration process and the storage of ash. Public Lab organizer, Pat Coyle has recently worked on a 3D (Surface From Motion) reconstruction of the site using images collected from the kite photographers. Project lead Pablo Rey Mazón hopes to work towards connecting the 3D map with volume estimates that other Public Labbers are researching to compare with official data. Rey Mazón plans to replicate the project with a similar trash incinerator in Bilbao, Spain. Image by @mlamadrid Use of Balloon Mapping to Temporarily Stall Eviction Proceedings Kampala, Uganda Using aerial mapping, the Craft Market near Kampala worked with María Lamadrid to combine a high resolution map of the area with community narratives. The goal was to gain time so the community could organize next steps and create a dialogue around urban planning and displacement. The Craft Market was able to legally stall their eviction for a month by using the map to acquire a court injunction from local authorities. They also interfaced with the Ministry of Tourism via the map they created, demonstrating their value to the tourism industry. The Ministry of Tourism sent a team to evaluate the Market and tried to advocate to the Ministry of Land on behalf of the Market. In the end, the Ministry of Land went through with evicting the community. The Craft Market decided to do a second map to record the progress of clearing and to document the lack of support during the eviction, demonstrating how the eviction displaced the previously flourishing market to a side street. Using this map, the Craft Market is still in the process of advocating their case. View the map here: https://mapknitter.org/map/view/juakali. Gowanus Low Altitude Mapping (GLAM) Brooklyn, New York Public Labbers are working with the Gowanus Canal Conservancy and Proteus Gowanus to conduct environmental investigations in the Gowanus Canal Superfund Site and broader watershed using aerial imagery. There are three distinct goals within GLAM: 1) researching biodiversity to better manage the urban ecosystem; 2) conducting eco-detective work to improve the government’s Superfund clean-up plan; and 3) advocating for watershed health by identifying upland sites that can be used for storm water absorption to reduce downhill sewage overflow events into the canal. GLAM has succeeded in improving the Superfund clean-up plan: diligent investigation led to the discovery of an unknown freshwater inflow in the Gowanus First Street Basin, and their presentation to the EPA’s Community Advisory Group was so effective that Superfund restoration expanded an additional city block. Through vigilant aerial surveying, despite ice and blazing sun, the subsequent analysis identified four active pipes and inflows that the EPA’s survey missed which is leading to other improvements in the clean-up plan. Other independent research projects of the Gowanus have uncovered what appear to be historical Revolutionary War burial grounds which have since led to partnerships with the Brooklyn Preservation Council and the local Veterans Affairs chapter, as well as support from the Governor of Maryland and coverage in the NY Times. Image by @cfastie Documenting and Quantifying Soil Treatments Lee, New Hampshire Public Lab is part of a multi-year project to document and quantify cover crop soil treatment and silvopasture trials using infrared photography and aerial mapping. This is part of a broader effort to develop data-driven analysis tools to support small-scale organic farmers, and is being pursued in partnership with Green Start, Farm Hack, Pioneer Valley Open Science, and the sustainable agriculture program at the University of New Hampshire. Through this work, collaborating farmers have gained a better understanding of the health of their crops as well as a greater capacity for regularly comparing crop health at low cost. In addition to providing a compelling case study and proof of concept for the tools that are being developed through this work, the research has produced new insights and initiated new projects— such as more affordable and robust single-camera multispectral imaging that forms the basis of the Public Lab Infragram program. Image by @warren Refining Methodologies for Oil Identification Somerville, Massachusetts Testing at a Boston-area meet up helped to refine “do-it-yourself” methodologies for identifying different contaminant oils— ranging from motor oil to tar balls washed ashore after a crude oil spill. Attendees to the event, hosted by the neighborhood education group Parts & Crafts, included local residents, as well as members of the Mystic River Watershed Association and Pioneer Valley Open Science. The prototype testing involved a new technique for distinguishing oil samples via florescence using an inexpensive blue laser pointer. The tests were promising, and the technique appears robust: showing similar fluorescence curves despite slight variations in sample preparation. These were included in our alpha-stage prototype oil contamination test kit and continue to be developed. These methods show great promise, and will likely be included in our prototype oil contamination test kit. Follow progress on the oil testing kit here: publiclab.org/tag/oil-testing-kit. Documenting Code Violations by Metal Recycling Center East Providence, Rhode Island Local residents and Northeastern University faculty used kite mapping kits to monitor a metal recycling center for code violations and contamination. This is a long, complex investigation involving legal battles. A neighborhood in East Providence, RI adjacent to a large construction waste-grinding business has noted toxic dust from the plant filtering into homes and yards. Many in the neighborhood suffer from respiratory and other health problems thought to be associated with the dust. Neighborhood activists managed (with Toxic Action Center’s help) to have the waste grinding stopped. However, the same business owner re-opened the plant as a scrap metal processing operation, but with a permit that allows for limited operations for under fifteen tons of wood products. After the waste grinding stopped, balloon mapping was organized in March 2013 to document whether there was unpermitted processing of materials other than wood. Advocates have added detailed annotations to their aerial imagery to communicate the issues on the ground and attempt to convince authorities to take action to determine whether the plant is in fact processing materials beyond wood. Image by @karenv Pilgrim Nuclear Power Plant Mapping Plymouth, Massachusetts Using images collected via kite mapping, organizers are challenging the lack of a permit for new construction of a waste storage facility at the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station. To date, two aerial imaging trips led by Cape Cod Bay Watch have given local residents the ability to keep themselves informed about the progress of the construction, in addition to generating images and a compelling story which has resulted in press coverage (WBUR Boston-NPR) of their monitoring and advocacy efforts.	Revert
44	warren	August 14, 2014 18:48 \| almost 10 years ago Public Lab was inspired by the information blackout surrounding the 2010 BP Oil Disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. Despite having a massive impact on residents and the environment, local communities received sparse, incomplete data that contradicted what they could see unfolding in front of them. As news of the spill’s severity spread and outrage about limited access to information simmered locally, three of Public Lab’s would-be co-founders, Shannon Dosemagen, Jeff Warren and Stewart Long, convened in the Gulf Coast with a plan to use helium balloons, kites and inexpensive digital cameras to loft their own "community satellites" over the spill. The trio, in partnership with New Orleans-based environmental justice organization, Louisiana Bucket Brigade, trained over one hundred local volunteers and activists who then collected over 100,000 aerial images of the coastline before, during, and after the oil spread. Using MapKnitter, an open source platform created by the group, residents stitched these images into high-resolution maps of the disaster. Through a partnership with Google Earth Outreach, these community-created maps were then uploaded to Google Earth making them globally accessible. The maps of the spill received broad media coverage, including being featured by the New York Times, BBC, PBS, and the Boston Globe, allowing residents to speak their truth to the world about what was going on in the Gulf Coast. Grassroots Mapping becomes Public Lab The success of the grassroots mapping effort galvanized Public Lab's founders, along with other collaborators, to found Public Lab as a new research and social space for the development of low-cost tools for community based environmental monitoring and research. With early support from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation via the Knight News Challenge, the group formally launched Public Lab as a nonprofit organization in summer 2011. Balloon Mapping of River Restoration at Mardi Gras Pass Mardi Gras Pass, Louisiana Gulf Restoration Network (GRN), a wetlands watchdog group and a valuable partner of Public Lab, has repeatedly used aerial mapping tools to advocate for wetlands restoration projects and to keep community and partner organizations abreast of progress (or lack thereof). One specific instance is the use of kite photography to educate and agitate for the closure of a new branch of the Mississippi River, “Mardi Gras Pass.” If left alone, this new distributary arm would feed protective marshes and swamps with nourishing sediment and water. Image by @eustatic United Bulk Coal Terminal Monitoring Ironton, Louisiana With Public Lab training, tools, and support, Public Lab organizer Scott Eustis of Gulf Restoration Network (GRN) and Devin Martin of Sierra Club successfully captured low-altitude photos of ongoing coal export dumping in the Mississippi River. The images they secured of the coal pile over time changed GRN’s understanding of the extent of Oiltanking/United Bulk’s alleged environmental crimes and led to funding for further documentation and water quality analysis of this facility, culminating in a notice of intent to sue under the Clean Water Act. Although GRN had been passively monitoring this site via aircraft, the kite photo, because of its low-altitude and oblique angle, led to a new understanding that moved Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality to do a site visit. GRN, Sierra Club, Louisiana Environmental Action, Tulane Law, and Public Citizen, have prepared to sue to improve the facility and levy fines against the company for their damages to Louisiana’s waters: they are currently in negotiations with the company. The image itself is one of a series in legal proceedings, but is more value than others taken by planes because of its level of detail. The photo is used as an organizing tool to demonstrate effective imagery for officially documenting Oiltanking’s water pollution crimes to volunteer pilots and GRN members who reside in the area. Image CC-BY @gwirth Documenting Restoration Projects in Yellow Bar Jamaica Bay, New York Public Lab organizer Gena Wirth and Eymund Diegel, along with Rob Holmes of the Dredge Research Collaborative, conduct aerial imaging documentation on various restoration islands in Jamaica Bay. Aerial maps document progress on the Army Corps of Engineers initiative to restore eroding salt marsh habitat with recycled dredge material, show shoreline and vegetation change over time, and document citizen participation in these efforts. Jamaica Bay’s Islands are in constant transformation. For decades, Yellow Bar hummock (pictured here) has been shrinking and losing ground due to intensifying urban impacts in the Jamaica Bay watershed. This pattern recently reversed course under the direction of the Army Corps of Engineers, who use the island as a site to dispose of dredge material and as a test case for expanding ecosystems in decline. Like much of Jamaica Bay the resulting landscape is neither fully industrial or fully natural, though it retains aesthetic and performative qualities of both. The flat expanse of newly constructed ground is composed of clean sand dredged from the Ambrose Channel, the main shipping channel leading to the port of NY/NJ. Aerial maps reveal the regularized distribution of the complex marsh matrix of sediment, Spartina, and ribbed mussel, which grow together in a functional ecosystem and stabilize the marshland. Beyond the dotted fringe of cordgrass clumps our photos document the expansive island interior, touched by the Army Corps of Engineers in a more economical fashion with a grid of fences marking Spartina plug planting zones. Some mapping events have been led in partnership with the American Littoral Society and Jamaica Bay Ecowatchers. Image by @cfastie Monitoring Invasive Aquatic Plant Removal Amherst, Massachusetts UMass Amherst, the US Fish & Wildlife Service, and Pioneer Valley Open Science monitored invasive aquatic plant removal using DIY multispectral aerial photography and balloon mapping kits. Aerial photographs of the lake effectively reveal the invasive water chestnut, as it is distinguishable by both color and texture at low altitudes. The goal is to use normal and color infrared images to locate patches of water chestnut as part of the much needed yearly monitoring to prevent the plant from spreading. Through continued technical development, Pioneer Valley Open Science is interested in automating classification of NDVI (Normalized Difference Vegetation Index) images as a “one-click” solution for citizens monitoring invasive species in their waterways. Monitoring an Open Landfill Saugus, Massachusetts Public Lab worked on a multi-year project with Basurama.org to monitor the growth and treatment of ash at the open landfill bordering the Saugus waste incinerator, adjacent to both wetland and residential areas, with annual DIY multispectral kite photography. The project engaged residents of the Boston area in investigating local waste cycles as well as the toxicity and exposure issues related to the waste incineration process and the storage of ash. Public Lab organizer, Pat Coyle has recently worked on a 3D (Surface From Motion) reconstruction of the site using images collected from the kite photographers. Project lead Pablo Rey Mazón hopes to work towards connecting the 3D map with volume estimates that other Public Labbers are researching to compare with official data. Rey Mazón plans to replicate the project with a similar trash incinerator in Bilbao, Spain. Image by @mlamadrid Use of Balloon Mapping to Temporarily Stall Eviction Proceedings Kampala, Uganda Using aerial mapping, the Craft Market near Kampala worked with María Lamadrid to combine a high resolution map of the area with community narratives. The goal was to gain time so the community could organize next steps and create a dialogue around urban planning and displacement. The Craft Market was able to legally stall their eviction for a month by using the map to acquire a court injunction from local authorities. They also interfaced with the Ministry of Tourism via the map they created, demonstrating their value to the tourism industry. The Ministry of Tourism sent a team to evaluate the Market and tried to advocate to the Ministry of Land on behalf of the Market. In the end, the Ministry of Land went through with evicting the community. The Craft Market decided to do a second map to record the progress of clearing and to document the lack of support during the eviction, demonstrating how the eviction displaced the previously flourishing market to a side street. Using this map, the Craft Market is still in the process of advocating their case. View the map here: https://mapknitter.org/map/view/juakali. Gowanus Low Altitude Mapping (GLAM) Brooklyn, New York Public Labbers are working with the Gowanus Canal Conservancy and Proteus Gowanus to conduct environmental investigations in the Gowanus Canal Superfund Site and broader watershed using aerial imagery. There are three distinct goals within GLAM: 1) researching biodiversity to better manage the urban ecosystem; 2) conducting eco-detective work to improve the government’s Superfund clean-up plan; and 3) advocating for watershed health by identifying upland sites that can be used for storm water absorption to reduce downhill sewage overflow events into the canal. GLAM has succeeded in improving the Superfund clean-up plan: diligent investigation led to the discovery of an unknown freshwater inflow in the Gowanus First Street Basin, and their presentation to the EPA’s Community Advisory Group was so effective that Superfund restoration expanded an additional city block. Through vigilant aerial surveying, despite ice and blazing sun, the subsequent analysis identified four active pipes and inflows that the EPA’s survey missed which is leading to other improvements in the clean-up plan. Other independent research projects of the Gowanus have uncovered what appear to be historical Revolutionary War burial grounds which have since led to partnerships with the Brooklyn Preservation Council and the local Veterans Affairs chapter, as well as support from the Governor of Maryland and coverage in the NY Times. Image by @cfastie Documenting and Quantifying Soil Treatments Lee, New Hampshire Public Lab is part of a multi-year project to document and quantify cover crop soil treatment and silvopasture trials using infrared photography and aerial mapping. This is part of a broader effort to develop data-driven analysis tools to support small-scale organic farmers, and is being pursued in partnership with Green Start, Farm Hack, Pioneer Valley Open Science, and the sustainable agriculture program at the University of New Hampshire. Through this work, collaborating farmers have gained a better understanding of the health of their crops as well as a greater capacity for regularly comparing crop health at low cost. In addition to providing a compelling case study and proof of concept for the tools that are being developed through this work, the research has produced new insights and initiated new projects— such as more affordable and robust single-camera multispectral imaging that forms the basis of the Public Lab Infragram program. Image by @warren Refining Methodologies for Oil Identification Somerville, Massachusetts Testing at a Boston-area meet up helped to refine “do-it-yourself” methodologies for identifying different contaminant oils— ranging from motor oil to tar balls washed ashore after a crude oil spill. Attendees to the event, hosted by the neighborhood education group Parts & Crafts, included local residents, as well as members of the Mystic River Watershed Association and Pioneer Valley Open Science. The prototype testing involved a new technique for distinguishing oil samples via florescence using an inexpensive blue laser pointer. The tests were promising, and the technique appears robust: showing similar fluorescence curves despite slight variations in sample preparation. These were included in our alpha-stage prototype oil contamination test kit and continue to be developed. These methods show great promise, and will likely be included in our prototype oil contamination test kit. Follow progress on the oil testing kit here: publiclab.org/tag/oil-testing-kit. Documenting Code Violations by Metal Recycling Center East Providence, Rhode Island Local residents and Northeastern University faculty used kite mapping kits to monitor a metal recycling center for code violations and contamination. This is a long, complex investigation involving legal battles. A neighborhood in East Providence, RI adjacent to a large construction waste-grinding business has noted toxic dust from the plant filtering into homes and yards. Many in the neighborhood suffer from respiratory and other health problems thought to be associated with the dust. Neighborhood activists managed (with Toxic Action Center’s help) to have the waste grinding stopped. However, the same business owner re-opened the plant as a scrap metal processing operation, but with a permit that allows for limited operations for under fifteen tons of wood products. After the waste grinding stopped, balloon mapping was organized in March 2013 to document whether there was unpermitted processing of materials other than wood. Advocates have added detailed annotations to their aerial imagery to communicate the issues on the ground and attempt to convince authorities to take action to determine whether the plant is in fact processing materials beyond wood. Image by @karenv Pilgrim Nuclear Power Plant Mapping Plymouth, Massachusetts Using images collected via kite mapping, organizers are challenging the lack of a permit for new construction of a waste storage facility at the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station. To date, two aerial imaging trips led by Cape Cod Bay Watch have given local residents the ability to keep themselves informed about the progress of the construction, in addition to generating images and a compelling story which has resulted in press coverage (WBUR Boston-NPR) of their monitoring and advocacy efforts.	Revert
43	Shannon	August 12, 2014 18:24 \| almost 10 years ago Note: This page is currently under development. Public Lab was inspired by the information blackout surrounding the 2010 BP Oil Disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. Despite having a massive impact on residents and the environment, local communities received sparse, incomplete data that contradicted what they could see unfolding in front of them. As news of the spill’s severity spread nationally and outrage about limited access to information simmered locally, Public Lab’s would-be co-founders convened in the Gulf Coast as part of the Grassroots Mapping collaborative. The Grassroots Mappers were a group of people seeking to invert the traditional power structure of cartography by using helium balloons and kites to loft their own "community satellites" made with inexpensive digital cameras. Partnering with New Orleans-based environmental justice organization Louisiana Bucket Brigade, the Mappers trained over one hundred local volunteers and activists who collected over 100,000 aerial images of the coastline before, during, and after the oil spread. Then, using MapKnitter, an open source platform created by the group, residents stitched these images into high resolution maps of the disaster as it unfolded. Through a partnership with Google Earth Outreach, these high resolution maps were uploaded as a primary or historical layer to Google Earth, making them globally accessible and allowing residents to speak their truth about what was going on in the Gulf. Grassroots Mapping becomes Public Lab The success of the grassroots mapping effort galvanized Public Lab's founders, along with other collaborators, to found Public Lab as a new research and social space for the development of low-cost tools for community based environmental monitoring and research. With early support from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation via the Knight News Challenge, the group formally launched Public Lab as a nonprofit organization in summer 2011. Balloon Mapping of River Restoration at Mardi Gras Pass Mardi Gras Pass, Louisiana Gulf Restoration Network (GRN), a wetlands watchdog group and a valuable partner of Public Lab, has repeatedly used aerial mapping tools to advocate for wetlands restoration projects and to keep community and partner organizations abreast of progress (or lack thereof). One specific instance is the use of kite photography to educate and agitate for the closure of a new branch of the Mississippi River, “Mardi Gras Pass.” If left alone, this new distributary arm would feed protective marshes and swamps with nourishing sediment and water. Image by @eustatic United Bulk Coal Terminal Monitoring Ironton, Louisiana With Public Lab training, tools, and support, Public Lab organizer Scott Eustis of Gulf Restoration Network (GRN) and Devin Martin of Sierra Club successfully captured low-altitude photos of ongoing coal export dumping in the Mississippi River. The images they secured of the coal pile over time changed GRN’s understanding of the extent of Oiltanking/United Bulk’s alleged environmental crimes and led to funding for further documentation and water quality analysis of this facility, culminating in a notice of intent to sue under the Clean Water Act. Although GRN had been passively monitoring this site via aircraft, the kite photo, because of its low-altitude and oblique angle, led to a new understanding that moved Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality to do a site visit. GRN, Sierra Club, Louisiana Environmental Action, Tulane Law, and Public Citizen, have prepared to sue to improve the facility and levy fines against the company for their damages to Louisiana’s waters: they are currently in negotiations with the company. The image itself is one of a series in legal proceedings, but is more value than others taken by planes because of its level of detail. The photo is used as an organizing tool to demonstrate effective imagery for officially documenting Oiltanking’s water pollution crimes to volunteer pilots and GRN members who reside in the area. Image CC-BY @gwirth Documenting Restoration Projects in Yellow Bar Jamaica Bay, New York Public Lab organizer Gena Wirth and Eymund Diegel, along with Rob Holmes of the Dredge Research Collaborative, conduct aerial imaging documentation on various restoration islands in Jamaica Bay. Aerial maps document progress on the Army Corps of Engineers initiative to restore eroding salt marsh habitat with recycled dredge material, show shoreline and vegetation change over time, and document citizen participation in these efforts. Jamaica Bay’s Islands are in constant transformation. For decades, Yellow Bar hummock (pictured here) has been shrinking and losing ground due to intensifying urban impacts in the Jamaica Bay watershed. This pattern recently reversed course under the direction of the Army Corps of Engineers, who use the island as a site to dispose of dredge material and as a test case for expanding ecosystems in decline. Like much of Jamaica Bay the resulting landscape is neither fully industrial or fully natural, though it retains aesthetic and performative qualities of both. The flat expanse of newly constructed ground is composed of clean sand dredged from the Ambrose Channel, the main shipping channel leading to the port of NY/NJ. Aerial maps reveal the regularized distribution of the complex marsh matrix of sediment, Spartina, and ribbed mussel, which grow together in a functional ecosystem and stabilize the marshland. Beyond the dotted fringe of cordgrass clumps our photos document the expansive island interior, touched by the Army Corps of Engineers in a more economical fashion with a grid of fences marking Spartina plug planting zones. Some mapping events have been led in partnership with the American Littoral Society and Jamaica Bay Ecowatchers. Image by @cfastie Monitoring Invasive Aquatic Plant Removal Amherst, Massachusetts UMass Amherst, the US Fish & Wildlife Service, and Pioneer Valley Open Science monitored invasive aquatic plant removal using DIY multispectral aerial photography and balloon mapping kits. Aerial photographs of the lake effectively reveal the invasive water chestnut, as it is distinguishable by both color and texture at low altitudes. The goal is to use normal and color infrared images to locate patches of water chestnut as part of the much needed yearly monitoring to prevent the plant from spreading. Through continued technical development, Pioneer Valley Open Science is interested in automating classification of NDVI (Normalized Difference Vegetation Index) images as a “one-click” solution for citizens monitoring invasive species in their waterways. Monitoring an Open Landfill Saugus, Massachusetts Public Lab worked on a multi-year project with Basurama.org to monitor the growth and treatment of ash at the open landfill bordering the Saugus waste incinerator, adjacent to both wetland and residential areas, with annual DIY multispectral kite photography. The project engaged residents of the Boston area in investigating local waste cycles as well as the toxicity and exposure issues related to the waste incineration process and the storage of ash. Public Lab organizer, Pat Coyle has recently worked on a 3D (Surface From Motion) reconstruction of the site using images collected from the kite photographers. Project lead Pablo Rey Mazón hopes to work towards connecting the 3D map with volume estimates that other Public Labbers are researching to compare with official data. Rey Mazón plans to replicate the project with a similar trash incinerator in Bilbao, Spain. Image by @mlamadrid Use of Balloon Mapping to Temporarily Stall Eviction Proceedings Kampala, Uganda Using aerial mapping, the Craft Market near Kampala worked with María Lamadrid to combine a high resolution map of the area with community narratives. The goal was to gain time so the community could organize next steps and create a dialogue around urban planning and displacement. The Craft Market was able to legally stall their eviction for a month by using the map to acquire a court injunction from local authorities. They also interfaced with the Ministry of Tourism via the map they created, demonstrating their value to the tourism industry. The Ministry of Tourism sent a team to evaluate the Market and tried to advocate to the Ministry of Land on behalf of the Market. In the end, the Ministry of Land went through with evicting the community. The Craft Market decided to do a second map to record the progress of clearing and to document the lack of support during the eviction, demonstrating how the eviction displaced the previously flourishing market to a side street. Using this map, the Craft Market is still in the process of advocating their case. View the map here: https://mapknitter.org/map/view/juakali. Gowanus Low Altitude Mapping (GLAM) Brooklyn, New York Public Labbers are working with the Gowanus Canal Conservancy and Proteus Gowanus to conduct environmental investigations in the Gowanus Canal Superfund Site and broader watershed using aerial imagery. There are three distinct goals within GLAM: 1) researching biodiversity to better manage the urban ecosystem; 2) conducting eco-detective work to improve the government’s Superfund clean-up plan; and 3) advocating for watershed health by identifying upland sites that can be used for storm water absorption to reduce downhill sewage overflow events into the canal. GLAM has succeeded in improving the Superfund clean-up plan: diligent investigation led to the discovery of an unknown freshwater inflow in the Gowanus First Street Basin, and their presentation to the EPA’s Community Advisory Group was so effective that Superfund restoration expanded an additional city block. Through vigilant aerial surveying, despite ice and blazing sun, the subsequent analysis identified four active pipes and inflows that the EPA’s survey missed which is leading to other improvements in the clean-up plan. Other independent research projects of the Gowanus have uncovered what appear to be historical Revolutionary War burial grounds which have since led to partnerships with the Brooklyn Preservation Council and the local Veterans Affairs chapter, as well as support from the Governor of Maryland and coverage in the NY Times. Image by @cfastie Documenting and Quantifying Soil Treatments Lee, New Hampshire Public Lab is part of a multi-year project to document and quantify cover crop soil treatment and silvopasture trials using infrared photography and aerial mapping. This is part of a broader effort to develop data-driven analysis tools to support small-scale organic farmers, and is being pursued in partnership with Green Start, Farm Hack, Pioneer Valley Open Science, and the sustainable agriculture program at the University of New Hampshire. Through this work, collaborating farmers have gained a better understanding of the health of their crops as well as a greater capacity for regularly comparing crop health at low cost. In addition to providing a compelling case study and proof of concept for the tools that are being developed through this work, the research has produced new insights and initiated new projects— such as more affordable and robust single-camera multispectral imaging that forms the basis of the Public Lab Infragram program. Image by @warren Refining Methodologies for Oil Identification Somerville, Massachusetts Testing at a Boston-area meet up helped to refine “do-it-yourself” methodologies for identifying different contaminant oils— ranging from motor oil to tar balls washed ashore after a crude oil spill. Attendees to the event, hosted by the neighborhood education group Parts & Crafts, included local residents, as well as members of the Mystic River Watershed Association and Pioneer Valley Open Science. The prototype testing involved a new technique for distinguishing oil samples via florescence using an inexpensive blue laser pointer. The tests were promising, and the technique appears robust: showing similar fluorescence curves despite slight variations in sample preparation. These were included in our alpha-stage prototype oil contamination test kit and continue to be developed. These methods show great promise, and will likely be included in our prototype oil contamination test kit. Follow progress on the oil testing kit here: publiclab.org/tag/oil-testing-kit. Documenting Code Violations by Metal Recycling Center East Providence, Rhode Island Local residents and Northeastern University faculty used kite mapping kits to monitor a metal recycling center for code violations and contamination. This is a long, complex investigation involving legal battles. A neighborhood in East Providence, RI adjacent to a large construction waste-grinding business has noted toxic dust from the plant filtering into homes and yards. Many in the neighborhood suffer from respiratory and other health problems thought to be associated with the dust. Neighborhood activists managed (with Toxic Action Center’s help) to have the waste grinding stopped. However, the same business owner re-opened the plant as a scrap metal processing operation, but with a permit that allows for limited operations for under fifteen tons of wood products. After the waste grinding stopped, balloon mapping was organized in March 2013 to document whether there was unpermitted processing of materials other than wood. Advocates have added detailed annotations to their aerial imagery to communicate the issues on the ground and attempt to convince authorities to take action to determine whether the plant is in fact processing materials beyond wood. Image by @karenv Pilgrim Nuclear Power Plant Mapping Plymouth, Massachusetts Using images collected via kite mapping, organizers are challenging the lack of a permit for new construction of a waste storage facility at the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station. To date, two aerial imaging trips led by Cape Cod Bay Watch have given local residents the ability to keep themselves informed about the progress of the construction, in addition to generating images and a compelling story which has resulted in press coverage (WBUR Boston-NPR) of their monitoring and advocacy efforts.	Revert
42	Shannon	August 12, 2014 18:19 \| almost 10 years ago Note: This page is currently under development. Public Lab was inspired by the information blackout surrounding the 2010 BP Oil Disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. Despite having a massive impact on residents and the environment, local communities received sparse, incomplete data that contradicted what they could see unfolding in front of them. As news of the spill’s severity spread nationally and outrage about limited access to information simmered locally, Public Lab’s would-be co-founders convened in the Gulf Coast as part of the Grassroots Mapping collaborative. The Grassroots Mappers were a group of people seeking to invert the traditional power structure of cartography by using helium balloons and kites to loft their own "community satellites" made with inexpensive digital cameras. Partnering with New Orleans-based environmental justice organization Louisiana Bucket Brigade, the Mappers trained over one hundred local volunteers and activists who collected over 100,000 aerial images of the coastline before, during, and after the oil spread. Then, using MapKnitter, an open source platform created by the group, residents stitched these images into high resolution maps of the disaster as it unfolded. Through a partnership with Google Earth Outreach, these high resolution maps were uploaded as a primary or historical layer to Google Earth, making them globally accessible and allowing residents to speak their truth about what was going on in the Gulf. Grassroots Mapping becomes Public Lab The success of the grassroots mapping effort galvanized Public Lab’s founders to create a new research and social space for the development of low cost tools that enable community based environmental monitoring and research. By focusing on DIY, open-source tools, Public Lab takes science out of its ivory tower, making technology something anyone can develop, good science something anyone can do, and empowering residents to ask questions and seek answers. With early support from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation via the Knight News Challenge, Public Lab formally launched as a nonprofit organization in summer of 2011. Balloon Mapping of River Restoration at Mardi Gras Pass Mardi Gras Pass, Louisiana Gulf Restoration Network (GRN), a wetlands watchdog group and a valuable partner of Public Lab, has repeatedly used aerial mapping tools to advocate for wetlands restoration projects and to keep community and partner organizations abreast of progress (or lack thereof). One specific instance is the use of kite photography to educate and agitate for the closure of a new branch of the Mississippi River, “Mardi Gras Pass.” If left alone, this new distributary arm would feed protective marshes and swamps with nourishing sediment and water. Image by @eustatic United Bulk Coal Terminal Monitoring Ironton, Louisiana With Public Lab training, tools, and support, Public Lab organizer Scott Eustis of Gulf Restoration Network (GRN) and Devin Martin of Sierra Club successfully captured low-altitude photos of ongoing coal export dumping in the Mississippi River. The images they secured of the coal pile over time changed GRN’s understanding of the extent of Oiltanking/United Bulk’s alleged environmental crimes and led to funding for further documentation and water quality analysis of this facility, culminating in a notice of intent to sue under the Clean Water Act. Although GRN had been passively monitoring this site via aircraft, the kite photo, because of its low-altitude and oblique angle, led to a new understanding that moved Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality to do a site visit. GRN, Sierra Club, Louisiana Environmental Action, Tulane Law, and Public Citizen, have prepared to sue to improve the facility and levy fines against the company for their damages to Louisiana’s waters: they are currently in negotiations with the company. The image itself is one of a series in legal proceedings, but is more value than others taken by planes because of its level of detail. The photo is used as an organizing tool to demonstrate effective imagery for officially documenting Oiltanking’s water pollution crimes to volunteer pilots and GRN members who reside in the area. Image CC-BY @gwirth Documenting Restoration Projects in Yellow Bar Jamaica Bay, New York Public Lab organizer Gena Wirth and Eymund Diegel, along with Rob Holmes of the Dredge Research Collaborative, conduct aerial imaging documentation on various restoration islands in Jamaica Bay. Aerial maps document progress on the Army Corps of Engineers initiative to restore eroding salt marsh habitat with recycled dredge material, show shoreline and vegetation change over time, and document citizen participation in these efforts. Jamaica Bay’s Islands are in constant transformation. For decades, Yellow Bar hummock (pictured here) has been shrinking and losing ground due to intensifying urban impacts in the Jamaica Bay watershed. This pattern recently reversed course under the direction of the Army Corps of Engineers, who use the island as a site to dispose of dredge material and as a test case for expanding ecosystems in decline. Like much of Jamaica Bay the resulting landscape is neither fully industrial or fully natural, though it retains aesthetic and performative qualities of both. The flat expanse of newly constructed ground is composed of clean sand dredged from the Ambrose Channel, the main shipping channel leading to the port of NY/NJ. Aerial maps reveal the regularized distribution of the complex marsh matrix of sediment, Spartina, and ribbed mussel, which grow together in a functional ecosystem and stabilize the marshland. Beyond the dotted fringe of cordgrass clumps our photos document the expansive island interior, touched by the Army Corps of Engineers in a more economical fashion with a grid of fences marking Spartina plug planting zones. Some mapping events have been led in partnership with the American Littoral Society and Jamaica Bay Ecowatchers. Image by @cfastie Monitoring Invasive Aquatic Plant Removal Amherst, Massachusetts UMass Amherst, the US Fish & Wildlife Service, and Pioneer Valley Open Science monitored invasive aquatic plant removal using DIY multispectral aerial photography and balloon mapping kits. Aerial photographs of the lake effectively reveal the invasive water chestnut, as it is distinguishable by both color and texture at low altitudes. The goal is to use normal and color infrared images to locate patches of water chestnut as part of the much needed yearly monitoring to prevent the plant from spreading. Through continued technical development, Pioneer Valley Open Science is interested in automating classification of NDVI (Normalized Difference Vegetation Index) images as a “one-click” solution for citizens monitoring invasive species in their waterways. Monitoring an Open Landfill Saugus, Massachusetts Public Lab worked on a multi-year project with Basurama.org to monitor the growth and treatment of ash at the open landfill bordering the Saugus waste incinerator, adjacent to both wetland and residential areas, with annual DIY multispectral kite photography. The project engaged residents of the Boston area in investigating local waste cycles as well as the toxicity and exposure issues related to the waste incineration process and the storage of ash. Public Lab organizer, Pat Coyle has recently worked on a 3D (Surface From Motion) reconstruction of the site using images collected from the kite photographers. Project lead Pablo Rey Mazón hopes to work towards connecting the 3D map with volume estimates that other Public Labbers are researching to compare with official data. Rey Mazón plans to replicate the project with a similar trash incinerator in Bilbao, Spain. Image by @mlamadrid Use of Balloon Mapping to Temporarily Stall Eviction Proceedings Kampala, Uganda Using aerial mapping, the Craft Market near Kampala worked with María Lamadrid to combine a high resolution map of the area with community narratives. The goal was to gain time so the community could organize next steps and create a dialogue around urban planning and displacement. The Craft Market was able to legally stall their eviction for a month by using the map to acquire a court injunction from local authorities. They also interfaced with the Ministry of Tourism via the map they created, demonstrating their value to the tourism industry. The Ministry of Tourism sent a team to evaluate the Market and tried to advocate to the Ministry of Land on behalf of the Market. In the end, the Ministry of Land went through with evicting the community. The Craft Market decided to do a second map to record the progress of clearing and to document the lack of support during the eviction, demonstrating how the eviction displaced the previously flourishing market to a side street. Using this map, the Craft Market is still in the process of advocating their case. View the map here: https://mapknitter.org/map/view/juakali. Gowanus Low Altitude Mapping (GLAM) Brooklyn, New York Public Labbers are working with the Gowanus Canal Conservancy and Proteus Gowanus to conduct environmental investigations in the Gowanus Canal Superfund Site and broader watershed using aerial imagery. There are three distinct goals within GLAM: 1) researching biodiversity to better manage the urban ecosystem; 2) conducting eco-detective work to improve the government’s Superfund clean-up plan; and 3) advocating for watershed health by identifying upland sites that can be used for storm water absorption to reduce downhill sewage overflow events into the canal. GLAM has succeeded in improving the Superfund clean-up plan: diligent investigation led to the discovery of an unknown freshwater inflow in the Gowanus First Street Basin, and their presentation to the EPA’s Community Advisory Group was so effective that Superfund restoration expanded an additional city block. Through vigilant aerial surveying, despite ice and blazing sun, the subsequent analysis identified four active pipes and inflows that the EPA’s survey missed which is leading to other improvements in the clean-up plan. Other independent research projects of the Gowanus have uncovered what appear to be historical Revolutionary War burial grounds which have since led to partnerships with the Brooklyn Preservation Council and the local Veterans Affairs chapter, as well as support from the Governor of Maryland and coverage in the NY Times. Image by @cfastie Documenting and Quantifying Soil Treatments Lee, New Hampshire Public Lab is part of a multi-year project to document and quantify cover crop soil treatment and silvopasture trials using infrared photography and aerial mapping. This is part of a broader effort to develop data-driven analysis tools to support small-scale organic farmers, and is being pursued in partnership with Green Start, Farm Hack, Pioneer Valley Open Science, and the sustainable agriculture program at the University of New Hampshire. Through this work, collaborating farmers have gained a better understanding of the health of their crops as well as a greater capacity for regularly comparing crop health at low cost. In addition to providing a compelling case study and proof of concept for the tools that are being developed through this work, the research has produced new insights and initiated new projects— such as more affordable and robust single-camera multispectral imaging that forms the basis of the Public Lab Infragram program. Image by @warren Refining Methodologies for Oil Identification Somerville, Massachusetts Testing at a Boston-area meet up helped to refine “do-it-yourself” methodologies for identifying different contaminant oils— ranging from motor oil to tar balls washed ashore after a crude oil spill. Attendees to the event, hosted by the neighborhood education group Parts & Crafts, included local residents, as well as members of the Mystic River Watershed Association and Pioneer Valley Open Science. The prototype testing involved a new technique for distinguishing oil samples via florescence using an inexpensive blue laser pointer. The tests were promising, and the technique appears robust: showing similar fluorescence curves despite slight variations in sample preparation. These were included in our alpha-stage prototype oil contamination test kit and continue to be developed. These methods show great promise, and will likely be included in our prototype oil contamination test kit. Follow progress on the oil testing kit here: publiclab.org/tag/oil-testing-kit. Documenting Code Violations by Metal Recycling Center East Providence, Rhode Island Local residents and Northeastern University faculty used kite mapping kits to monitor a metal recycling center for code violations and contamination. This is a long, complex investigation involving legal battles. A neighborhood in East Providence, RI adjacent to a large construction waste-grinding business has noted toxic dust from the plant filtering into homes and yards. Many in the neighborhood suffer from respiratory and other health problems thought to be associated with the dust. Neighborhood activists managed (with Toxic Action Center’s help) to have the waste grinding stopped. However, the same business owner re-opened the plant as a scrap metal processing operation, but with a permit that allows for limited operations for under fifteen tons of wood products. After the waste grinding stopped, balloon mapping was organized in March 2013 to document whether there was unpermitted processing of materials other than wood. Advocates have added detailed annotations to their aerial imagery to communicate the issues on the ground and attempt to convince authorities to take action to determine whether the plant is in fact processing materials beyond wood. Image by @karenv Pilgrim Nuclear Power Plant Mapping Plymouth, Massachusetts Using images collected via kite mapping, organizers are challenging the lack of a permit for new construction of a waste storage facility at the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station. To date, two aerial imaging trips led by Cape Cod Bay Watch have given local residents the ability to keep themselves informed about the progress of the construction, in addition to generating images and a compelling story which has resulted in press coverage (WBUR Boston-NPR) of their monitoring and advocacy efforts.	Revert
41	Shannon	August 12, 2014 18:16 \| almost 10 years ago Note: This page is currently under development. Public Lab was inspired by the information blackout surrounding the 2010 BP Oil Disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. Despite having a massive impact on residents and the environment, local communities received sparse, incomplete data that contradicted what they could see unfolding in front of them. As news of the spill’s severity spread nationally and outrage about limited access to information simmered locally, Public Lab’s would-be co-founders convened in the Gulf Coast as part of the Grassroots Mapping collaborative. The Grassroots Mappers were a group of people seeking to invert the traditional power structure of cartography by using helium balloons and kites to loft their own "community satellites" made with inexpensive digital cameras. Partnering with New Orleans-based environmental justice organization Louisiana Bucket Brigade, the Mappers trained over one hundred local volunteers and activists who collected over 100,000 aerial images of the coastline before, during, and after the oil spread. Then, using MapKnitter, an open source platform created by the group, residents stitched these images into high resolution maps of the disaster as it unfolded. Through a partnership with Google Earth Outreach, these high resolution maps were uploaded as a primary or historical layer to Google Earth, making them globally accessible and allowing residents to speak their truth about what was going on in the Gulf. Grassroots Mapping becomes Public Lab The success of the grassroots mapping effort galvanized Public Lab’s founders to create a new research and social space for the development of low cost tools that enable community based environmental monitoring and research. By focusing on DIY, open-source tools, Public Lab takes science out of its ivory tower, making technology something anyone can develop, good science something anyone can do, and empowering residents to ask questions and seek answers. With early support from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation via the Knight News Challenge, Public Lab formally launched as a nonprofit organization in summer of 2011. Balloon Mapping of River Restoration at Mardi Gras Pass January 2013: Gulf Restoration Network (GRN), a wetlands watchdog group and a valuable partner of Public Lab, has repeatedly used aerial mapping tools to advocate for wetlands restoration projects and to keep community and partner organizations abreast of progress (or lack thereof). One specific instance is the use of kite photography to educate and agitate for the closure of a new branch of the Mississippi River, “Mardi Gras Pass.” If left alone, this new distributary arm would feed protective marshes and swamps with nourishing sediment and water. Image by @eustatic United Bulk Coal Terminal Monitoring Ironton, Louisiana With Public Lab training, tools, and support, Public Lab organizer Scott Eustis of Gulf Restoration Network (GRN) and Devin Martin of Sierra Club successfully captured low-altitude photos of ongoing coal export dumping in the Mississippi River. The images they secured of the coal pile over time changed GRN’s understanding of the extent of Oiltanking/United Bulk’s alleged environmental crimes and led to funding for further documentation and water quality analysis of this facility, culminating in a notice of intent to sue under the Clean Water Act. Although GRN had been passively monitoring this site via aircraft, the kite photo, because of its low-altitude and oblique angle, led to a new understanding that moved Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality to do a site visit. GRN, Sierra Club, Louisiana Environmental Action, Tulane Law, and Public Citizen, have prepared to sue to improve the facility and levy fines against the company for their damages to Louisiana’s waters: they are currently in negotiations with the company. The image itself is one of a series in legal proceedings, but is more value than others taken by planes because of its level of detail. The photo is used as an organizing tool to demonstrate effective imagery for officially documenting Oiltanking’s water pollution crimes to volunteer pilots and GRN members who reside in the area. Image CC-BY @gwirth Documenting Restoration Projects in Yellow Bar Jamaica Bay, NY Public Lab organizer Gena Wirth and Eymund Diegel, along with Rob Holmes of the Dredge Research Collaborative, conduct aerial imaging documentation on various restoration islands in Jamaica Bay. Aerial maps document progress on the Army Corps of Engineers initiative to restore eroding salt marsh habitat with recycled dredge material, show shoreline and vegetation change over time, and document citizen participation in these efforts. Jamaica Bay’s Islands are in constant transformation. For decades, Yellow Bar hummock (pictured here) has been shrinking and losing ground due to intensifying urban impacts in the Jamaica Bay watershed. This pattern recently reversed course under the direction of the Army Corps of Engineers, who use the island as a site to dispose of dredge material and as a test case for expanding ecosystems in decline. Like much of Jamaica Bay the resulting landscape is neither fully industrial or fully natural, though it retains aesthetic and performative qualities of both. The flat expanse of newly constructed ground is composed of clean sand dredged from the Ambrose Channel, the main shipping channel leading to the port of NY/NJ. Aerial maps reveal the regularized distribution of the complex marsh matrix of sediment, Spartina, and ribbed mussel, which grow together in a functional ecosystem and stabilize the marshland. Beyond the dotted fringe of cordgrass clumps our photos document the expansive island interior, touched by the Army Corps of Engineers in a more economical fashion with a grid of fences marking Spartina plug planting zones. Some mapping events have been led in partnership with the American Littoral Society and Jamaica Bay Ecowatchers. Image by @cfastie Monitoring Invasive Aquatic Plant Removal Amherst, MA UMass Amherst, the US Fish & Wildlife Service, and Pioneer Valley Open Science monitored invasive aquatic plant removal using DIY multispectral aerial photography and balloon mapping kits. Aerial photographs of the lake effectively reveal the invasive water chestnut, as it is distinguishable by both color and texture at low altitudes. The goal is to use normal and color infrared images to locate patches of water chestnut as part of the much needed yearly monitoring to prevent the plant from spreading. Through continued technical development, Pioneer Valley Open Science is interested in automating classification of NDVI (Normalized Difference Vegetation Index) images as a “one-click” solution for citizens monitoring invasive species in their waterways. Monitoring an Open Landfill Saugus, MA Public Lab worked on a multi-year project with Basurama.org to monitor the growth and treatment of ash at the open landfill bordering the Saugus waste incinerator, adjacent to both wetland and residential areas, with annual DIY multispectral kite photography. The project engaged residents of the Boston area in investigating local waste cycles as well as the toxicity and exposure issues related to the waste incineration process and the storage of ash. Public Lab organizer, Pat Coyle has recently worked on a 3D (Surface From Motion) reconstruction of the site using images collected from the kite photographers. Project lead Pablo Rey Mazón hopes to work towards connecting the 3D map with volume estimates that other Public Labbers are researching to compare with official data. Rey Mazón plans to replicate the project with a similar trash incinerator in Bilbao, Spain. Image by @mlamadrid Use of Balloon Mapping to Temporarily Stall Eviction Proceedings Kampala, Uganda Using aerial mapping, the Craft Market near Kampala worked with María Lamadrid to combine a high resolution map of the area with community narratives. The goal was to gain time so the community could organize next steps and create a dialogue around urban planning and displacement. The Craft Market was able to legally stall their eviction for a month by using the map to acquire a court injunction from local authorities. They also interfaced with the Ministry of Tourism via the map they created, demonstrating their value to the tourism industry. The Ministry of Tourism sent a team to evaluate the Market and tried to advocate to the Ministry of Land on behalf of the Market. In the end, the Ministry of Land went through with evicting the community. The Craft Market decided to do a second map to record the progress of clearing and to document the lack of support during the eviction, demonstrating how the eviction displaced the previously flourishing market to a side street. Using this map, the Craft Market is still in the process of advocating their case. View the map here: https://mapknitter.org/map/view/juakali. Gowanus Low Altitude Mapping (GLAM) Brooklyn, New York Public Labbers are working with the Gowanus Canal Conservancy and Proteus Gowanus to conduct environmental investigations in the Gowanus Canal Superfund Site and broader watershed using aerial imagery. There are three distinct goals within GLAM: 1) researching biodiversity to better manage the urban ecosystem; 2) conducting eco-detective work to improve the government’s Superfund clean-up plan; and 3) advocating for watershed health by identifying upland sites that can be used for storm water absorption to reduce downhill sewage overflow events into the canal. GLAM has succeeded in improving the Superfund clean-up plan: diligent investigation led to the discovery of an unknown freshwater inflow in the Gowanus First Street Basin, and their presentation to the EPA’s Community Advisory Group was so effective that Superfund restoration expanded an additional city block. Through vigilant aerial surveying, despite ice and blazing sun, the subsequent analysis identified four active pipes and inflows that the EPA’s survey missed which is leading to other improvements in the clean-up plan. Other independent research projects of the Gowanus have uncovered what appear to be historical Revolutionary War burial grounds which have since led to partnerships with the Brooklyn Preservation Council and the local Veterans Affairs chapter, as well as support from the Governor of Maryland and coverage in the NY Times. Image by @cfastie Documenting and Quantifying Soil Treatments Lee, NH Public Lab is part of a multi-year project to document and quantify cover crop soil treatment and silvopasture trials using infrared photography and aerial mapping. This is part of a broader effort to develop data-driven analysis tools to support small-scale organic farmers, and is being pursued in partnership with Green Start, Farm Hack, Pioneer Valley Open Science, and the sustainable agriculture program at the University of New Hampshire. Through this work, collaborating farmers have gained a better understanding of the health of their crops as well as a greater capacity for regularly comparing crop health at low cost. In addition to providing a compelling case study and proof of concept for the tools that are being developed through this work, the research has produced new insights and initiated new projects— such as more affordable and robust single-camera multispectral imaging that forms the basis of the Public Lab Infragram program. Image by @warren Refining Methodologies for Oil Identification Somerville, MA Testing at a Boston-area meet up helped to refine “do-it-yourself” methodologies for identifying different contaminant oils— ranging from motor oil to tar balls washed ashore after a crude oil spill. Attendees to the event, hosted by the neighborhood education group Parts & Crafts, included local residents, as well as members of the Mystic River Watershed Association and Pioneer Valley Open Science. The prototype testing involved a new technique for distinguishing oil samples via florescence using an inexpensive blue laser pointer. The tests were promising, and the technique appears robust: showing similar fluorescence curves despite slight variations in sample preparation. These were included in our alpha-stage prototype oil contamination test kit and continue to be developed. These methods show great promise, and will likely be included in our prototype oil contamination test kit. Follow progress on the oil testing kit here: publiclab.org/tag/oil-testing-kit. Documenting Code Violations by Metal Recycling Center East Providence, RI Local residents and Northeastern University faculty used kite mapping kits to monitor a metal recycling center for code violations and contamination. This is a long, complex investigation involving legal battles. A neighborhood in East Providence, RI adjacent to a large construction waste-grinding business has noted toxic dust from the plant filtering into homes and yards. Many in the neighborhood suffer from respiratory and other health problems thought to be associated with the dust. Neighborhood activists managed (with Toxic Action Center’s help) to have the waste grinding stopped. However, the same business owner re-opened the plant as a scrap metal processing operation, but with a permit that allows for limited operations for under fifteen tons of wood products. After the waste grinding stopped, balloon mapping was organized in March 2013 to document whether there was unpermitted processing of materials other than wood. Advocates have added detailed annotations to their aerial imagery to communicate the issues on the ground and attempt to convince authorities to take action to determine whether the plant is in fact processing materials beyond wood. Image by @karenv Pilgrim Nuclear Power Plant Mapping Plymouth, MA Using images collected via kite mapping, organizers are challenging the lack of a permit for new construction of a waste storage facility at the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station. To date, two aerial imaging trips led by Cape Cod Bay Watch have given local residents the ability to keep themselves informed about the progress of the construction, in addition to generating images and a compelling story which has resulted in press coverage (WBUR Boston-NPR) of their monitoring and advocacy efforts.	Revert
40	warren	July 24, 2014 18:21 \| almost 10 years ago Note: This page is currently under development. Public Lab was inspired by the information blackout surrounding the 2010 BP Oil Disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. Despite having a massive impact on residents and the environment, local communities received sparse, incomplete data that contradicted what they could see unfolding in front of them. As news of the spill’s severity spread nationally and outrage about limited access to information simmered locally, Public Lab’s would-be co-founders convened in the Gulf Coast as part of the Grassroots Mapping collaborative. The Grassroots Mappers were a group of people seeking to invert the traditional power structure of cartography by using helium balloons and kites to loft their own "community satellites" made with inexpensive digital cameras. Partnering with New Orleans-based environmental justice organization Louisiana Bucket Brigade, the Mappers trained over one hundred local volunteers and activists who collected over 100,000 aerial images of the coastline before, during, and after the oil spread. Then, using MapKnitter, an open source platform created by the group, residents stitched these images into high resolution maps of the disaster as it unfolded. Through a partnership with Google Earth Outreach, these high resolution maps were uploaded as a primary or historical layer to Google Earth, making them globally accessible and allowing residents to speak their truth about what was going on in the Gulf. Grassroots Mapping becomes Public Lab The success of the grassroots mapping effort galvanized Public Lab’s founders to create a new research and social space for the development of low cost tools that enable community based environmental monitoring and research. By focusing on DIY, open-source tools, Public Lab takes science out of its ivory tower, making technology something anyone can develop, good science something anyone can do, and empowering residents to ask questions and seek answers. With early support from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation via the Knight News Challenge, Public Lab formally launched as a nonprofit organization in summer of 2011. Balloon Mapping of River Restoration at Mardi Gras Pass January 2013: Gulf Restoration Network (GRN), a valuable partner of Public Lab’s and wetlands watchdog group, has repeatedly used aerial mapping tools to advocate for wetlands restoration projects, and to keep community and partner organizations abreast of progress (or lack thereof). One specific instance was the use of kite photography to educate and agitate against the closure of a new branch of the Mississippi River, "Mardi Gras Pass." If left alone, this new distributary arm would feed protective marshes and swamps with nourishing sediment and water. More info can be found here: http://healthygulf.org/201301221984/blog/healthy-waters-/-dead-zone/save-mardi-gras-pass" Image by @eustatic Ironton, LA, United Bulk Coal Terminal monitoring With Public Lab training, tools, and support, Scott Eustis of Gulf Restoration Network (GRN), a Public Lab Organizer, and Devin Martin of Sierra Club, successfully captured low-altitude photos of ongoing coal export dumping in the Mississippi River. The images they captured of the coal pile that builds over time, changed GRN’s understanding of the extent of Oiltanking / United Bulk’s alleged environmental crimes and led to funding for further documentation and water quality analysis of this facility, culminating in a notice of intent to sue under the Clean Water Act. Although GRN had been passively monitoring this site via aircraft, the kite photo, because of its low-altitude and oblique angle, led to a new understanding that moved Louisiana DEQ to do a site visit. GRN, Sierra Club, Louisiana Environmental Action, and Tulane Law, with Public Citizen, have prepared to sue to improve the facility and levy fines against the company for their damages to Louisiana’s waters. The image itself is one of a series of images in legal proceedings, but has more value than others taken from a plane because of its level of detail--it is used as an organizing tool to explain the most desirable picture for officially documenting Oiltanking’s water pollution crimes to volunteer pilots and GRN members who reside in the area. GRN, Sierra Club, Louisiana Environmental Action, and Tulane Law, with Public Citizen, are currently in negotiations with the company. Image CC-BY @gwirth Jamaica Bay, NYC Public Lab organizer Gena Wirth and Eymund Diegel, along with Rob Holmes of the Dredge Research Collaborative, conduct aerial imaging documentation on various restoration islands in Jamaica Bay. Aerial maps document progress on the Army Corps of Engineers initiative to restore eroding salt marsh habitat with recycled dredge material, show shoreline and vegetation change over time, and document citizen participation in these efforts. Jamaica Bay’s Islands are in constant transformation. For decades, Yellow Bar hummock (pictured here) has been shrinking and losing ground due to intensifying urban impacts in the Jamaica Bay watershed. This pattern recently reversed course under the direction of the Army Corps of Engineers, who use the island as a site to dispose of dredge material and as a test case for expanding ecosystems in decline. Like much of Jamaica Bay the resulting landscape is neither fully industrial or fully natural, though it retains aesthetic and performative qualities of both. The flat expanse of newly constructed ground is composed of clean sand dredged from the Ambrose Channel, the main shipping channel leading to the port of NY/NJ. Aerial maps reveal the regularized distribution of the complex marsh matrix of sediment, Spartina, and ribbed mussel, which grow together in a functional ecosystem and stabilize the marshland. Beyond the dotted fringe of cordgrass clumps our photos document the expansive island interior, touched by the Army Corps of Engineers in a more economical fashion with a grid of fences marking Spartina plug planting zones. Some mapping events have been led in partnership with the American Littoral Society and Jamaica Bay Ecowatchers. Image by @cfastie Amherst, MA Monitoring invasive aquatic plant removal with UMass Amherst, the US Fish and Wildlife Service, and Pioneer Valley Open Science, using DIY multispectral aerial photography and balloon mapping kits. Aerial photographs of the lake effectively reveal the invasive water chestnut, as it is distinguishable by both color and texture at low altitudes. The goal is to use normal and color infrared images to locate patches of water chestnut as part of the much needed yearly monitoring to prevent the plant from spreading. Continued tech development is working on automated classification of NDVI images for a “one-click” solution for citizens monitoring invasive species in their waterways. Saugus, MA Public Lab worked on a multi-year project with Basurama.org to monitor the growth and treatment of ash at the open landfill bordering the Saugus waste incinerator, adjacent to both wetlands and residential areas, with annual DIY multispectral kite photography. By engaging residents of the Boston area in investigating where their waste ends up and how it is managed, the project raised local awareness and understanding of local waste cycles as well as of the toxicity and exposure issues related to the waste incineration process and the storage of ash. Recently, Public Lab Organizer, Pat Coyle has worked on a 3D (Surface From Motion (SFM)) reconstruction of the site using images collected from the kite photographers. Project lead, Pablo Rey Mazón, hopes to work towards connecting with volume measurement that other Public Labbers are researching, compare with official data and replicate the project with a similar trash incinerator in Bilbao. Image by @mlamadrid Balloon mapping by the Craft Village in Kampala, Uganda Use of balloon mapping by the Craft Village in Kampala, Uganda to temporarily stall eviction proceedings. The goal was to gain time so the community could organize next steps and create a dialogue around urban planning and displacement. Using aerial mapping the Craft Market combined a high resolution map of the area with community narratives. Doing so, the Craft Market was able to legally stall eviction for a month by using the map to acquire a court injunction. They also interfaced with the Ministry of Tourism via the map they created, demonstrating their value to the tourism industry. The Ministry of Tourism sent a team to evaluate the Market and tried to advocate to the Ministry of Land on behalf of the Market. In the end, the Ministry of Land went through with evicting the community. They decided to do a second map to record the progress of clearing and to document the lack of support during the eviction to demonstrate how the eviction displaced the previously flourishing market to a side street. Using this map, the Craft Market is still in the process of advocating their case. The map in MapKnitter can be found here: https://mapknitter.org/map/view/juakali. Text paraphrased from full research note. Gowanus Low Altitude Mapping (GLAM), in the Gowanus Canal Brooklyn, New York: Working with the Gowanus Canal Conservancy and Proteus Gowanus to conduct environmental investigations in the Gowanus Canal Superfund Site and broader watershed using aerial imagery. There are three distinct goals within GLAM: 1) researching biodiversity to better manage their urban ecosystems, 2) conducting eco-detective work to improve the government’s Superfund clean-up plan, and 3) advocating for watershed health by identifying upland sites that can be used for stormwater absorption to reduce downhill sewage overflow events in the canal. GLAM has succeeded in improving the Superfund clean-up plan: diligent investigation led to the discovery of an unknown freshwater inflow in the Gowanus First Street Basin, and their presentation to the EPA’s Community Advisory Group was so effective that Superfund restoration expanded to an additional city block. Additionally, through vigilant aerial surveying through ice and blazing sun, and subsequent analysis, GLAM identified four (4) active pipes and inflows that the EPA’s survey missed which is leading to other improvements in the clean-up plan. Other independent research projects to uncover historical Revolutionary War burial grounds have led to partnerships with the Brooklyn Preservation Council and the local VA (Veterans) chapter, as well as support from the Governor of Maryland and coverage in the NY Times. Image by @cfastie iFarm field trial monitoring Lee, NH: A multi-year project to document and quantify cover crop soil treatment and silvopasture trials using infrared photography, in conjunction with aerial mapping kits. This is part of a broader effort to develop data-driven analysis tools to support small-scale organic farmers, and is being pursued in partnership with Green Start, Farm Hack, Pioneer Valley Open Science, and the sustainable agriculture program at the University of New Hampshire. Through this work, collaborating farmers have gained a better understanding of the health of their crops, as well as a greater capacity for quantitatively and regularly assessing crop health at low cost. In addition to providing a compelling case study and proof of concept for the tools that are being developed through this work, the research has also produced new insights and initiated new projects -- such as more affordable and robust single-camera multispectral camera platforms -- and has paved the way for participants worldwide to more easily leverage and deploy these tools and techniques. Image by @warren DIY oil testing in Somerville, MA Testing at a Boston-area meetup helped to refine "do-it-yourself" methodologies for identifying different contaminant oils -- ranging from motor oil to tarballs washed ashore after a crude oil spill. Attendees to the event, hosted by the neighborhood education group Parts & Crafts, included local residents, as well as members of the Mystic River Watershed Association and Pioneer Valley Open Science. The prototype testing involved a new technique for distinguishing oil samples via florescence using an inexpensive blue laser pointer. The tests were successful, and the technique proved robust: it yielded consistently good results, despite slight variations in sample preparation. These methods show great promise, and will likely be included in our prototype oil contamination test kit. Follow progress on the oil testing kit here: http://publiclab.org/tag/oil-testing-kit. East Providence, RI Working with local residents and Northeastern University to use kite mapping kits to monitor a metal recycling center for code violations and contamination. This is a long, complex investigation involving legal battles. A neighborhood in East Providence, RI adjacent to a large construction waste grinding business has been experiencing toxic dust filtering into homes and yards from the plant. Many in the neighborhood suffer from respiratory and other health problems thought to be associated with the dust. Neighborhood activists managed (with Toxic Action Center's help) to have the waste grinding stopped. However, the same business owner re-opened the plant as a scrap metal processing operation, but with a permit that allows for limited operations under fifteen tons of wood products. The Balloon mapping during March 2013 was organized to document whether, after the waste grinding stopped, if unpermitted processing of materials other than wood started. Advocates have added detailed annotations to their aerial imagery to communicate about the issues on the ground and attempt to convince authorities to take some action against these illicit activities. Image by @karenv Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station mapping with Cape Cod Bay Watch Plymouth, MA: Using images collected via kite mapping, organizers are challenging the lack of a permit for new construction of a waste storage facility at the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station in Massachusetts. Two mapping trips to date have given local residents, led by CCBW, the ability to keep themselves informed about the progress of the construction, in addition to generating images and a compelling story which has resulted in press coverage (WBUR Boston - NPR) for their monitoring and advocacy efforts.	Revert
39	warren	July 24, 2014 18:18 \| almost 10 years ago Note: This page is currently under development. Here we've collected a series of stories or case studies of work our community has done in the past few years. Origins Public Lab was inspired by the information blackout surrounding the 2010 BP Oil Disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. Despite having a massive impact on residents and the environment, local communities received sparse, incomplete data that contradicted what they could see unfolding in front of them. As news of the spill’s severity spread nationally and outrage about limited access to information simmered locally, Public Lab’s would-be co-founders convened in the Gulf Coast as part of the Grassroots Mapping collaborative. The Grassroots Mappers were a group of people seeking to invert the traditional power structure of cartography by using helium balloons and kites to loft their own "community satellites" made with inexpensive digital cameras. Partnering with New Orleans-based environmental justice organization Louisiana Bucket Brigade, the Mappers trained over one hundred local volunteers and activists who collected over 100,000 aerial images of the coastline before, during, and after the oil spread. Then, using MapKnitter, an open source platform created by the group, residents stitched these images into high resolution maps of the disaster as it unfolded. Through a partnership with Google Earth Outreach, these high resolution maps were uploaded as a primary or historical layer to Google Earth, making them globally accessible and allowing residents to speak their truth about what was going on in the Gulf. Grassroots Mapping becomes Public Lab The success of the grassroots mapping effort galvanized Public Lab’s founders to create a new research and social space for the development of low cost tools that enable community based environmental monitoring and research. By focusing on DIY, open-source tools, Public Lab takes science out of its ivory tower, making technology something anyone can develop, good science something anyone can do, and empowering residents to ask questions and seek answers. With early support from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation via the Knight News Challenge, Public Lab formally launched as a nonprofit organization in summer of 2011. Balloon Mapping of River Restoration at Mardi Gras Pass January 2013: Gulf Restoration Network (GRN), a valuable partner of Public Lab’s and wetlands watchdog group, has repeatedly used aerial mapping tools to advocate for wetlands restoration projects, and to keep community and partner organizations abreast of progress (or lack thereof). One specific instance was the use of kite photography to educate and agitate against the closure of a new branch of the Mississippi River, "Mardi Gras Pass." If left alone, this new distributary arm would feed protective marshes and swamps with nourishing sediment and water. More info can be found here: http://healthygulf.org/201301221984/blog/healthy-waters-/-dead-zone/save-mardi-gras-pass" Image by @eustatic Ironton, LA, United Bulk Coal Terminal monitoring With Public Lab training, tools, and support, Scott Eustis of Gulf Restoration Network (GRN), a Public Lab Organizer, and Devin Martin of Sierra Club, successfully captured low-altitude photos of ongoing coal export dumping in the Mississippi River. The images they captured of the coal pile that builds over time, changed GRN’s understanding of the extent of Oiltanking / United Bulk’s alleged environmental crimes and led to funding for further documentation and water quality analysis of this facility, culminating in a notice of intent to sue under the Clean Water Act. Although GRN had been passively monitoring this site via aircraft, the kite photo, because of its low-altitude and oblique angle, led to a new understanding that moved Louisiana DEQ to do a site visit. GRN, Sierra Club, Louisiana Environmental Action, and Tulane Law, with Public Citizen, have prepared to sue to improve the facility and levy fines against the company for their damages to Louisiana’s waters. The image itself is one of a series of images in legal proceedings, but has more value than others taken from a plane because of its level of detail--it is used as an organizing tool to explain the most desirable picture for officially documenting Oiltanking’s water pollution crimes to volunteer pilots and GRN members who reside in the area. GRN, Sierra Club, Louisiana Environmental Action, and Tulane Law, with Public Citizen, are currently in negotiations with the company. Image CC-BY @gwirth Jamaica Bay, NYC Public Lab organizer Gena Wirth and Eymund Diegel, along with Rob Holmes of the Dredge Research Collaborative, conduct aerial imaging documentation on various restoration islands in Jamaica Bay. Aerial maps document progress on the Army Corps of Engineers initiative to restore eroding salt marsh habitat with recycled dredge material, show shoreline and vegetation change over time, and document citizen participation in these efforts. Jamaica Bay’s Islands are in constant transformation. For decades, Yellow Bar hummock (pictured here) has been shrinking and losing ground due to intensifying urban impacts in the Jamaica Bay watershed. This pattern recently reversed course under the direction of the Army Corps of Engineers, who use the island as a site to dispose of dredge material and as a test case for expanding ecosystems in decline. Like much of Jamaica Bay the resulting landscape is neither fully industrial or fully natural, though it retains aesthetic and performative qualities of both. The flat expanse of newly constructed ground is composed of clean sand dredged from the Ambrose Channel, the main shipping channel leading to the port of NY/NJ. Aerial maps reveal the regularized distribution of the complex marsh matrix of sediment, Spartina, and ribbed mussel, which grow together in a functional ecosystem and stabilize the marshland. Beyond the dotted fringe of cordgrass clumps our photos document the expansive island interior, touched by the Army Corps of Engineers in a more economical fashion with a grid of fences marking Spartina plug planting zones. Some mapping events have been led in partnership with the American Littoral Society and Jamaica Bay Ecowatchers. Image by @cfastie Amherst, MA Monitoring invasive aquatic plant removal with UMass Amherst, the US Fish and Wildlife Service, and Pioneer Valley Open Science, using DIY multispectral aerial photography and balloon mapping kits. Aerial photographs of the lake effectively reveal the invasive water chestnut, as it is distinguishable by both color and texture at low altitudes. The goal is to use normal and color infrared images to locate patches of water chestnut as part of the much needed yearly monitoring to prevent the plant from spreading. Continued tech development is working on automated classification of NDVI images for a “one-click” solution for citizens monitoring invasive species in their waterways. Saugus, MA Public Lab worked on a multi-year project with Basurama.org to monitor the growth and treatment of ash at the open landfill bordering the Saugus waste incinerator, adjacent to both wetlands and residential areas, with annual DIY multispectral kite photography. By engaging residents of the Boston area in investigating where their waste ends up and how it is managed, the project raised local awareness and understanding of local waste cycles as well as of the toxicity and exposure issues related to the waste incineration process and the storage of ash. Recently, Public Lab Organizer, Pat Coyle has worked on a 3D (Surface From Motion (SFM)) reconstruction of the site using images collected from the kite photographers. Project lead, Pablo Rey Mazón, hopes to work towards connecting with volume measurement that other Public Labbers are researching, compare with official data and replicate the project with a similar trash incinerator in Bilbao. Image by @mlamadrid Balloon mapping by the Craft Village in Kampala, Uganda Use of balloon mapping by the Craft Village in Kampala, Uganda to temporarily stall eviction proceedings. The goal was to gain time so the community could organize next steps and create a dialogue around urban planning and displacement. Using aerial mapping the Craft Market combined a high resolution map of the area with community narratives. Doing so, the Craft Market was able to legally stall eviction for a month by using the map to acquire a court injunction. They also interfaced with the Ministry of Tourism via the map they created, demonstrating their value to the tourism industry. The Ministry of Tourism sent a team to evaluate the Market and tried to advocate to the Ministry of Land on behalf of the Market. In the end, the Ministry of Land went through with evicting the community. They decided to do a second map to record the progress of clearing and to document the lack of support during the eviction to demonstrate how the eviction displaced the previously flourishing market to a side street. Using this map, the Craft Market is still in the process of advocating their case. The map in MapKnitter can be found here: https://mapknitter.org/map/view/juakali. Text paraphrased from full research note. Gowanus Low Altitude Mapping (GLAM), in the Gowanus Canal Brooklyn, New York: Working with the Gowanus Canal Conservancy and Proteus Gowanus to conduct environmental investigations in the Gowanus Canal Superfund Site and broader watershed using aerial imagery. There are three distinct goals within GLAM: 1) researching biodiversity to better manage their urban ecosystems, 2) conducting eco-detective work to improve the government’s Superfund clean-up plan, and 3) advocating for watershed health by identifying upland sites that can be used for stormwater absorption to reduce downhill sewage overflow events in the canal. GLAM has succeeded in improving the Superfund clean-up plan: diligent investigation led to the discovery of an unknown freshwater inflow in the Gowanus First Street Basin, and their presentation to the EPA’s Community Advisory Group was so effective that Superfund restoration expanded to an additional city block. Additionally, through vigilant aerial surveying through ice and blazing sun, and subsequent analysis, GLAM identified four (4) active pipes and inflows that the EPA’s survey missed which is leading to other improvements in the clean-up plan. Other independent research projects to uncover historical Revolutionary War burial grounds have led to partnerships with the Brooklyn Preservation Council and the local VA (Veterans) chapter, as well as support from the Governor of Maryland and coverage in the NY Times. Image by @cfastie iFarm field trial monitoring Lee, NH: A multi-year project to document and quantify cover crop soil treatment and silvopasture trials using infrared photography, in conjunction with aerial mapping kits. This is part of a broader effort to develop data-driven analysis tools to support small-scale organic farmers, and is being pursued in partnership with Green Start, Farm Hack, Pioneer Valley Open Science, and the sustainable agriculture program at the University of New Hampshire. Through this work, collaborating farmers have gained a better understanding of the health of their crops, as well as a greater capacity for quantitatively and regularly assessing crop health at low cost. In addition to providing a compelling case study and proof of concept for the tools that are being developed through this work, the research has also produced new insights and initiated new projects -- such as more affordable and robust single-camera multispectral camera platforms -- and has paved the way for participants worldwide to more easily leverage and deploy these tools and techniques. Image by @warren DIY oil testing in Somerville, MA Testing at a Boston-area meetup helped to refine "do-it-yourself" methodologies for identifying different contaminant oils -- ranging from motor oil to tarballs washed ashore after a crude oil spill. Attendees to the event, hosted by the neighborhood education group Parts & Crafts, included local residents, as well as members of the Mystic River Watershed Association and Pioneer Valley Open Science. The prototype testing involved a new technique for distinguishing oil samples via florescence using an inexpensive blue laser pointer. The tests were successful, and the technique proved robust: it yielded consistently good results, despite slight variations in sample preparation. These methods show great promise, and will likely be included in our prototype oil contamination test kit. Follow progress on the oil testing kit here: http://publiclab.org/tag/oil-testing-kit. East Providence, RI Working with local residents and Northeastern University to use kite mapping kits to monitor a metal recycling center for code violations and contamination. This is a long, complex investigation involving legal battles. A neighborhood in East Providence, RI adjacent to a large construction waste grinding business has been experiencing toxic dust filtering into homes and yards from the plant. Many in the neighborhood suffer from respiratory and other health problems thought to be associated with the dust. Neighborhood activists managed (with Toxic Action Center's help) to have the waste grinding stopped. However, the same business owner re-opened the plant as a scrap metal processing operation, but with a permit that allows for limited operations under fifteen tons of wood products. The Balloon mapping during March 2013 was organized to document whether, after the waste grinding stopped, if unpermitted processing of materials other than wood started. Advocates have added detailed annotations to their aerial imagery to communicate about the issues on the ground and attempt to convince authorities to take some action against these illicit activities. Image by @karenv Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station mapping with Cape Cod Bay Watch Plymouth, MA: Using images collected via kite mapping, organizers are challenging the lack of a permit for new construction of a waste storage facility at the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station in Massachusetts. Two mapping trips to date have given local residents, led by CCBW, the ability to keep themselves informed about the progress of the construction, in addition to generating images and a compelling story which has resulted in press coverage (WBUR Boston - NPR) for their monitoring and advocacy efforts.	Revert
38	Shannon	July 23, 2014 20:44 \| almost 10 years ago Note: This page is currently under development. Here we've collected a series of stories or case studies of work our community has done in the past few years. Origins Public Lab was inspired by the information blackout surrounding the 2010 BP Oil Disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. Despite having a massive impact on residents and the environment, local communities received sparse, incomplete data that contradicted what they could see unfolding in front of them. As news of the spill’s severity spread nationally and outrage about limited access to information simmered locally, Public Lab’s would-be co-founders convened in the Gulf Coast as part of the Grassroots Mapping collaborative. The Grassroots Mappers were a group of people seeking to invert the traditional power structure of cartography by using helium balloons and kites to loft their own "community satellites" made with inexpensive digital cameras. Partnering with New Orleans-based environmental justice organization Louisiana Bucket Brigade, the Mappers trained over one hundred local volunteers and activists who collected over 100,000 aerial images of the coastline before, during, and after the oil spread. Then, using MapKnitter, an open source platform created by the group, residents stitched these images into high resolution maps of the disaster as it unfolded. Through a partnership with Google Earth Outreach, these high resolution maps were uploaded as a primary or historical layer to Google Earth, making them globally accessible and allowing residents to speak their truth about what was going on in the Gulf. Grassroots Mapping becomes Public Lab The success of the grassroots mapping effort galvanized Public Lab’s founders to create a new research and social space for the development of low cost tools that enable community based environmental monitoring and research. By focusing on DIY, open-source tools, Public Lab takes science out of its ivory tower, making technology something anyone can develop, good science something anyone can do, and empowering residents to ask questions and seek answers. With early support from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation via the Knight News Challenge, Public Lab formally launched as a nonprofit organization in summer of 2011. Balloon Mapping of River Restoration at Mardi Gras Pass January 2013: Gulf Restoration Network (GRN), a valuable partner of Public Lab’s and wetlands watchdog group, has repeatedly used aerial mapping tools to advocate for wetlands restoration projects, and to keep community and partner organizations abreast of progress (or lack thereof). One specific instance was the use of kite photography to educate and agitate against the closure of a new branch of the Mississippi River, "Mardi Gras Pass." If left alone, this new distributary arm would feed protective marshes and swamps with nourishing sediment and water. More info can be found here: http://healthygulf.org/201301221984/blog/healthy-waters-/-dead-zone/save-mardi-gras-pass" Image by @eustatic Ironton, LA, United Bulk Coal Terminal monitoring With Public Lab training, tools, and support, Scott Eustis of Gulf Restoration Network (GRN), a Public Lab Organizer, and Devin Martin of Sierra Club, successfully captured low-altitude photos of ongoing coal export dumping in the Mississippi River. The images they captured of the coal pile that builds over time, changed GRN’s understanding of the extent of Oiltanking / United Bulk’s alleged environmental crimes and led to funding for further documentation and water quality analysis of this facility, culminating in a notice of intent to sue under the Clean Water Act. Although GRN had been passively monitoring this site via aircraft, the kite photo, because of its low-altitude and oblique angle, led to a new understanding that moved Louisiana DEQ to do a site visit. GRN, Sierra Club, Louisiana Environmental Action, and Tulane Law, with Public Citizen, have prepared to sue to improve the facility and levy fines against the company for their damages to Louisiana’s waters. The image itself is one of a series of images in legal proceedings, but has more value than others taken from a plane because of its level of detail--it is used as an organizing tool to explain the most desirable picture for officially documenting Oiltanking’s water pollution crimes to volunteer pilots and GRN members who reside in the area. GRN, Sierra Club, Louisiana Environmental Action, and Tulane Law, with Public Citizen, are currently in negotiations with the company. Image CC-BY @gwirth Jamaica Bay, NYC Public Lab organizer Gena Wirth and Eymund Diegel, along with Rob Holmes of the Dredge Research Collaborative, conduct aerial imaging documentation on various restoration islands in Jamaica Bay. Aerial maps document progress on the Army Corps of Engineers initiative to restore eroding salt marsh habitat with recycled dredge material, show shoreline and vegetation change over time, and document citizen participation in these efforts. Jamaica Bay’s Islands are in constant transformation. For decades, Yellow Bar hummock (pictured here) has been shrinking and losing ground due to intensifying urban impacts in the Jamaica Bay watershed. This pattern recently reversed course under the direction of the Army Corps of Engineers, who use the island as a site to dispose of dredge material and as a test case for expanding ecosystems in decline. Like much of Jamaica Bay the resulting landscape is neither fully industrial or fully natural, though it retains aesthetic and performative qualities of both. The flat expanse of newly constructed ground is composed of clean sand dredged from the Ambrose Channel, the main shipping channel leading to the port of NY/NJ. Aerial maps reveal the regularized distribution of the complex marsh matrix of sediment, Spartina, and ribbed mussel, which grow together in a functional ecosystem and stabilize the marshland. Beyond the dotted fringe of cordgrass clumps our photos document the expansive island interior, touched by the Army Corps of Engineers in a more economical fashion with a grid of fences marking Spartina plug planting zones. Some mapping events have been led in partnership with the American Littoral Society and Jamaica Bay Ecowatchers. Image by @cfastie Amherst, MA Monitoring invasive aquatic plant removal with UMass Amherst, the US Fish and Wildlife Service, and Pioneer Valley Open Science, using DIY multispectral aerial photography and balloon mapping kits. Aerial photographs of the lake effectively reveal the invasive water chestnut, as it is distinguishable by both color and texture at low altitudes. The goal is to use normal and color infrared images to locate patches of water chestnut as part of the much needed yearly monitoring to prevent the plant from spreading. Continued tech development is working on automated classification of NDVI images for a “one-click” solution for citizens monitoring invasive species in their waterways. Saugus, MA Public Lab worked on a multi-year project with Basurama.org to monitor the growth and treatment of ash at the open landfill bordering the Saugus waste incinerator, adjacent to both wetlands and residential areas, with annual DIY multispectral kite photography. By engaging residents of the Boston area in investigating where their waste ends up and how it is managed, the project raised local awareness and understanding of local waste cycles as well as of the toxicity and exposure issues related to the waste incineration process and the storage of ash. Recently, Public Lab Organizer, Pat Coyle has worked on a 3D (Surface From Motion (SFM)) reconstruction of the site using images collected from the kite photographers. Project lead, Pablo Rey Mazón, hopes to work towards connecting with volume measurement that other Public Labbers are researching, compare with official data and replicate the project with a similar trash incinerator in Bilbao. Image by @mlamadrid Balloon mapping by the Craft Village in Kampala, Uganda Use of balloon mapping by the Craft Village in Kampala, Uganda to temporarily stall eviction proceedings. The goal was to gain time so the community could organize next steps and create a dialogue around urban planning and displacement. Using aerial mapping the Craft Market combined a high resolution map of the area with community narratives. Doing so, the Craft Market was able to legally stall eviction for a month by using the map to acquire a court injunction. They also interfaced with the Ministry of Tourism via the map they created, demonstrating their value to the tourism industry. The Ministry of Tourism sent a team to evaluate the Market and tried to advocate to the Ministry of Land on behalf of the Market. In the end, the Ministry of Land went through with evicting the community. They decided to do a second map to record the progress of clearing and to document the lack of support during the eviction to demonstrate how the eviction displaced the previously flourishing market to a side street. Using this map, the Craft Market is still in the process of advocating their case. The map in MapKnitter can be found here: https://mapknitter.org/map/view/juakali. Text paraphrased from full research note. Gowanus Low Altitude Mapping (GLAM), in the Gowanus Canal Brooklyn, New York: Working with the Gowanus Canal Conservancy and Proteus Gowanus to conduct environmental investigations in the Gowanus Canal Superfund Site and broader watershed using aerial imagery. There are three distinct goals within GLAM: 1) researching biodiversity to better manage their urban ecosystems, 2) conducting eco-detective work to improve the government’s Superfund clean-up plan, and 3) advocating for watershed health by identifying upland sites that can be used for stormwater absorption to reduce downhill sewage overflow events in the canal. GLAM has succeeded in improving the Superfund clean-up plan: diligent investigation led to the discovery of an unknown freshwater inflow in the Gowanus First Street Basin, and their presentation to the EPA’s Community Advisory Group was so effective that Superfund restoration expanded to an additional city block. Additionally, through vigilant aerial surveying through ice and blazing sun, and subsequent analysis, GLAM identified four (4) active pipes and inflows that the EPA’s survey missed which is leading to other improvements in the clean-up plan. Other independent research projects to uncover historical Revolutionary War burial grounds have led to partnerships with the Brooklyn Preservation Council and the local VA (Veterans) chapter, as well as support from the Governor of Maryland and coverage in the NY Times. Image by @cfastie iFarm field trial monitoring Lee, NH: A multi-year project to document and quantify cover crop soil treatment and silvopasture trials using infrared photography, in conjunction with aerial mapping kits. This is part of a broader effort to develop data-driven analysis tools to support small-scale organic farmers, and is being pursued in partnership with Green Start, Farm Hack, Pioneer Valley Open Science, and the sustainable agriculture program at the University of New Hampshire. Through this work, collaborating farmers have gained a better understanding of the health of their crops, as well as a greater capacity for quantitatively and regularly assessing crop health at low cost. In addition to providing a compelling case study and proof of concept for the tools that are being developed through this work, the research has also produced new insights and initiated new projects -- such as more affordable and robust single-camera multispectral camera platforms -- and has paved the way for participants worldwide to more easily leverage and deploy these tools and techniques. Image by @warren DIY oil testing in Somerville, MA Testing at a Boston-area meetup helped to refine "do-it-yourself" methodologies for identifying different contaminant oils -- ranging from motor oil to tarballs washed ashore after a crude oil spill. Attendees to the event, hosted by the neighborhood education group Parts & Crafts, included local residents, as well as members of the Mystic River Watershed Association and Pioneer Valley Open Science. The prototype testing involved a new technique for distinguishing oil samples via florescence using an inexpensive blue laser pointer. The tests were successful, and the technique proved robust: it yielded consistently good results, despite slight variations in sample preparation. These methods show great promise, and will likely be included in our prototype oil contamination test kit. Follow progress on the oil testing kit here: http://publiclab.org/tag/oil-testing-kit. East Providence, RI Working with local residents and Northeastern University to use kite mapping kits to monitor a metal recycling center for code violations and contamination. This is a long, complex investigation involving legal battles. A neighborhood in East Providence, RI adjacent to a large construction waste grinding business has been experiencing toxic dust filtering into homes and yards from the plant. Many in the neighborhood suffer from respiratory and other health problems thought to be associated with the dust. Neighborhood activists managed (with Toxic Action Center's help) to have the waste grinding stopped. However, the same business owner re-opened the plant as a scrap metal processing operation, but with a permit that allows for limited operations under fifteen tons of wood products. The Balloon mapping during March 2013 was organized to document whether, after the waste grinding stopped, if unpermitted processing of materials other than wood started. Advocates have added detailed annotations to their aerial imagery to communicate about the issues on the ground and attempt to convince authorities to take some action against these illicit activities. Image by @karenv Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station mapping with Cape Cod Bay Watch Plymouth, MA: Using images collected via kite mapping, organizers are challenging the lack of a permit for new construction of a waste storage facility at the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station in Massachusetts. Two mapping trips to date have given local residents, led by CCBW, the ability to keep themselves informed about the progress of the construction, in addition to generating images and a compelling story which has resulted in press coverage (WBUR Boston - NPR) for their monitoring and advocacy efforts.	Revert
37	Shannon	July 21, 2014 22:47 \| almost 10 years ago Here we've collected a series of stories or case studies of work our community has done in the past few years. Origins Public Lab was inspired by the information blackout surrounding the 2010 BP Oil Disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. Despite having a massive impact on residents and the environment, local communities received sparse, incomplete data that contradicted what they could see unfolding in front of them. As news of the spill’s severity spread nationally and outrage about limited access to information simmered locally, Public Lab’s would-be co-founders convened in the Gulf Coast as part of the Grassroots Mapping collaborative. The Grassroots Mappers were a group of people seeking to invert the traditional power structure of cartography by using helium balloons and kites to loft their own "community satellites" made with inexpensive digital cameras. Partnering with New Orleans-based environmental justice organization Louisiana Bucket Brigade, the Mappers trained over one hundred local volunteers and activists who collected over 100,000 aerial images of the coastline before, during, and after the oil spread. Then, using MapKnitter, an open source platform created by the group, residents stitched these images into high resolution maps of the disaster as it unfolded. Through a partnership with Google Earth Outreach, these high resolution maps were uploaded as a primary or historical layer to Google Earth, making them globally accessible and allowing residents to speak their truth about what was going on in the Gulf. Grassroots Mapping becomes Public Lab The success of the grassroots mapping effort galvanized Public Lab’s founders to create a new research and social space for the development of low cost tools that enable community based environmental monitoring and research. By focusing on DIY, open-source tools, Public Lab takes science out of its ivory tower, making technology something anyone can develop, good science something anyone can do, and empowering residents to ask questions and seek answers. With early support from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation via the Knight News Challenge, Public Lab formally launched as a nonprofit organization in summer of 2011. Balloon Mapping of River Restoration at Mardi Gras Pass January 2013: Gulf Restoration Network (GRN), a valuable partner of Public Lab’s and wetlands watchdog group, has repeatedly used aerial mapping tools to advocate for wetlands restoration projects, and to keep community and partner organizations abreast of progress (or lack thereof). One specific instance was the use of kite photography to educate and agitate against the closure of a new branch of the Mississippi River, "Mardi Gras Pass." If left alone, this new distributary arm would feed protective marshes and swamps with nourishing sediment and water. More info can be found here: http://healthygulf.org/201301221984/blog/healthy-waters-/-dead-zone/save-mardi-gras-pass" Image by @eustatic Ironton, LA, United Bulk Coal Terminal monitoring With Public Lab training, tools, and support, Scott Eustis of Gulf Restoration Network (GRN), a Public Lab Organizer, and Devin Martin of Sierra Club, successfully captured low-altitude photos of ongoing coal export dumping in the Mississippi River. The images they captured of the coal pile that builds over time, changed GRN’s understanding of the extent of Oiltanking / United Bulk’s alleged environmental crimes and led to funding for further documentation and water quality analysis of this facility, culminating in a notice of intent to sue under the Clean Water Act. Although GRN had been passively monitoring this site via aircraft, the kite photo, because of its low-altitude and oblique angle, led to a new understanding that moved Louisiana DEQ to do a site visit. GRN, Sierra Club, Louisiana Environmental Action, and Tulane Law, with Public Citizen, have prepared to sue to improve the facility and levy fines against the company for their damages to Louisiana’s waters. The image itself is one of a series of images in legal proceedings, but has more value than others taken from a plane because of its level of detail--it is used as an organizing tool to explain the most desirable picture for officially documenting Oiltanking’s water pollution crimes to volunteer pilots and GRN members who reside in the area. GRN, Sierra Club, Louisiana Environmental Action, and Tulane Law, with Public Citizen, are currently in negotiations with the company. Image CC-BY @gwirth Jamaica Bay, NYC Public Lab organizer Gena Wirth and Eymund Diegel, along with Rob Holmes of the Dredge Research Collaborative, conduct aerial imaging documentation on various restoration islands in Jamaica Bay. Aerial maps document progress on the Army Corps of Engineers initiative to restore eroding salt marsh habitat with recycled dredge material, show shoreline and vegetation change over time, and document citizen participation in these efforts. Jamaica Bay’s Islands are in constant transformation. For decades, Yellow Bar hummock (pictured here) has been shrinking and losing ground due to intensifying urban impacts in the Jamaica Bay watershed. This pattern recently reversed course under the direction of the Army Corps of Engineers, who use the island as a site to dispose of dredge material and as a test case for expanding ecosystems in decline. Like much of Jamaica Bay the resulting landscape is neither fully industrial or fully natural, though it retains aesthetic and performative qualities of both. The flat expanse of newly constructed ground is composed of clean sand dredged from the Ambrose Channel, the main shipping channel leading to the port of NY/NJ. Aerial maps reveal the regularized distribution of the complex marsh matrix of sediment, Spartina, and ribbed mussel, which grow together in a functional ecosystem and stabilize the marshland. Beyond the dotted fringe of cordgrass clumps our photos document the expansive island interior, touched by the Army Corps of Engineers in a more economical fashion with a grid of fences marking Spartina plug planting zones. Some mapping events have been led in partnership with the American Littoral Society and Jamaica Bay Ecowatchers. Image by @cfastie Amherst, MA Monitoring invasive aquatic plant removal with UMass Amherst, the US Fish and Wildlife Service, and Pioneer Valley Open Science, using DIY multispectral aerial photography and balloon mapping kits. Aerial photographs of the lake effectively reveal the invasive water chestnut, as it is distinguishable by both color and texture at low altitudes. The goal is to use normal and color infrared images to locate patches of water chestnut as part of the much needed yearly monitoring to prevent the plant from spreading. Continued tech development is working on automated classification of NDVI images for a “one-click” solution for citizens monitoring invasive species in their waterways. Saugus, MA Public Lab worked on a multi-year project with Basurama.org to monitor the growth and treatment of ash at the open landfill bordering the Saugus waste incinerator, adjacent to both wetlands and residential areas, with annual DIY multispectral kite photography. By engaging residents of the Boston area in investigating where their waste ends up and how it is managed, the project raised local awareness and understanding of local waste cycles as well as of the toxicity and exposure issues related to the waste incineration process and the storage of ash. Recently, Public Lab Organizer, Pat Coyle has worked on a 3D (Surface From Motion (SFM)) reconstruction of the site using images collected from the kite photographers. Project lead, Pablo Rey Mazón, hopes to work towards connecting with volume measurement that other Public Labbers are researching, compare with official data and replicate the project with a similar trash incinerator in Bilbao. Image by @mlamadrid Balloon mapping by the Craft Village in Kampala, Uganda Use of balloon mapping by the Craft Village in Kampala, Uganda to temporarily stall eviction proceedings. The goal was to gain time so the community could organize next steps and create a dialogue around urban planning and displacement. Using aerial mapping the Craft Market combined a high resolution map of the area with community narratives. Doing so, the Craft Market was able to legally stall eviction for a month by using the map to acquire a court injunction. They also interfaced with the Ministry of Tourism via the map they created, demonstrating their value to the tourism industry. The Ministry of Tourism sent a team to evaluate the Market and tried to advocate to the Ministry of Land on behalf of the Market. In the end, the Ministry of Land went through with evicting the community. They decided to do a second map to record the progress of clearing and to document the lack of support during the eviction to demonstrate how the eviction displaced the previously flourishing market to a side street. Using this map, the Craft Market is still in the process of advocating their case. The map in MapKnitter can be found here: https://mapknitter.org/map/view/juakali. Text paraphrased from full research note. Gowanus Low Altitude Mapping (GLAM), in the Gowanus Canal Brooklyn, New York: Working with the Gowanus Canal Conservancy and Proteus Gowanus to conduct environmental investigations in the Gowanus Canal Superfund Site and broader watershed using aerial imagery. There are three distinct goals within GLAM: 1) researching biodiversity to better manage their urban ecosystems, 2) conducting eco-detective work to improve the government’s Superfund clean-up plan, and 3) advocating for watershed health by identifying upland sites that can be used for stormwater absorption to reduce downhill sewage overflow events in the canal. GLAM has succeeded in improving the Superfund clean-up plan: diligent investigation led to the discovery of an unknown freshwater inflow in the Gowanus First Street Basin, and their presentation to the EPA’s Community Advisory Group was so effective that Superfund restoration expanded to an additional city block. Additionally, through vigilant aerial surveying through ice and blazing sun, and subsequent analysis, GLAM identified four (4) active pipes and inflows that the EPA’s survey missed which is leading to other improvements in the clean-up plan. Other independent research projects to uncover historical Revolutionary War burial grounds have led to partnerships with the Brooklyn Preservation Council and the local VA (Veterans) chapter, as well as support from the Governor of Maryland and coverage in the NY Times. Image by @cfastie iFarm field trial monitoring Lee, NH: A multi-year project to document and quantify cover crop soil treatment and silvopasture trials using infrared photography, in conjunction with aerial mapping kits. This is part of a broader effort to develop data-driven analysis tools to support small-scale organic farmers, and is being pursued in partnership with Green Start, Farm Hack, Pioneer Valley Open Science, and the sustainable agriculture program at the University of New Hampshire. Through this work, collaborating farmers have gained a better understanding of the health of their crops, as well as a greater capacity for quantitatively and regularly assessing crop health at low cost. In addition to providing a compelling case study and proof of concept for the tools that are being developed through this work, the research has also produced new insights and initiated new projects -- such as more affordable and robust single-camera multispectral camera platforms -- and has paved the way for participants worldwide to more easily leverage and deploy these tools and techniques. Image by @warren DIY oil testing in Somerville, MA Testing at a Boston-area meetup helped to refine "do-it-yourself" methodologies for identifying different contaminant oils -- ranging from motor oil to tarballs washed ashore after a crude oil spill. Attendees to the event, hosted by the neighborhood education group Parts & Crafts, included local residents, as well as members of the Mystic River Watershed Association and Pioneer Valley Open Science. The prototype testing involved a new technique for distinguishing oil samples via florescence using an inexpensive blue laser pointer. The tests were successful, and the technique proved robust: it yielded consistently good results, despite slight variations in sample preparation. These methods show great promise, and will likely be included in our prototype oil contamination test kit. Follow progress on the oil testing kit here: http://publiclab.org/tag/oil-testing-kit. East Providence, RI Working with local residents and Northeastern University to use kite mapping kits to monitor a metal recycling center for code violations and contamination. This is a long, complex investigation involving legal battles. A neighborhood in East Providence, RI adjacent to a large construction waste grinding business has been experiencing toxic dust filtering into homes and yards from the plant. Many in the neighborhood suffer from respiratory and other health problems thought to be associated with the dust. Neighborhood activists managed (with Toxic Action Center's help) to have the waste grinding stopped. However, the same business owner re-opened the plant as a scrap metal processing operation, but with a permit that allows for limited operations under fifteen tons of wood products. The Balloon mapping during March 2013 was organized to document whether, after the waste grinding stopped, if unpermitted processing of materials other than wood started. Advocates have added detailed annotations to their aerial imagery to communicate about the issues on the ground and attempt to convince authorities to take some action against these illicit activities. Image by @karenv Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station mapping with Cape Cod Bay Watch Plymouth, MA: Using images collected via kite mapping, organizers are challenging the lack of a permit for new construction of a waste storage facility at the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station in Massachusetts. Two mapping trips to date have given local residents, led by CCBW, the ability to keep themselves informed about the progress of the construction, in addition to generating images and a compelling story which has resulted in press coverage (WBUR Boston - NPR) for their monitoring and advocacy efforts.	Revert
36	warren	July 21, 2014 22:29 \| almost 10 years ago Here we've collected a series of stories or case studies of work our community has done in the past few years. Origins Public Lab was inspired by the information blackout surrounding the 2010 BP Oil Disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. Despite having a massive impact on residents and the environment, local communities received sparse, incomplete data that contradicted what they could see unfolding in front of them. As news of the spill’s severity spread nationally and outrage about limited access to information simmered locally, Public Lab’s would-be co-founders convened in the Gulf Coast as part of the Grassroots Mapping collaborative. The Grassroots Mappers were a group of people seeking to invert the traditional power structure of cartography by using helium balloons and kites to loft their own "community satellites" made with inexpensive digital cameras. Partnering with New Orleans-based environmental justice organization Louisiana Bucket Brigade, the Mappers trained over one hundred local volunteers and activists who collected over 100,000 aerial images of the coastline before, during, and after the oil spread. Then, using MapKnitter, an open source platform created by the group, residents stitched these images into high resolution maps of the disaster as it unfolded. Through a partnership with Google Earth Outreach, these high resolution maps were uploaded as a primary or historical layer to Google Earth, making them globally accessible and allowing residents to speak their truth about what was going on in the Gulf. Grassroots Mapping becomes Public Lab The success of the grassroots mapping effort galvanized Public Lab’s founders to create a new research and social space for the development of low cost tools that enable community based environmental monitoring and research. By focusing on DIY, open-source tools, Public Lab takes science out of its ivory tower, making technology something anyone can develop, good science something anyone can do, and empowering residents to ask questions and seek answers. With early support from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation via the Knight News Challenge, Public Lab formally launched as a nonprofit organization in summer of 2011. Balloon Mapping of River Restoration at Mardi Gras Pass January 2013: Gulf Restoration Network (GRN), a valuable partner of Public Lab’s and wetlands watchdog group, has repeatedly used aerial mapping tools to advocate for wetlands restoration projects, and to keep community and partner organizations abreast of progress (or lack thereof). One specific instance was the use of kite photography to educate and agitate against the closure of a new branch of the Mississippi River, "Mardi Gras Pass." If left alone, this new distributary arm would feed protective marshes and swamps with nourishing sediment and water. More info can be found here: http://healthygulf.org/201301221984/blog/healthy-waters-/-dead-zone/save-mardi-gras-pass" Image by @eustatic Ironton, LA, United Bulk Coal Terminal monitoring With Public Lab training, tools, and support, Scott Eustis of Gulf Restoration Network (GRN), a Public Lab Organizer, and Devin Martin of Sierra Club, successfully captured low-altitude photos of ongoing coal export dumping in the Mississippi River. The images they captured of the coal pile that builds over time, changed GRN’s understanding of the extent of Oiltanking / United Bulk’s alleged environmental crimes and led to funding for further documentation and water quality analysis of this facility, culminating in a notice of intent to sue under the Clean Water Act. Although GRN had been passively monitoring this site via aircraft, the kite photo, because of its low-altitude and oblique angle, led to a new understanding that moved Louisiana DEQ to do a site visit. GRN, Sierra Club, Louisiana Environmental Action, and Tulane Law, with Public Citizen, have prepared to sue to improve the facility and levy fines against the company for their damages to Louisiana’s waters. The image itself is one of a series of images in legal proceedings, but has more value than others taken from a plane because of its level of detail--it is used as an organizing tool to explain the most desirable picture for officially documenting Oiltanking’s water pollution crimes to volunteer pilots and GRN members who reside in the area. GRN, Sierra Club, Louisiana Environmental Action, and Tulane Law, with Public Citizen, are currently in negotiations with the company. Image CC-BY @gwirth Jamaica Bay, NYC Public Lab organizer Gena Wirth and Eymund Diegel, along with Rob Holmes of the Dredge Research Collaborative, conduct aerial imaging documentation on various restoration islands in Jamaica Bay. Aerial maps document progress on the Army Corps of Engineers initiative to restore eroding salt marsh habitat with recycled dredge material, show shoreline and vegetation change over time, and document citizen participation in these efforts. Jamaica Bay’s Islands are in constant transformation. For decades, Yellow Bar hummock (pictured here) has been shrinking and losing ground due to intensifying urban impacts in the Jamaica Bay watershed. This pattern recently reversed course under the direction of the Army Corps of Engineers, who use the island as a site to dispose of dredge material and as a test case for expanding ecosystems in decline. Like much of Jamaica Bay the resulting landscape is neither fully industrial or fully natural, though it retains aesthetic and performative qualities of both. The flat expanse of newly constructed ground is composed of clean sand dredged from the Ambrose Channel, the main shipping channel leading to the port of NY/NJ. Aerial maps reveal the regularized distribution of the complex marsh matrix of sediment, Spartina, and ribbed mussel, which grow together in a functional ecosystem and stabilize the marshland. Beyond the dotted fringe of cordgrass clumps our photos document the expansive island interior, touched by the Army Corps of Engineers in a more economical fashion with a grid of fences marking Spartina plug planting zones. Some mapping events have been led in partnership with the American Littoral Society and Jamaica Bay Ecowatchers. Image by @cfastie Amherst, MA Monitoring invasive aquatic plant removal with UMass Amherst, the US Fish and Wildlife Service, and Pioneer Valley Open Science, using DIY multispectral aerial photography and balloon mapping kits. Aerial photographs of the lake effectively reveal the invasive water chestnut, as it is distinguishable by both color and texture at low altitudes. The goal is to use normal and color infrared images to locate patches of water chestnut as part of the much needed yearly monitoring to prevent the plant from spreading. Continued tech development is working on automated classification of NDVI images for a “one-click” solution for citizens monitoring invasive species in their waterways. Saugus, MA Public Lab worked on a multi-year project with Basurama.org to monitor the growth and treatment of ash at the open landfill bordering the Saugus waste incinerator, adjacent to both wetlands and residential areas, with annual DIY multispectral kite photography. By engaging residents of the Boston area in investigating where their waste ends up and how it is managed, the project raised local awareness and understanding of local waste cycles as well as of the toxicity and exposure issues related to the waste incineration process and the storage of ash. Recently, Public Lab Organizer, Pat Coyle has worked on a 3D (Surface From Motion (SFM)) reconstruction of the site using images collected from the kite photographers. Project lead, Pablo Rey Mazón, hopes to work towards connecting with volume measurement that other Public Labbers are researching, compare with official data and replicate the project with a similar trash incinerator in Bilbao. Image by @mlamadrid Balloon mapping by the Craft Village in Kampala, Uganda Use of balloon mapping by the Craft Village in Kampala, Uganda to temporarily stall eviction proceedings. The goal was to gain time so the community could organize next steps and create a dialogue around urban planning and displacement. Using aerial mapping the Craft Market combined a high resolution map of the area with community narratives. Doing so, the Craft Market was able to legally stall eviction for a month by using the map to acquire a court injunction. They also interfaced with the Ministry of Tourism via the map they created, demonstrating their value to the tourism industry. The Ministry of Tourism sent a team to evaluate the Market and tried to advocate to the Ministry of Land on behalf of the Market. In the end, the Ministry of Land went through with evicting the community. They decided to do a second map to record the progress of clearing and to document the lack of support during the eviction to demonstrate how the eviction displaced the previously flourishing market to a side street. Using this map, the Craft Market is still in the process of advocating their case. The map in MapKnitter can be found here: https://mapknitter.org/map/view/juakali. Text paraphrased from full research note. Gowanus Low Altitude Mapping (GLAM), in the Gowanus Canal Brooklyn, New York: Working with the Gowanus Canal Conservancy and Proteus Gowanus to conduct environmental investigations in the Gowanus Canal Superfund Site and broader watershed using aerial imagery. There are three distinct goals within GLAM: 1) researching biodiversity to better manage their urban ecosystems, 2) conducting eco-detective work to improve the government’s Superfund clean-up plan, and 3) advocating for watershed health by identifying upland sites that can be used for stormwater absorption to reduce downhill sewage overflow events in the canal. GLAM has succeeded in improving the Superfund clean-up plan: diligent investigation led to the discovery of an unknown freshwater inflow in the Gowanus First Street Basin, and their presentation to the EPA’s Community Advisory Group was so effective that Superfund restoration expanded to an additional city block. Additionally, through vigilant aerial surveying through ice and blazing sun, and subsequent analysis, GLAM identified four (4) active pipes and inflows that the EPA’s survey missed which is leading to other improvements in the clean-up plan. Other independent research projects to uncover historical Revolutionary War burial grounds have led to partnerships with the Brooklyn Preservation Council and the local VA (Veterans) chapter, as well as support from the Governor of Maryland and coverage in the NY Times. Image by @cfastie iFarm field trial monitoring Lee, NH: A multi-year project to document and quantify cover crop soil treatment and silvopasture trials using infrared photography, in conjunction with aerial mapping kits. This is part of a broader effort to develop data-driven analysis tools to support small-scale organic farmers, and is being pursued in partnership with Green Start, Farm Hack, Pioneer Valley Open Science, and the sustainable agriculture program at the University of New Hampshire. Through this work, collaborating farmers have gained a better understanding of the health of their crops, as well as a greater capacity for quantitatively and regularly assessing crop health at low cost. In addition to providing a compelling case study and proof of concept for the tools that are being developed through this work, the research has also produced new insights and initiated new projects -- such as more affordable and robust single-camera multispectral camera platforms -- and has paved the way for participants worldwide to more easily leverage and deploy these tools and techniques. Image by @warren DIY oil testing in Somerville, MA Testing at a Boston-area meetup helped to refine "do-it-yourself" methodologies for identifying different contaminant oils -- ranging from motor oil to tarballs washed ashore after a crude oil spill. Attendees to the event, hosted by the neighborhood education group Parts & Crafts, included local residents, as well as members of the Mystic River Watershed Association and Pioneer Valley Open Science. The prototype testing involved a new technique for distinguishing oil samples via florescence using an inexpensive blue laser pointer. The tests were successful, and the technique proved robust: it yielded consistently good results, despite slight variations in sample preparation. These methods show great promise, and will likely be included in our prototype oil contamination test kit. Follow progress on the oil testing kit here: http://publiclab.org/tag/oil-testing-kit. East Providence, RI Working with local residents and Northeastern University to use kite mapping kits to monitor a metal recycling center for code violations and contamination. This is a long, complex investigation involving legal battles. A neighborhood in East Providence, RI adjacent to a large construction waste grinding business has been experiencing toxic dust filtering into homes and yards from the plant. Many in the neighborhood suffer from respiratory and other health problems thought to be associated with the dust. Neighborhood activists managed (with Toxic Action Center's help) to have the waste grinding stopped. However, the same business owner re-opened the plant as a scrap metal processing operation, but with a permit that allows for limited operations under fifteen tons of wood products. The Balloon mapping during March 2013 was organized to document whether, after the waste grinding stopped, if unpermitted processing of materials other than wood started. Advocates have added detailed annotations to their aerial imagery to communicate about the issues on the ground and attempt to convince authorities to take some action against these illicit activities. Image by @karenv Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station mapping with Cape Cod Bay Watch Plymouth, MA: Using images collected via kite mapping, organizers are challenging the lack of a permit for new construction of a waste storage facility at the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station in Massachusetts. Two mapping trips to date have given local residents, led by CCBW, the ability to keep themselves informed about the progress of the construction, in addition to generating images and a compelling story which has resulted in press coverage (WBUR Boston - NPR) for their monitoring and advocacy efforts.	Revert
35	warren	July 21, 2014 22:27 \| almost 10 years ago Here we've collected a series of stories or case studies of work our community has done in the past few years. Origins Public Lab was inspired by the information blackout surrounding the 2010 BP Oil Disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. Despite having a massive impact on residents and the environment, local communities received sparse, incomplete data that contradicted what they could see unfolding in front of them. As news of the spill’s severity spread nationally and outrage about limited access to information simmered locally, Public Lab’s would-be co-founders convened in the Gulf Coast as part of the Grassroots Mapping collaborative. The Grassroots Mappers were a group of people seeking to invert the traditional power structure of cartography by using helium balloons and kites to loft their own "community satellites" made with inexpensive digital cameras. Partnering with New Orleans-based environmental justice organization Louisiana Bucket Brigade, the Mappers trained over one hundred local volunteers and activists who collected over 100,000 aerial images of the coastline before, during, and after the oil spread. Then, using MapKnitter, an open source platform created by the group, residents stitched these images into high resolution maps of the disaster as it unfolded. Through a partnership with Google Earth Outreach, these high resolution maps were uploaded as a primary or historical layer to Google Earth, making them globally accessible and allowing residents to speak their truth about what was going on in the Gulf. Grassroots Mapping becomes Public Lab The success of the grassroots mapping effort galvanized Public Lab’s founders to create a new research and social space for the development of low cost tools that enable community based environmental monitoring and research. By focusing on DIY, open-source tools, Public Lab takes science out of its ivory tower, making technology something anyone can develop, good science something anyone can do, and empowering residents to ask questions and seek answers. With early support from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation via the Knight News Challenge, Public Lab formally launched as a nonprofit organization in summer of 2011. Balloon Mapping of River Restoration at Mardi Gras Pass January 2013: Gulf Restoration Network (GRN), a valuable partner of Public Lab’s and wetlands watchdog group, has repeatedly used aerial mapping tools to advocate for wetlands restoration projects, and to keep community and partner organizations abreast of progress (or lack thereof). One specific instance was the use of kite photography to educate and agitate against the closure of a new branch of the Mississippi River, "Mardi Gras Pass." If left alone, this new distributary arm would feed protective marshes and swamps with nourishing sediment and water. More info can be found here: http://healthygulf.org/201301221984/blog/healthy-waters-/-dead-zone/save-mardi-gras-pass" Image by @eustatic Ironton, LA, United Bulk Coal Terminal monitoring With Public Lab training, tools, and support, Scott Eustis of Gulf Restoration Network (GRN), a Public Lab Organizer, and Devin Martin of Sierra Club, successfully captured low-altitude photos of ongoing coal export dumping in the Mississippi River. The images they captured of the coal pile that builds over time, changed GRN’s understanding of the extent of Oiltanking / United Bulk’s alleged environmental crimes and led to funding for further documentation and water quality analysis of this facility, culminating in a notice of intent to sue under the Clean Water Act. Although GRN had been passively monitoring this site via aircraft, the kite photo, because of its low-altitude and oblique angle, led to a new understanding that moved Louisiana DEQ to do a site visit. GRN, Sierra Club, Louisiana Environmental Action, and Tulane Law, with Public Citizen, have prepared to sue to improve the facility and levy fines against the company for their damages to Louisiana’s waters. The image itself is one of a series of images in legal proceedings, but has more value than others taken from a plane because of its level of detail--it is used as an organizing tool to explain the most desirable picture for officially documenting Oiltanking’s water pollution crimes to volunteer pilots and GRN members who reside in the area. GRN, Sierra Club, Louisiana Environmental Action, and Tulane Law, with Public Citizen, are currently in negotiations with the company. Image from http://www.010collaborative.net Jamaica Bay, NYC Public Lab organizer Gena Wirth and Eymund Diegel, along with Rob Holmes of the Dredge Research Collaborative, conduct aerial imaging documentation on various restoration islands in Jamaica Bay. Aerial maps document progress on the Army Corps of Engineers initiative to restore eroding salt marsh habitat with recycled dredge material, show shoreline and vegetation change over time, and document citizen participation in these efforts. Jamaica Bay’s Islands are in constant transformation. For decades, Yellow Bar hummock (pictured here) has been shrinking and losing ground due to intensifying urban impacts in the Jamaica Bay watershed. This pattern recently reversed course under the direction of the Army Corps of Engineers, who use the island as a site to dispose of dredge material and as a test case for expanding ecosystems in decline. Like much of Jamaica Bay the resulting landscape is neither fully industrial or fully natural, though it retains aesthetic and performative qualities of both. The flat expanse of newly constructed ground is composed of clean sand dredged from the Ambrose Channel, the main shipping channel leading to the port of NY/NJ. Aerial maps reveal the regularized distribution of the complex marsh matrix of sediment, Spartina, and ribbed mussel, which grow together in a functional ecosystem and stabilize the marshland. Beyond the dotted fringe of cordgrass clumps our photos document the expansive island interior, touched by the Army Corps of Engineers in a more economical fashion with a grid of fences marking Spartina plug planting zones. Some mapping events have been led in partnership with the American Littoral Society and Jamaica Bay Ecowatchers. Image by @cfastie Amherst, MA Monitoring invasive aquatic plant removal with UMass Amherst, the US Fish and Wildlife Service, and Pioneer Valley Open Science, using DIY multispectral aerial photography and balloon mapping kits. Aerial photographs of the lake effectively reveal the invasive water chestnut, as it is distinguishable by both color and texture at low altitudes. The goal is to use normal and color infrared images to locate patches of water chestnut as part of the much needed yearly monitoring to prevent the plant from spreading. Continued tech development is working on automated classification of NDVI images for a “one-click” solution for citizens monitoring invasive species in their waterways. Saugus, MA Public Lab worked on a multi-year project with Basurama.org to monitor the growth and treatment of ash at the open landfill bordering the Saugus waste incinerator, adjacent to both wetlands and residential areas, with annual DIY multispectral kite photography. By engaging residents of the Boston area in investigating where their waste ends up and how it is managed, the project raised local awareness and understanding of local waste cycles as well as of the toxicity and exposure issues related to the waste incineration process and the storage of ash. Recently, Public Lab Organizer, Pat Coyle has worked on a 3D (Surface From Motion (SFM)) reconstruction of the site using images collected from the kite photographers. Project lead, Pablo Rey Mazón, hopes to work towards connecting with volume measurement that other Public Labbers are researching, compare with official data and replicate the project with a similar trash incinerator in Bilbao. Image by @mlamadrid Balloon mapping by the Craft Village in Kampala, Uganda Use of balloon mapping by the Craft Village in Kampala, Uganda to temporarily stall eviction proceedings. The goal was to gain time so the community could organize next steps and create a dialogue around urban planning and displacement. Using aerial mapping the Craft Market combined a high resolution map of the area with community narratives. Doing so, the Craft Market was able to legally stall eviction for a month by using the map to acquire a court injunction. They also interfaced with the Ministry of Tourism via the map they created, demonstrating their value to the tourism industry. The Ministry of Tourism sent a team to evaluate the Market and tried to advocate to the Ministry of Land on behalf of the Market. In the end, the Ministry of Land went through with evicting the community. They decided to do a second map to record the progress of clearing and to document the lack of support during the eviction to demonstrate how the eviction displaced the previously flourishing market to a side street. Using this map, the Craft Market is still in the process of advocating their case. The map in MapKnitter can be found here: https://mapknitter.org/map/view/juakali. Text paraphrased from full research note. Gowanus Low Altitude Mapping (GLAM), in the Gowanus Canal Brooklyn, New York: Working with the Gowanus Canal Conservancy and Proteus Gowanus to conduct environmental investigations in the Gowanus Canal Superfund Site and broader watershed using aerial imagery. There are three distinct goals within GLAM: 1) researching biodiversity to better manage their urban ecosystems, 2) conducting eco-detective work to improve the government’s Superfund clean-up plan, and 3) advocating for watershed health by identifying upland sites that can be used for stormwater absorption to reduce downhill sewage overflow events in the canal. GLAM has succeeded in improving the Superfund clean-up plan: diligent investigation led to the discovery of an unknown freshwater inflow in the Gowanus First Street Basin, and their presentation to the EPA’s Community Advisory Group was so effective that Superfund restoration expanded to an additional city block. Additionally, through vigilant aerial surveying through ice and blazing sun, and subsequent analysis, GLAM identified four (4) active pipes and inflows that the EPA’s survey missed which is leading to other improvements in the clean-up plan. Other independent research projects to uncover historical Revolutionary War burial grounds have led to partnerships with the Brooklyn Preservation Council and the local VA (Veterans) chapter, as well as support from the Governor of Maryland and coverage in the NY Times. Image by @cfastie iFarm field trial monitoring Lee, NH: A multi-year project to document and quantify cover crop soil treatment and silvopasture trials using infrared photography, in conjunction with aerial mapping kits. This is part of a broader effort to develop data-driven analysis tools to support small-scale organic farmers, and is being pursued in partnership with Green Start, Farm Hack, Pioneer Valley Open Science, and the sustainable agriculture program at the University of New Hampshire. Through this work, collaborating farmers have gained a better understanding of the health of their crops, as well as a greater capacity for quantitatively and regularly assessing crop health at low cost. In addition to providing a compelling case study and proof of concept for the tools that are being developed through this work, the research has also produced new insights and initiated new projects -- such as more affordable and robust single-camera multispectral camera platforms -- and has paved the way for participants worldwide to more easily leverage and deploy these tools and techniques. Image by @warren DIY oil testing in Somerville, MA Testing at a Boston-area meetup helped to refine "do-it-yourself" methodologies for identifying different contaminant oils -- ranging from motor oil to tarballs washed ashore after a crude oil spill. Attendees to the event, hosted by the neighborhood education group Parts & Crafts, included local residents, as well as members of the Mystic River Watershed Association and Pioneer Valley Open Science. The prototype testing involved a new technique for distinguishing oil samples via florescence using an inexpensive blue laser pointer. The tests were successful, and the technique proved robust: it yielded consistently good results, despite slight variations in sample preparation. These methods show great promise, and will likely be included in our prototype oil contamination test kit. Follow progress on the oil testing kit here: http://publiclab.org/tag/oil-testing-kit. East Providence, RI Working with local residents and Northeastern University to use kite mapping kits to monitor a metal recycling center for code violations and contamination. This is a long, complex investigation involving legal battles. A neighborhood in East Providence, RI adjacent to a large construction waste grinding business has been experiencing toxic dust filtering into homes and yards from the plant. Many in the neighborhood suffer from respiratory and other health problems thought to be associated with the dust. Neighborhood activists managed (with Toxic Action Center's help) to have the waste grinding stopped. However, the same business owner re-opened the plant as a scrap metal processing operation, but with a permit that allows for limited operations under fifteen tons of wood products. The Balloon mapping during March 2013 was organized to document whether, after the waste grinding stopped, if unpermitted processing of materials other than wood started. Advocates have added detailed annotations to their aerial imagery to communicate about the issues on the ground and attempt to convince authorities to take some action against these illicit activities. Image by @karenv Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station mapping with Cape Cod Bay Watch Plymouth, MA: Using images collected via kite mapping, organizers are challenging the lack of a permit for new construction of a waste storage facility at the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station in Massachusetts. Two mapping trips to date have given local residents, led by CCBW, the ability to keep themselves informed about the progress of the construction, in addition to generating images and a compelling story which has resulted in press coverage (WBUR Boston - NPR) for their monitoring and advocacy efforts.	Revert
34	warren	July 21, 2014 22:26 \| almost 10 years ago Here we've collected a series of stories or case studies of work our community has done in the past few years. Origins Public Lab was inspired by the information blackout surrounding the 2010 BP Oil Disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. Despite having a massive impact on residents and the environment, local communities received sparse, incomplete data that contradicted what they could see unfolding in front of them. As news of the spill’s severity spread nationally and outrage about limited access to information simmered locally, Public Lab’s would-be co-founders convened in the Gulf Coast as part of the Grassroots Mapping collaborative. The Grassroots Mappers were a group of people seeking to invert the traditional power structure of cartography by using helium balloons and kites to loft their own "community satellites" made with inexpensive digital cameras. Partnering with New Orleans-based environmental justice organization Louisiana Bucket Brigade, the Mappers trained over one hundred local volunteers and activists who collected over 100,000 aerial images of the coastline before, during, and after the oil spread. Then, using MapKnitter, an open source platform created by the group, residents stitched these images into high resolution maps of the disaster as it unfolded. Through a partnership with Google Earth Outreach, these high resolution maps were uploaded as a primary or historical layer to Google Earth, making them globally accessible and allowing residents to speak their truth about what was going on in the Gulf. Grassroots Mapping becomes Public Lab The success of the grassroots mapping effort galvanized Public Lab’s founders to create a new research and social space for the development of low cost tools that enable community based environmental monitoring and research. By focusing on DIY, open-source tools, Public Lab takes science out of its ivory tower, making technology something anyone can develop, good science something anyone can do, and empowering residents to ask questions and seek answers. With early support from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation via the Knight News Challenge, Public Lab formally launched as a nonprofit organization in summer of 2011. Balloon Mapping of River Restoration at Mardi Gras Pass January 2013: Gulf Restoration Network (GRN), a valuable partner of Public Lab’s and wetlands watchdog group, has repeatedly used aerial mapping tools to advocate for wetlands restoration projects, and to keep community and partner organizations abreast of progress (or lack thereof). One specific instance was the use of kite photography to educate and agitate against the closure of a new branch of the Mississippi River, "Mardi Gras Pass." If left alone, this new distributary arm would feed protective marshes and swamps with nourishing sediment and water. More info can be found here: http://healthygulf.org/201301221984/blog/healthy-waters-/-dead-zone/save-mardi-gras-pass" Image by @eustatic Ironton, LA, United Bulk Coal Terminal monitoring With Public Lab training, tools, and support, Scott Eustis of Gulf Restoration Network (GRN), a Public Lab Organizer, and Devin Martin of Sierra Club, successfully captured low-altitude photos of ongoing coal export dumping in the Mississippi River. The images they captured of the coal pile that builds over time, changed GRN’s understanding of the extent of Oiltanking / United Bulk’s alleged environmental crimes and led to funding for further documentation and water quality analysis of this facility, culminating in a notice of intent to sue under the Clean Water Act. Although GRN had been passively monitoring this site via aircraft, the kite photo, because of its low-altitude and oblique angle, led to a new understanding that moved Louisiana DEQ to do a site visit. GRN, Sierra Club, Louisiana Environmental Action, and Tulane Law, with Public Citizen, have prepared to sue to improve the facility and levy fines against the company for their damages to Louisiana’s waters. The image itself is one of a series of images in legal proceedings, but has more value than others taken from a plane because of its level of detail--it is used as an organizing tool to explain the most desirable picture for officially documenting Oiltanking’s water pollution crimes to volunteer pilots and GRN members who reside in the area. GRN, Sierra Club, Louisiana Environmental Action, and Tulane Law, with Public Citizen, are currently in negotiations with the company. Image from http://www.010collaborative.net Jamaica Bay, NYC Public Lab organizer Gena Wirth and Eymund Diegel, along with Rob Holmes of the Dredge Research Collaborative, conduct aerial imaging documentation on various restoration islands in Jamaica Bay. Aerial maps document progress on the Army Corps of Engineers initiative to restore eroding salt marsh habitat with recycled dredge material, show shoreline and vegetation change over time, and document citizen participation in these efforts. Jamaica Bay’s Islands are in constant transformation. For decades, Yellow Bar hummock (pictured here) has been shrinking and losing ground due to intensifying urban impacts in the Jamaica Bay watershed. This pattern recently reversed course under the direction of the Army Corps of Engineers, who use the island as a site to dispose of dredge material and as a test case for expanding ecosystems in decline. Like much of Jamaica Bay the resulting landscape is neither fully industrial or fully natural, though it retains aesthetic and performative qualities of both. The flat expanse of newly constructed ground is composed of clean sand dredged from the Ambrose Channel, the main shipping channel leading to the port of NY/NJ. Aerial maps reveal the regularized distribution of the complex marsh matrix of sediment, Spartina, and ribbed mussel, which grow together in a functional ecosystem and stabilize the marshland. Beyond the dotted fringe of cordgrass clumps our photos document the expansive island interior, touched by the Army Corps of Engineers in a more economical fashion with a grid of fences marking Spartina plug planting zones. Some mapping events have been led in partnership with the American Littoral Society and Jamaica Bay Ecowatchers. Image by @cfastie Amherst, MA Monitoring invasive aquatic plant removal with UMass Amherst, the US Fish and Wildlife Service, and Pioneer Valley Open Science, using DIY multispectral aerial photography and balloon mapping kits. Aerial photographs of the lake effectively reveal the invasive water chestnut, as it is distinguishable by both color and texture at low altitudes. The goal is to use normal and color infrared images to locate patches of water chestnut as part of the much needed yearly monitoring to prevent the plant from spreading. Continued tech development is working on automated classification of NDVI images for a “one-click” solution for citizens monitoring invasive species in their waterways. Saugus, MA Public Lab worked on a multi-year project with Basurama.org to monitor the growth and treatment of ash at the open landfill bordering the Saugus waste incinerator, adjacent to both wetlands and residential areas, with annual DIY multispectral kite photography. By engaging residents of the Boston area in investigating where their waste ends up and how it is managed, the project raised local awareness and understanding of local waste cycles as well as of the toxicity and exposure issues related to the waste incineration process and the storage of ash. Recently, Public Lab Organizer, Pat Coyle has worked on a 3D (Surface From Motion (SFM)) reconstruction of the site using images collected from the kite photographers. Project lead, Pablo Rey Mazón, hopes to work towards connecting with volume measurement that other Public Labbers are researching, compare with official data and replicate the project with a similar trash incinerator in Bilbao. Image by @mlamadrid Balloon mapping by the Craft Village in Kampala, Uganda Use of balloon mapping by the Craft Village in Kampala, Uganda to temporarily stall eviction proceedings. The goal was to gain time so the community could organize next steps and create a dialogue around urban planning and displacement. Using aerial mapping the Craft Market combined a high resolution map of the area with community narratives. Doing so, the Craft Market was able to legally stall eviction for a month by using the map to acquire a court injunction. They also interfaced with the Ministry of Tourism via the map they created, demonstrating their value to the tourism industry. The Ministry of Tourism sent a team to evaluate the Market and tried to advocate to the Ministry of Land on behalf of the Market. In the end, the Ministry of Land went through with evicting the community. They decided to do a second map to record the progress of clearing and to document the lack of support during the eviction to demonstrate how the eviction displaced the previously flourishing market to a side street. Using this map, the Craft Market is still in the process of advocating their case. The map in MapKnitter can be found here: https://mapknitter.org/map/view/juakali. Text paraphrased from full research note. Gowanus Low Altitude Mapping (GLAM), in the Gowanus Canal Brooklyn, New York: Working with the Gowanus Canal Conservancy and Proteus Gowanus to conduct environmental investigations in the Gowanus Canal Superfund Site and broader watershed using aerial imagery. There are three distinct goals within GLAM: 1) researching biodiversity to better manage their urban ecosystems, 2) conducting eco-detective work to improve the government’s Superfund clean-up plan, and 3) advocating for watershed health by identifying upland sites that can be used for stormwater absorption to reduce downhill sewage overflow events in the canal. GLAM has succeeded in improving the Superfund clean-up plan: diligent investigation led to the discovery of an unknown freshwater inflow in the Gowanus First Street Basin, and their presentation to the EPA’s Community Advisory Group was so effective that Superfund restoration expanded to an additional city block. Additionally, through vigilant aerial surveying through ice and blazing sun, and subsequent analysis, GLAM identified four (4) active pipes and inflows that the EPA’s survey missed which is leading to other improvements in the clean-up plan. Other independent research projects to uncover historical Revolutionary War burial grounds have led to partnerships with the Brooklyn Preservation Council and the local VA (Veterans) chapter, as well as support from the Governor of Maryland and coverage in the NY Times. Image by @cfastie iFarm field trial monitoring Lee, NH: A multi-year project to document and quantify cover crop soil treatment and silvopasture trials using infrared photography, in conjunction with aerial mapping kits. This is part of a broader effort to develop data-driven analysis tools to support small-scale organic farmers, and is being pursued in partnership with Green Start, Farm Hack, Pioneer Valley Open Science, and the sustainable agriculture program at the University of New Hampshire. Through this work, collaborating farmers have gained a better understanding of the health of their crops, as well as a greater capacity for quantitatively and regularly assessing crop health at low cost. In addition to providing a compelling case study and proof of concept for the tools that are being developed through this work, the research has also produced new insights and initiated new projects -- such as more affordable and robust single-camera multispectral camera platforms -- and has paved the way for participants worldwide to more easily leverage and deploy these tools and techniques. Image by @warren DIY oil testing in Somerville, MA Testing at a Boston-area meetup helped to refine "do-it-yourself" methodologies for identifying different contaminant oils -- ranging from motor oil to tarballs washed ashore after a crude oil spill. Attendees to the event, hosted by the neighborhood education group Parts & Crafts, included local residents, as well as members of the Mystic River Watershed Association and Pioneer Valley Open Science. The prototype testing involved a new technique for distinguishing oil samples via florescence using an inexpensive blue laser pointer. The tests were successful, and the technique proved robust: it yielded consistently good results, despite slight variations in sample preparation. These methods show great promise, and will likely be included in our prototype oil contamination test kit. Follow progress on the oil testing kit here: http://publiclab.org/tag/oil-testing-kit. East Providence, RI Working with local residents and Northeastern University to use kite mapping kits to monitor a metal recycling center for code violations and contamination. This is a long, complex investigation involving legal battles. A neighborhood in East Providence, RI adjacent to a large construction waste grinding business has been experiencing toxic dust filtering into homes and yards from the plant. Many in the neighborhood suffer from respiratory and other health problems thought to be associated with the dust. Neighborhood activists managed (with Toxic Action Center's help) to have the waste grinding stopped. However, the same business owner re-opened the plant as a scrap metal processing operation, but with a permit that allows for limited operations under fifteen tons of wood products. The Balloon mapping during March 2013 was organized to document whether, after the waste grinding stopped, if unpermitted processing of materials other than wood started. Advocates have added detailed annotations to their aerial imagery to communicate about the issues on the ground and attempt to convince authorities to take some action against these illicit activities. Image by @karenv Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station mapping with Cape Cod Bay Watch Plymouth, MA: Using images collected via kite mapping, organizers are challenging the lack of a permit for new construction of a waste storage facility at the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station in Massachusetts. Two mapping trips to date have given local residents, led by CCBW, the ability to keep themselves informed about the progress of the construction, in addition to generating images and a compelling story which has resulted in press coverage (WBUR Boston - NPR) for their monitoring and advocacy efforts.	Revert
33	warren	July 21, 2014 22:18 \| almost 10 years ago Here we've collected a series of stories or case studies of work our community has done in the past few years. Origins Public Lab was inspired by the information blackout surrounding the 2010 BP Oil Disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. Despite having a massive impact on residents and the environment, local communities received sparse, incomplete data that contradicted what they could see unfolding in front of them. As news of the spill’s severity spread nationally and outrage about limited access to information simmered locally, Public Lab’s would-be co-founders convened in the Gulf Coast as part of the Grassroots Mapping collaborative. The Grassroots Mappers were a group of people seeking to invert the traditional power structure of cartography by using helium balloons and kites to loft their own "community satellites" made with inexpensive digital cameras. Partnering with New Orleans-based environmental justice organization Louisiana Bucket Brigade, the Mappers trained over one hundred local volunteers and activists who collected over 100,000 aerial images of the coastline before, during, and after the oil spread. Then, using MapKnitter, an open source platform created by the group, residents stitched these images into high resolution maps of the disaster as it unfolded. Through a partnership with Google Earth Outreach, these high resolution maps were uploaded as a primary or historical layer to Google Earth, making them globally accessible and allowing residents to speak their truth about what was going on in the Gulf. Grassroots Mapping becomes Public Lab The success of the grassroots mapping effort galvanized Public Lab’s founders to create a new research and social space for the development of low cost tools that enable community based environmental monitoring and research. By focusing on DIY, open-source tools, Public Lab takes science out of its ivory tower, making technology something anyone can develop, good science something anyone can do, and empowering residents to ask questions and seek answers. With early support from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation via the Knight News Challenge, Public Lab formally launched as a nonprofit organization in summer of 2011. Balloon Mapping of River Restoration at Mardi Gras Pass January 2013: Gulf Restoration Network (GRN), a valuable partner of Public Lab’s and wetlands watchdog group, has repeatedly used aerial mapping tools to advocate for wetlands restoration projects, and to keep community and partner organizations abreast of progress (or lack thereof). One specific instance was the use of kite photography to educate and agitate against the closure of a new branch of the Mississippi River, "Mardi Gras Pass." If left alone, this new distributary arm would feed protective marshes and swamps with nourishing sediment and water. More info can be found here: http://healthygulf.org/201301221984/blog/healthy-waters-/-dead-zone/save-mardi-gras-pass" Image by @eustatic Ironton, LA, United Bulk Coal Terminal monitoring With Public Lab training, tools, and support, Scott Eustis of Gulf Restoration Network (GRN), a Public Lab Organizer, and Devin Martin of Sierra Club, successfully captured low-altitude photos of ongoing coal export dumping in the Mississippi River. The images they captured of the coal pile that builds over time, changed GRN’s understanding of the extent of Oiltanking / United Bulk’s alleged environmental crimes and led to funding for further documentation and water quality analysis of this facility, culminating in a notice of intent to sue under the Clean Water Act. Although GRN had been passively monitoring this site via aircraft, the kite photo, because of its low-altitude and oblique angle, led to a new understanding that moved Louisiana DEQ to do a site visit. GRN, Sierra Club, Louisiana Environmental Action, and Tulane Law, with Public Citizen, have prepared to sue to improve the facility and levy fines against the company for their damages to Louisiana’s waters. The image itself is one of a series of images in legal proceedings, but has more value than others taken from a plane because of its level of detail--it is used as an organizing tool to explain the most desirable picture for officially documenting Oiltanking’s water pollution crimes to volunteer pilots and GRN members who reside in the area. GRN, Sierra Club, Louisiana Environmental Action, and Tulane Law, with Public Citizen, are currently in negotiations with the company. Image from http://www.010collaborative.net Jamaica Bay, NYC Public Lab organizer Gena Wirth and Eymund Diegel, along with Rob Holmes of the Dredge Research Collaborative, conduct aerial imaging documentation on various restoration islands in Jamaica Bay. Aerial maps document progress on the Army Corps of Engineers initiative to restore eroding salt marsh habitat with recycled dredge material, show shoreline and vegetation change over time, and document citizen participation in these efforts. Jamaica Bay’s Islands are in constant transformation. For decades, Yellow Bar hummock (pictured here) has been shrinking and losing ground due to intensifying urban impacts in the Jamaica Bay watershed. This pattern recently reversed course under the direction of the Army Corps of Engineers, who use the island as a site to dispose of dredge material and as a test case for expanding ecosystems in decline. Like much of Jamaica Bay the resulting landscape is neither fully industrial or fully natural, though it retains aesthetic and performative qualities of both. The flat expanse of newly constructed ground is composed of clean sand dredged from the Ambrose Channel, the main shipping channel leading to the port of NY/NJ. Aerial maps reveal the regularized distribution of the complex marsh matrix of sediment, Spartina, and ribbed mussel, which grow together in a functional ecosystem and stabilize the marshland. Beyond the dotted fringe of cordgrass clumps our photos document the expansive island interior, touched by the Army Corps of Engineers in a more economical fashion with a grid of fences marking Spartina plug planting zones. Some mapping events have been led in partnership with the American Littoral Society and Jamaica Bay Ecowatchers. Image by @cfastie Amherst, MA Monitoring invasive aquatic plant removal with UMass Amherst, the US Fish and Wildlife Service, and Pioneer Valley Open Science, using DIY multispectral aerial photography and balloon mapping kits. Aerial photographs of the lake effectively reveal the invasive water chestnut, as it is distinguishable by both color and texture at low altitudes. The goal is to use normal and color infrared images to locate patches of water chestnut as part of the much needed yearly monitoring to prevent the plant from spreading. Continued tech development is working on automated classification of NDVI images for a “one-click” solution for citizens monitoring invasive species in their waterways. Saugus, MA Public Lab worked on a multi-year project with Basurama.org to monitor the growth and treatment of ash at the open landfill bordering the Saugus waste incinerator, adjacent to both wetlands and residential areas, with annual DIY multispectral kite photography. By engaging residents of the Boston area in investigating where their waste ends up and how it is managed, the project raised local awareness and understanding of local waste cycles as well as of the toxicity and exposure issues related to the waste incineration process and the storage of ash. Recently, Public Lab Organizer, Pat Coyle has worked on a 3D (Surface From Motion (SFM)) reconstruction of the site using images collected from the kite photographers. Project lead, Pablo Rey Mazón, hopes to work towards connecting with volume measurement that other Public Labbers are researching, compare with official data and replicate the project with a similar trash incinerator in Bilbao. Image by @mlamadrid Balloon mapping by the Craft Village in Kampala, Uganda Use of balloon mapping by the Craft Village in Kampala, Uganda to temporarily stall eviction proceedings. The goal was to gain time so the community could organize next steps and create a dialogue around urban planning and displacement. Using aerial mapping the Craft Market combined a high resolution map of the area with community narratives. Doing so, the Craft Market was able to legally stall eviction for a month by using the map to acquire a court injunction. They also interfaced with the Ministry of Tourism via the map they created, demonstrating their value to the tourism industry. The Ministry of Tourism sent a team to evaluate the Market and tried to advocate to the Ministry of Land on behalf of the Market. In the end, the Ministry of Land went through with evicting the community. They decided to do a second map to record the progress of clearing and to document the lack of support during the eviction to demonstrate how the eviction displaced the previously flourishing market to a side street. Using this map, the Craft Market is still in the process of advocating their case. The map in MapKnitter can be found here: https://mapknitter.org/map/view/juakali. Text paraphrased from full research note. Gowanus Low Altitude Mapping (GLAM), in the Gowanus Canal Brooklyn, New York: Working with the Gowanus Canal Conservancy and Proteus Gowanus to conduct environmental investigations in the Gowanus Canal Superfund Site and broader watershed using aerial imagery. There are three distinct goals within GLAM: 1) researching biodiversity to better manage their urban ecosystems, 2) conducting eco-detective work to improve the government’s Superfund clean-up plan, and 3) advocating for watershed health by identifying upland sites that can be used for stormwater absorption to reduce downhill sewage overflow events in the canal. GLAM has succeeded in improving the Superfund clean-up plan: diligent investigation led to the discovery of an unknown freshwater inflow in the Gowanus First Street Basin, and their presentation to the EPA’s Community Advisory Group was so effective that Superfund restoration expanded to an additional city block. Additionally, through vigilant aerial surveying through ice and blazing sun, and subsequent analysis, GLAM identified four (4) active pipes and inflows that the EPA’s survey missed which is leading to other improvements in the clean-up plan. Other independent research projects to uncover historical Revolutionary War burial grounds have led to partnerships with the Brooklyn Preservation Council and the local VA (Veterans) chapter, as well as support from the Governor of Maryland and coverage in the NY Times. Image by @cfastie iFarm field trial monitoring Lee, NH: A multi-year project to document and quantify cover crop soil treatment and silvopasture trials using infrared photography, in conjunction with aerial mapping kits. This is part of a broader effort to develop data-driven analysis tools to support small-scale organic farmers, and is being pursued in partnership with Green Start, Farm Hack, Pioneer Valley Open Science, and the sustainable agriculture program at the University of New Hampshire. Through this work, collaborating farmers have gained a better understanding of the health of their crops, as well as a greater capacity for quantitatively and regularly assessing crop health at low cost. In addition to providing a compelling case study and proof of concept for the tools that are being developed through this work, the research has also produced new insights and initiated new projects -- such as more affordable and robust single-camera multispectral camera platforms -- and has paved the way for participants worldwide to more easily leverage and deploy these tools and techniques. Image by @warren DIY oil testing in Somerville, MA Testing at a Boston-area meetup helped to refine "do-it-yourself" methodologies for identifying different contaminant oils -- ranging from motor oil to tarballs washed ashore after a crude oil spill. Attendees to the event, hosted by the neighborhood education group Parts & Crafts, included local residents, as well as members of the Mystic River Watershed Association and Pioneer Valley Open Science. The prototype testing involved a new technique for distinguishing oil samples via florescence using an inexpensive blue laser pointer. The tests were successful, and the technique proved robust: it yielded consistently good results, despite slight variations in sample preparation. These methods show great promise, and will likely be included in our prototype oil contamination test kit. Follow progress on the oil testing kit here: http://publiclab.org/tag/oil-testing-kit. East Providence, RI Working with local residents and Northeastern University to use kite mapping kits to monitor a metal recycling center for code violations and contamination. This is a long, complex investigation involving legal battles. A neighborhood in East Providence, RI adjacent to a large construction waste grinding business has been experiencing toxic dust filtering into homes and yards from the plant. Many in the neighborhood suffer from respiratory and other health problems thought to be associated with the dust. Neighborhood activists managed (with Toxic Action Center's help) to have the waste grinding stopped. However, the same business owner re-opened the plant as a scrap metal processing operation, but with a permit that allows for limited operations under fifteen tons of wood products. The Balloon mapping during March 2013 was organized to document whether, after the waste grinding stopped, if unpermitted processing of materials other than wood started. Advocates have added detailed annotations to their aerial imagery to communicate about the issues on the ground and attempt to convince authorities to take some action against these illicit activities. Image by @karenv Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station mapping with Cape Cod Bay Watch Plymouth, MA: Using images collected via kite mapping, organizers are challenging the lack of a permit for new construction of a waste storage facility at the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station in Massachusetts. Two mapping trips to date have given local residents, led by CCBW, the ability to keep themselves informed about the progress of the construction, in addition to generating images and a compelling story which has resulted in press coverage (WBUR Boston - NPR) for their monitoring and advocacy efforts.	Revert
32	warren	July 21, 2014 22:00 \| almost 10 years ago Here we've collected a series of stories or case studies of work our community has done in the past few years. Origins Public Lab was inspired by the information blackout surrounding the 2010 BP Oil Disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. Despite having a massive impact on residents and the environment, local communities received sparse, incomplete data that contradicted what they could see unfolding in front of them. As news of the spill’s severity spread nationally and outrage about limited access to information simmered locally, Public Lab’s would-be co-founders convened in the Gulf Coast as part of the Grassroots Mapping collaborative. The Grassroots Mappers were a group of people seeking to invert the traditional power structure of cartography by using helium balloons and kites to loft their own "community satellites" made with inexpensive digital cameras. Partnering with New Orleans-based environmental justice organization Louisiana Bucket Brigade, the Mappers trained over one hundred local volunteers and activists who collected over 100,000 aerial images of the coastline before, during, and after the oil spread. Then, using MapKnitter, an open source platform created by the group, residents stitched these images into high resolution maps of the disaster as it unfolded. Through a partnership with Google Earth Outreach, these high resolution maps were uploaded as a primary or historical layer to Google Earth, making them globally accessible and allowing residents to speak their truth about what was going on in the Gulf. Grassroots Mapping becomes Public Lab The success of the grassroots mapping effort galvanized Public Lab’s founders to create a new research and social space for the development of low cost tools that enable community based environmental monitoring and research. By focusing on DIY, open-source tools, Public Lab takes science out of its ivory tower, making technology something anyone can develop, good science something anyone can do, and empowering residents to ask questions and seek answers. With early support from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation via the Knight News Challenge, Public Lab formally launched as a nonprofit organization in summer of 2011. Balloon Mapping of River Restoration at Mardi Gras Pass January 2013: Gulf Restoration Network (GRN), a valuable partner of Public Lab’s and wetlands watchdog group, has repeatedly used aerial mapping tools to advocate for wetlands restoration projects, and to keep community and partner organizations abreast of progress (or lack thereof). One specific instance was the use of kite photography to educate and agitate against the closure of a new branch of the Mississippi River, "Mardi Gras Pass." If left alone, this new distributary arm would feed protective marshes and swamps with nourishing sediment and water. More info can be found here: http://healthygulf.org/201301221984/blog/healthy-waters-/-dead-zone/save-mardi-gras-pass" Image by @eustatic Ironton, LA, United Bulk Coal Terminal monitoring With Public Lab training, tools, and support, Scott Eustis of Gulf Restoration Network (GRN), a Public Lab Organizer, and Devin Martin of Sierra Club, successfully captured low-altitude photos of ongoing coal export dumping in the Mississippi River. The images they captured of the coal pile that builds over time, changed GRN’s understanding of the extent of Oiltanking / United Bulk’s alleged environmental crimes and led to funding for further documentation and water quality analysis of this facility, culminating in a notice of intent to sue under the Clean Water Act. Although GRN had been passively monitoring this site via aircraft, the kite photo, because of its low-altitude and oblique angle, led to a new understanding that moved Louisiana DEQ to do a site visit. GRN, Sierra Club, Louisiana Environmental Action, and Tulane Law, with Public Citizen, have prepared to sue to improve the facility and levy fines against the company for their damages to Louisiana’s waters. The image itself is one of a series of images in legal proceedings, but has more value than others taken from a plane because of its level of detail--it is used as an organizing tool to explain the most desirable picture for officially documenting Oiltanking’s water pollution crimes to volunteer pilots and GRN members who reside in the area. GRN, Sierra Club, Louisiana Environmental Action, and Tulane Law, with Public Citizen, are currently in negotiations with the company. Image from http://www.010collaborative.net Jamaica Bay, NYC Public Lab organizer Gena Wirth and Eymund Diegel, along with Rob Holmes of the Dredge Research Collaborative, conduct aerial imaging documentation on various restoration islands in Jamaica Bay. Aerial maps document progress on the Army Corps of Engineers initiative to restore eroding salt marsh habitat with recycled dredge material, show shoreline and vegetation change over time, and document citizen participation in these efforts. Jamaica Bay’s Islands are in constant transformation. For decades, Yellow Bar hummock (pictured here) has been shrinking and losing ground due to intensifying urban impacts in the Jamaica Bay watershed. This pattern recently reversed course under the direction of the Army Corps of Engineers, who use the island as a site to dispose of dredge material and as a test case for expanding ecosystems in decline. Like much of Jamaica Bay the resulting landscape is neither fully industrial or fully natural, though it retains aesthetic and performative qualities of both. The flat expanse of newly constructed ground is composed of clean sand dredged from the Ambrose Channel, the main shipping channel leading to the port of NY/NJ. Aerial maps reveal the regularized distribution of the complex marsh matrix of sediment, Spartina, and ribbed mussel, which grow together in a functional ecosystem and stabilize the marshland. Beyond the dotted fringe of cordgrass clumps our photos document the expansive island interior, touched by the Army Corps of Engineers in a more economical fashion with a grid of fences marking Spartina plug planting zones. Some mapping events have been led in partnership with the American Littoral Society and Jamaica Bay Ecowatchers. Image by @cfastie Amherst, MA Monitoring invasive aquatic plant removal with UMass Amherst, the US Fish and Wildlife Service, and Pioneer Valley Open Science, using DIY multispectral aerial photography and balloon mapping kits. Aerial photographs of the lake effectively reveal the invasive water chestnut, as it is distinguishable by both color and texture at low altitudes. The goal is to use normal and color infrared images to locate patches of water chestnut as part of the much needed yearly monitoring to prevent the plant from spreading. Continued tech development is working on automated classification of NDVI images for a “one-click” solution for citizens monitoring invasive species in their waterways. Saugus, MA Public Lab worked on a multi-year project with Basurama.org to monitor the growth and treatment of ash at the open landfill bordering the Saugus waste incinerator, adjacent to both wetlands and residential areas, with annual DIY multispectral kite photography. By engaging residents of the Boston area in investigating where their waste ends up and how it is managed, the project raised local awareness and understanding of local waste cycles as well as of the toxicity and exposure issues related to the waste incineration process and the storage of ash. Recently, Public Lab Organizer, Pat Coyle has worked on a 3D (Surface From Motion (SFM)) reconstruction of the site using images collected from the kite photographers. Project lead, Pablo Rey Mazón, hopes to work towards connecting with volume measurement that other Public Labbers are researching, compare with official data and replicate the project with a similar trash incinerator in Bilbao. Image by @mlamadrid Balloon mapping by the Craft Village in Kampala, Uganda Use of balloon mapping by the Craft Village in Kampala, Uganda to temporarily stall eviction proceedings. The goal was to gain time so the community could organize next steps and create a dialogue around urban planning and displacement. Using aerial mapping the Craft Market combined a high resolution map of the area with community narratives. Doing so, the Craft Market was able to legally stall eviction for a month by using the map to acquire a court injunction. They also interfaced with the Ministry of Tourism via the map they created, demonstrating their value to the tourism industry. The Ministry of Tourism sent a team to evaluate the Market and tried to advocate to the Ministry of Land on behalf of the Market. In the end, the Ministry of Land went through with evicting the community. They decided to do a second map to record the progress of clearing and to document the lack of support during the eviction to demonstrate how the eviction displaced the previously flourishing market to a side street. Using this map, the Craft Market is still in the process of advocating their case. The map in MapKnitter can be found here: https://mapknitter.org/map/view/juakali. Text paraphrased from full research note. Gowanus Low Altitude Mapping (GLAM), in the Gowanus Canal Brooklyn, New York: Working with the Gowanus Canal Conservancy and Proteus Gowanus to conduct environmental investigations in the Gowanus Canal Superfund Site and broader watershed using aerial imagery. There are three distinct goals within GLAM: 1) researching biodiversity to better manage their urban ecosystems, 2) conducting eco-detective work to improve the government’s Superfund clean-up plan, and 3) advocating for watershed health by identifying upland sites that can be used for stormwater absorption to reduce downhill sewage overflow events in the canal. GLAM has succeeded in improving the Superfund clean-up plan: diligent investigation led to the discovery of an unknown freshwater inflow in the Gowanus First Street Basin, and their presentation to the EPA’s Community Advisory Group was so effective that Superfund restoration expanded to an additional city block. Additionally, through vigilant aerial surveying through ice and blazing sun, and subsequent analysis, GLAM identified four (4) active pipes and inflows that the EPA’s survey missed which is leading to other improvements in the clean-up plan. Other independent research projects to uncover historical Revolutionary War burial grounds have led to partnerships with the Brooklyn Preservation Council and the local VA (Veterans) chapter, as well as support from the Governor of Maryland and coverage in the NY Times. Image by @cfastie iFarm field trial monitoring Lee, NH: A multi-year project to document and quantify cover crop soil treatment and silvopasture trials using infrared photography, in conjunction with aerial mapping kits. This is part of a broader effort to develop data-driven analysis tools to support small-scale organic farmers, and is being pursued in partnership with Green Start, Farm Hack, Pioneer Valley Open Science, and the sustainable agriculture program at the University of New Hampshire. Through this work, collaborating farmers have gained a better understanding of the health of their crops, as well as a greater capacity for quantitatively and regularly assessing crop health at low cost. In addition to providing a compelling case study and proof of concept for the tools that are being developed through this work, the research has also produced new insights and initiated new projects -- such as more affordable and robust single-camera multispectral camera platforms -- and has paved the way for participants worldwide to more easily leverage and deploy these tools and techniques. Image by @warren DIY oil testing in Somerville, MA Testing at a Boston-area meetup helped to refine "do-it-yourself" methodologies for identifying different contaminant oils -- ranging from motor oil to tarballs washed ashore after a crude oil spill. Attendees to the event, hosted by the neighborhood education group Parts & Crafts, included local residents, as well as members of the Mystic River Watershed Association and Pioneer Valley Open Science. The prototype testing involved a new technique for distinguishing oil samples via florescence using an inexpensive blue laser pointer. The tests were successful, and the technique proved robust: it yielded consistently good results, despite slight variations in sample preparation. These methods show great promise, and will likely be included in our prototype oil contamination test kit. Follow progress on the oil testing kit here: http://publiclab.org/tag/oil-testing-kit. East Providence, RI Working with local residents and Northeastern University to use kite mapping kits to monitor a metal recycling center for code violations and contamination. This is a long, complex investigation involving legal battles. A neighborhood in East Providence, RI adjacent to a large construction waste grinding business has been experiencing toxic dust filtering into homes and yards from the plant. Many in the neighborhood suffer from respiratory and other health problems thought to be associated with the dust. Neighborhood activists managed (with Toxic Action Center's help) to have the waste grinding stopped. However, the same business owner re-opened the plant as a scrap metal processing operation, but with a permit that allows for limited operations under fifteen tons of wood products. The Balloon mapping during March 2013 was organized to document whether, after the waste grinding stopped, if unpermitted processing of materials other than wood started. Advocates have added detailed annotations to their aerial imagery to communicate about the issues on the ground and attempt to convince authorities to take some action against these illicit activities. Image by @karenv Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station mapping with Cape Cod Bay Watch Plymouth, MA: Using images collected via kite mapping, organizers are challenging the lack of a permit for new construction of a waste storage facility at the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station in Massachusetts. Two mapping trips to date have given local residents, led by CCBW, the ability to keep themselves informed about the progress of the construction, in addition to generating images and a compelling story which has resulted in press coverage (WBUR Boston - NPR) for their monitoring and advocacy efforts.	Revert
31	warren	July 21, 2014 21:37 \| almost 10 years ago Here we've collected a series of stories or case studies of work our community has done in the past few years. Origins Public Lab was inspired by the information blackout surrounding the 2010 BP Oil Disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. Despite having a massive impact on residents and the environment, local communities received sparse, incomplete data that contradicted what they could see unfolding in front of them. As news of the spill’s severity spread nationally and outrage about limited access to information simmered locally, Public Lab’s would-be co-founders convened in the Gulf Coast as part of the Grassroots Mapping collaborative. The Grassroots Mappers were a group of people seeking to invert the traditional power structure of cartography by using helium balloons and kites to loft their own "community satellites" made with inexpensive digital cameras. Partnering with New Orleans-based environmental justice organization Louisiana Bucket Brigade, the Mappers trained over one hundred local volunteers and activists who collected over 100,000 aerial images of the coastline before, during, and after the oil spread. Then, using MapKnitter, an open source platform created by the group, residents stitched these images into high resolution maps of the disaster as it unfolded. Through a partnership with Google Earth Outreach, these high resolution maps were uploaded as a primary or historical layer to Google Earth, making them globally accessible and allowing residents to speak their truth about what was going on in the Gulf. Grassroots Mapping becomes Public Lab The success of the grassroots mapping effort galvanized Public Lab’s founders to create a new research and social space for the development of low cost tools that enable community based environmental monitoring and research. By focusing on DIY, open-source tools, Public Lab takes science out of its ivory tower, making technology something anyone can develop, good science something anyone can do, and empowering residents to ask questions and seek answers. With early support from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation via the Knight News Challenge, Public Lab formally launched as a nonprofit organization in summer of 2011. Balloon Mapping of River Restoration at Mardi Gras Pass January 2013: Gulf Restoration Network (GRN), a valuable partner of Public Lab’s and wetlands watchdog group, has repeatedly used aerial mapping tools to advocate for wetlands restoration projects, and to keep community and partner organizations abreast of progress (or lack thereof). One specific instance was the use of kite photography to educate and agitate against the closure of a new branch of the Mississippi River, "Mardi Gras Pass." If left alone, this new distributary arm would feed protective marshes and swamps with nourishing sediment and water. More info can be found here: http://healthygulf.org/201301221984/blog/healthy-waters-/-dead-zone/save-mardi-gras-pass" Image by @eustatic Ironton, LA, United Bulk Coal Terminal monitoring With Public Lab training, tools, and support, Scott Eustis of Gulf Restoration Network (GRN), a Public Lab Organizer, and Devin Martin of Sierra Club, successfully captured low-altitude photos of ongoing coal export dumping in the Mississippi River. The images they captured of the coal pile that builds over time, changed GRN’s understanding of the extent of Oiltanking / United Bulk’s alleged environmental crimes and led to funding for further documentation and water quality analysis of this facility, culminating in a notice of intent to sue under the Clean Water Act. Although GRN had been passively monitoring this site via aircraft, the kite photo, because of its low-altitude and oblique angle, led to a new understanding that moved Louisiana DEQ to do a site visit. GRN, Sierra Club, Louisiana Environmental Action, and Tulane Law, with Public Citizen, have prepared to sue to improve the facility and levy fines against the company for their damages to Louisiana’s waters. The image itself is one of a series of images in legal proceedings, but has more value than others taken from a plane because of its level of detail--it is used as an organizing tool to explain the most desirable picture for officially documenting Oiltanking’s water pollution crimes to volunteer pilots and GRN members who reside in the area. GRN, Sierra Club, Louisiana Environmental Action, and Tulane Law, with Public Citizen, are currently in negotiations with the company. Image from http://www.010collaborative.net Jamaica Bay, NYC Public Lab organizer Gena Wirth and Eymund Diegel, along with Rob Holmes of the Dredge Research Collaborative, conduct aerial imaging documentation on various restoration islands in Jamaica Bay. Aerial maps document progress on the Army Corps of Engineers initiative to restore eroding salt marsh habitat with recycled dredge material, show shoreline and vegetation change over time, and document citizen participation in these efforts. Jamaica Bay’s Islands are in constant transformation. For decades, Yellow Bar hummock (pictured here) has been shrinking and losing ground due to intensifying urban impacts in the Jamaica Bay watershed. This pattern recently reversed course under the direction of the Army Corps of Engineers, who use the island as a site to dispose of dredge material and as a test case for expanding ecosystems in decline. Like much of Jamaica Bay the resulting landscape is neither fully industrial or fully natural, though it retains aesthetic and performative qualities of both. The flat expanse of newly constructed ground is composed of clean sand dredged from the Ambrose Channel, the main shipping channel leading to the port of NY/NJ. Aerial maps reveal the regularized distribution of the complex marsh matrix of sediment, Spartina, and ribbed mussel, which grow together in a functional ecosystem and stabilize the marshland. Beyond the dotted fringe of cordgrass clumps our photos document the expansive island interior, touched by the Army Corps of Engineers in a more economical fashion with a grid of fences marking Spartina plug planting zones. Some mapping events have been led in partnership with the American Littoral Society and Jamaica Bay Ecowatchers. Image by @cfastie Amherst, MA Monitoring invasive aquatic plant removal with UMass Amherst, the US Fish and Wildlife Service, and Pioneer Valley Open Science, using DIY multispectral aerial photography and balloon mapping kits. Aerial photographs of the lake effectively reveal the invasive water chestnut, as it is distinguishable by both color and texture at low altitudes. The goal is to use normal and color infrared images to locate patches of water chestnut as part of the much needed yearly monitoring to prevent the plant from spreading. Continued tech development is working on automated classification of NDVI images for a “one-click” solution for citizens monitoring invasive species in their waterways. Saugus, MA Public Lab worked on a multi-year project with Basurama.org to monitor the growth and treatment of ash at the open landfill bordering the Saugus waste incinerator, adjacent to both wetlands and residential areas, with annual DIY multispectral kite photography. By engaging residents of the Boston area in investigating where their waste ends up and how it is managed, the project raised local awareness and understanding of local waste cycles as well as of the toxicity and exposure issues related to the waste incineration process and the storage of ash. Recently, Public Lab Organizer, Pat Coyle has worked on a 3D (Surface From Motion (SFM)) reconstruction of the site using images collected from the kite photographers. Project lead, Pablo Rey Mazón, hopes to work towards connecting with volume measurement that other Public Labbers are researching, compare with official data and replicate the project with a similar trash incinerator in Bilbao. Image by @mlamadrid Balloon mapping by the Craft Village in Kampala, Uganda Use of balloon mapping by the Craft Village in Kampala, Uganda to temporarily stall eviction proceedings. The goal was to gain time so the community could organize next steps and create a dialogue around urban planning and displacement. Using aerial mapping the Craft Market combined a high resolution map of the area with community narratives. Doing so, the Craft Market was able to legally stall eviction for a month by using the map to acquire a court injunction. They also interfaced with the Ministry of Tourism via the map they created, demonstrating their value to the tourism industry. The Ministry of Tourism sent a team to evaluate the Market and tried to advocate to the Ministry of Land on behalf of the Market. In the end, the Ministry of Land went through with evicting the community. They decided to do a second map to record the progress of clearing and to document the lack of support during the eviction to demonstrate how the eviction displaced the previously flourishing market to a side street. Using this map, the Craft Market is still in the process of advocating their case. The map in MapKnitter can be found here: https://mapknitter.org/map/view/juakali. Text paraphrased from full research note. Gowanus Low Altitude Mapping (GLAM), in the Gowanus Canal Brooklyn, New York: Working with the Gowanus Canal Conservancy and Proteus Gowanus to conduct environmental investigations in the Gowanus Canal Superfund Site and broader watershed using aerial imagery. There are three distinct goals within GLAM: 1) researching biodiversity to better manage their urban ecosystems, 2) conducting eco-detective work to improve the government’s Superfund clean-up plan, and 3) advocating for watershed health by identifying upland sites that can be used for stormwater absorption to reduce downhill sewage overflow events in the canal. GLAM has succeeded in improving the Superfund clean-up plan: diligent investigation led to the discovery of an unknown freshwater inflow in the Gowanus First Street Basin, and their presentation to the EPA’s Community Advisory Group was so effective that Superfund restoration expanded to an additional city block. Additionally, through vigilant aerial surveying through ice and blazing sun, and subsequent analysis, GLAM identified four (4) active pipes and inflows that the EPA’s survey missed which is leading to other improvements in the clean-up plan. Other independent research projects to uncover historical Revolutionary War burial grounds have led to partnerships with the Brooklyn Preservation Council and the local VA (Veterans) chapter, as well as support from the Governor of Maryland and coverage in the NY Times. Image by @cfastie iFarm field trial monitoring Lee, NH: A multi-year project to document and quantify cover crop soil treatment and silvopasture trials using infrared photography, in conjunction with aerial mapping kits. This is part of a broader effort to develop data-driven analysis tools to support small-scale organic farmers, and is being pursued in partnership with Green Start, Farm Hack, Pioneer Valley Open Science, and the sustainable agriculture program at the University of New Hampshire. Through this work, collaborating farmers have gained a better understanding of the health of their crops, as well as a greater capacity for quantitatively and regularly assessing crop health at low cost. In addition to providing a compelling case study and proof of concept for the tools that are being developed through this work, the research has also produced new insights and initiated new projects -- such as more affordable and robust single-camera multispectral camera platforms -- and has paved the way for participants worldwide to more easily leverage and deploy these tools and techniques. Image by @warren DIY oil testing in Somerville, MA Testing at a Boston-area meetup helped to refine "do-it-yourself" methodologies for identifying different contaminant oils -- ranging from motor oil to tarballs washed ashore after a crude oil spill. Attendees to the event, hosted by the neighborhood education group Parts & Crafts, included local residents, as well as members of the Mystic River Watershed Association and Pioneer Valley Open Science. The prototype testing involved a new technique for distinguishing oil samples via florescence using an inexpensive blue laser pointer. The tests were successful, and the technique proved robust: it yielded consistently good results, despite slight variations in sample preparation. These methods show great promise, and will likely be included in our prototype oil contamination test kit. Follow progress on the oil testing kit here: http://publiclab.org/tag/oil-testing-kit. East Providence, RI Working with local residents and Northeastern University to use kite mapping kits to monitor a metal recycling center for code violations and contamination. This is a long, complex investigation involving legal battles. A neighborhood in East Providence, RI adjacent to a large construction waste grinding business has been experiencing toxic dust filtering into homes and yards from the plant. Many in the neighborhood suffer from respiratory and other health problems thought to be associated with the dust. Neighborhood activists managed (with Toxic Action Center's help) to have the waste grinding stopped. However, the same business owner re-opened the plant as a scrap metal processing operation, but with a permit that allows for limited operations under fifteen tons of wood products. The Balloon mapping during March 2013 was organized to document whether, after the waste grinding stopped, if unpermitted processing of materials other than wood started. Advocates have added detailed annotations to their aerial imagery to communicate about the issues on the ground and attempt to convince authorities to take some action against these illicit activities. Image by @karenv Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station mapping with Cape Cod Bay Watch Plymouth, MA: Using images collected via kite mapping, organizers are challenging the lack of a permit for new construction of a waste storage facility at the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station in Massachusetts. Two mapping trips to date have given local residents, led by CCBW, the ability to keep themselves informed about the progress of the construction, in addition to generating images and a compelling story which has resulted in press coverage (WBUR Boston - NPR) for their monitoring and advocacy efforts.	Revert
30	warren	July 21, 2014 21:11 \| almost 10 years ago Here we've collected a series of stories or case studies of work our community has done in the past few years. Origins Public Lab was inspired by the information blackout surrounding the 2010 BP Oil Disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. Despite having a massive impact on residents and the environment, local communities received sparse, incomplete data that contradicted what they could see unfolding in front of them. As news of the spill’s severity spread nationally and outrage about limited access to information simmered locally, Public Lab’s would-be co-founders convened in the Gulf Coast as part of the Grassroots Mapping collaborative. The Grassroots Mappers were a group of people seeking to invert the traditional power structure of cartography by using helium balloons and kites to loft their own "community satellites" made with inexpensive digital cameras. Partnering with New Orleans-based environmental justice organization Louisiana Bucket Brigade, the Mappers trained over one hundred local volunteers and activists who collected over 100,000 aerial images of the coastline before, during, and after the oil spread. Then, using MapKnitter, an open source platform created by the group, residents stitched these images into high resolution maps of the disaster as it unfolded. Through a partnership with Google Earth Outreach, these high resolution maps were uploaded as a primary or historical layer to Google Earth, making them globally accessible and allowing residents to speak their truth about what was going on in the Gulf. Grassroots Mapping becomes Public Lab The success of the grassroots mapping effort galvanized Public Lab’s founders to create a new research and social space for the development of low cost tools that enable community based environmental monitoring and research. By focusing on DIY, open-source tools, Public Lab takes science out of its ivory tower, making technology something anyone can develop, good science something anyone can do, and empowering residents to ask questions and seek answers. With early support from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation via the Knight News Challenge, Public Lab formally launched as a nonprofit organization in summer of 2011. Balloon Mapping of River Restoration at Mardi Gras Pass January 2013: Gulf Restoration Network (GRN), a valuable partner of Public Lab’s and wetlands watchdog group, has repeatedly used aerial mapping tools to advocate for wetlands restoration projects, and to keep community and partner organizations abreast of progress (or lack thereof). One specific instance was the use of kite photography to educate and agitate against the closure of a new branch of the Mississippi River, "Mardi Gras Pass." If left alone, this new distributary arm would feed protective marshes and swamps with nourishing sediment and water. More info can be found here: http://healthygulf.org/201301221984/blog/healthy-waters-/-dead-zone/save-mardi-gras-pass" Image by @eustatic Ironton, LA, United Bulk Coal Terminal monitoring With Public Lab training, tools, and support, Scott Eustis of Gulf Restoration Network (GRN), a Public Lab Organizer, and Devin Martin of Sierra Club, successfully captured low-altitude photos of ongoing coal export dumping in the Mississippi River. The images they captured of the coal pile that builds over time, changed GRN’s understanding of the extent of Oiltanking / United Bulk’s alleged environmental crimes and led to funding for further documentation and water quality analysis of this facility, culminating in a notice of intent to sue under the Clean Water Act. Although GRN had been passively monitoring this site via aircraft, the kite photo, because of its low-altitude and oblique angle, led to a new understanding that moved Louisiana DEQ to do a site visit. GRN, Sierra Club, Louisiana Environmental Action, and Tulane Law, with Public Citizen, have prepared to sue to improve the facility and levy fines against the company for their damages to Louisiana’s waters. The image itself is one of a series of images in legal proceedings, but has more value than others taken from a plane because of its level of detail--it is used as an organizing tool to explain the most desirable picture for officially documenting Oiltanking’s water pollution crimes to volunteer pilots and GRN members who reside in the area. GRN, Sierra Club, Louisiana Environmental Action, and Tulane Law, with Public Citizen, are currently in negotiations with the company. Image from http://www.010collaborative.net Jamaica Bay, NYC Public Lab organizer Gena Wirth and Eymund Diegel, along with Rob Holmes of the Dredge Research Collaborative, conduct aerial imaging documentation on various restoration islands in Jamaica Bay. Aerial maps document progress on the Army Corps of Engineers initiative to restore eroding salt marsh habitat with recycled dredge material, show shoreline and vegetation change over time, and document citizen participation in these efforts. Jamaica Bay’s Islands are in constant transformation. For decades, Yellow Bar hummock (pictured here) has been shrinking and losing ground due to intensifying urban impacts in the Jamaica Bay watershed. This pattern recently reversed course under the direction of the Army Corps of Engineers, who use the island as a site to dispose of dredge material and as a test case for expanding ecosystems in decline. Like much of Jamaica Bay the resulting landscape is neither fully industrial or fully natural, though it retains aesthetic and performative qualities of both. The flat expanse of newly constructed ground is composed of clean sand dredged from the Ambrose Channel, the main shipping channel leading to the port of NY/NJ. Aerial maps reveal the regularized distribution of the complex marsh matrix of sediment, Spartina, and ribbed mussel, which grow together in a functional ecosystem and stabilize the marshland. Beyond the dotted fringe of cordgrass clumps our photos document the expansive island interior, touched by the Army Corps of Engineers in a more economical fashion with a grid of fences marking Spartina plug planting zones. Some mapping events have been led in partnership with the American Littoral Society and Jamaica Bay Ecowatchers. Image by @cfastie Amherst, MA Monitoring invasive aquatic plant removal with UMass Amherst, the US Fish and Wildlife Service, and Pioneer Valley Open Science, using DIY multispectral aerial photography and balloon mapping kits. Aerial photographs of the lake effectively reveal the invasive water chestnut, as it is distinguishable by both color and texture at low altitudes. The goal is to use normal and color infrared images to locate patches of water chestnut as part of the much needed yearly monitoring to prevent the plant from spreading. Continued tech development is working on automated classification of NDVI images for a “one-click” solution for citizens monitoring invasive species in their waterways. Saugus, MA Public Lab worked on a multi-year project with Basurama.org to monitor the growth and treatment of ash at the open landfill bordering the Saugus waste incinerator, adjacent to both wetlands and residential areas, with annual DIY multispectral kite photography. By engaging residents of the Boston area in investigating where their waste ends up and how it is managed, the project raised local awareness and understanding of local waste cycles as well as of the toxicity and exposure issues related to the waste incineration process and the storage of ash. Recently, Public Lab Organizer, Pat Coyle has worked on a 3D (Surface From Motion (SFM)) reconstruction of the site using images collected from the kite photographers. Project lead, Pablo Rey Mazón, hopes to work towards connecting with volume measurement that other Public Labbers are researching, compare with official data and replicate the project with a similar trash incinerator in Bilbao. Image by @mlamadrid Balloon mapping by the Craft Village in Kampala, Uganda Use of balloon mapping by the Craft Village in Kampala, Uganda to temporarily stall eviction proceedings. The goal was to gain time so the community could organize next steps and create a dialogue around urban planning and displacement. Using aerial mapping the Craft Market combined a high resolution map of the area with community narratives. Doing so, the Craft Market was able to legally stall eviction for a month by using the map to acquire a court injunction. They also interfaced with the Ministry of Tourism via the map they created, demonstrating their value to the tourism industry. The Ministry of Tourism sent a team to evaluate the Market and tried to advocate to the Ministry of Land on behalf of the Market. In the end, the Ministry of Land went through with evicting the community. They decided to do a second map to record the progress of clearing and to document the lack of support during the eviction to demonstrate how the eviction displaced the previously flourishing market to a side street. Using this map, the Craft Market is still in the process of advocating their case. The map in MapKnitter can be found here: https://mapknitter.org/map/view/juakali. Text paraphrased from full research note. Gowanus Low Altitude Mapping (GLAM), in the Gowanus Canal Brooklyn, New York: Working with the Gowanus Canal Conservancy and Proteus Gowanus to conduct environmental investigations in the Gowanus Canal Superfund Site and broader watershed using aerial imagery. There are three distinct goals within GLAM: 1) researching biodiversity to better manage their urban ecosystems, 2) conducting eco-detective work to improve the government’s Superfund clean-up plan, and 3) advocating for watershed health by identifying upland sites that can be used for stormwater absorption to reduce downhill sewage overflow events in the canal. GLAM has succeeded in improving the Superfund clean-up plan: diligent investigation led to the discovery of an unknown freshwater inflow in the Gowanus First Street Basin, and their presentation to the EPA’s Community Advisory Group was so effective that Superfund restoration expanded to an additional city block. Additionally, through vigilant aerial surveying through ice and blazing sun, and subsequent analysis, GLAM identified four (4) active pipes and inflows that the EPA’s survey missed which is leading to other improvements in the clean-up plan. Other independent research projects to uncover historical Revolutionary War burial grounds have led to partnerships with the Brooklyn Preservation Council and the local VA (Veterans) chapter, as well as support from the Governor of Maryland and coverage in the NY Times. Image by @cfastie iFarm field trial monitoring Lee, NH: A multi-year project to document and quantify cover crop soil treatment and silvopasture trials using infrared photography, in conjunction with aerial mapping kits. This is part of a broader effort to develop data-driven analysis tools to support small-scale organic farmers, and is being pursued in partnership with Green Start, Farm Hack, Pioneer Valley Open Science, and the sustainable agriculture program at the University of New Hampshire. Through this work, collaborating farmers have gained a better understanding of the health of their crops, as well as a greater capacity for quantitatively and regularly assessing crop health at low cost. In addition to providing a compelling case study and proof of concept for the tools that are being developed through this work, the research has also produced new insights and initiated new projects -- such as more affordable and robust single-camera multispectral camera platforms -- and has paved the way for participants worldwide to more easily leverage and deploy these tools and techniques. Image by @warren DIY oil testing in Somerville, MA Testing at a Boston-area meetup helped to refine "do-it-yourself" methodologies for identifying different contaminant oils -- ranging from motor oil to tarballs washed ashore after a crude oil spill. Attendees to the event, hosted by the neighborhood education group Parts & Crafts, included local residents, as well as members of the Mystic River Watershed Association and Pioneer Valley Open Science. The prototype testing involved a new technique for distinguishing oil samples via florescence using an inexpensive blue laser pointer. The tests were successful, and the technique proved robust: it yielded consistently good results, despite slight variations in sample preparation. These methods show great promise, and will likely be included in our prototype oil contamination test kit. Follow progress on the oil testing kit here: http://publiclab.org/tag/oil-testing-kit. East Providence, RI Working with local residents and Northeastern University to use kite mapping kits to monitor a metal recycling center for code violations and contamination. This is a long, complex investigation involving legal battles. A neighborhood in East Providence, RI adjacent to a large construction waste grinding business has been experiencing toxic dust filtering into homes and yards from the plant. Many in the neighborhood suffer from respiratory and other health problems thought to be associated with the dust. Neighborhood activists managed (with Toxic Action Center's help) to have the waste grinding stopped. However, the same business owner re-opened the plant as a scrap metal processing operation, but with a permit that allows for limited operations under fifteen tons of wood products. The Balloon mapping during March 2013 was organized to document whether, after the waste grinding stopped, if unpermitted processing of materials other than wood started. Advocates have added detailed annotations to their aerial imagery to communicate about the issues on the ground and attempt to convince authorities to take some action against these illicit activities. Image by @karenv Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station mapping with Cape Cod Bay Watch Plymouth, MA: Using images collected via kite mapping, organizers are challenging the lack of a permit for new construction of a waste storage facility at the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station in Massachusetts. Two mapping trips to date have given local residents, led by CCBW, the ability to keep themselves informed about the progress of the construction, in addition to generating images and a compelling story which has resulted in press coverage (WBUR Boston - NPR) for their monitoring and advocacy efforts.	Revert
29	warren	July 21, 2014 21:09 \| almost 10 years ago Here we've collected a series of stories or case studies of work our community has done in the past few years. Origins Public Lab was inspired by the information blackout surrounding the 2010 BP Oil Disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. Despite having a massive impact on residents and the environment, local communities received sparse, incomplete data that contradicted what they could see unfolding in front of them. As news of the spill’s severity spread nationally and outrage about limited access to information simmered locally, Public Lab’s would-be co-founders convened in the Gulf Coast as part of the Grassroots Mapping collaborative. The Grassroots Mappers were a group of people seeking to invert the traditional power structure of cartography by using helium balloons and kites to loft their own "community satellites" made with inexpensive digital cameras. Partnering with New Orleans-based environmental justice organization Louisiana Bucket Brigade, the Mappers trained over one hundred local volunteers and activists who collected over 100,000 aerial images of the coastline before, during, and after the oil spread. Then, using MapKnitter, an open source platform created by the group, residents stitched these images into high resolution maps of the disaster as it unfolded. Through a partnership with Google Earth Outreach, these high resolution maps were uploaded as a primary or historical layer to Google Earth, making them globally accessible and allowing residents to speak their truth about what was going on in the Gulf. Grassroots Mapping becomes Public Lab The success of the grassroots mapping effort galvanized Public Lab’s founders to create a new research and social space for the development of low cost tools that enable community based environmental monitoring and research. By focusing on DIY, open-source tools, Public Lab takes science out of its ivory tower, making technology something anyone can develop, good science something anyone can do, and empowering residents to ask questions and seek answers. With early support from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation via the Knight News Challenge, Public Lab formally launched as a nonprofit organization in summer of 2011. Balloon Mapping of River Restoration at Mardi Gras Pass January 2013: Gulf Restoration Network (GRN), a valuable partner of Public Lab’s and wetlands watchdog group, has repeatedly used aerial mapping tools to advocate for wetlands restoration projects, and to keep community and partner organizations abreast of progress (or lack thereof). One specific instance was the use of kite photography to educate and agitate against the closure of a new branch of the Mississippi River, "Mardi Gras Pass." If left alone, this new distributary arm would feed protective marshes and swamps with nourishing sediment and water. More info can be found here: http://healthygulf.org/201301221984/blog/healthy-waters-/-dead-zone/save-mardi-gras-pass" Image by @eustatic Ironton, LA, United Bulk Coal Terminal monitoring With Public Lab training, tools, and support, Scott Eustis of Gulf Restoration Network (GRN), a Public Lab Organizer, and Devin Martin of Sierra Club, successfully captured low-altitude photos of ongoing coal export dumping in the Mississippi River. The images they captured of the coal pile that builds over time, changed GRN’s understanding of the extent of Oiltanking / United Bulk’s alleged environmental crimes and led to funding for further documentation and water quality analysis of this facility, culminating in a notice of intent to sue under the Clean Water Act. Although GRN had been passively monitoring this site via aircraft, the kite photo, because of its low-altitude and oblique angle, led to a new understanding that moved Louisiana DEQ to do a site visit. GRN, Sierra Club, Louisiana Environmental Action, and Tulane Law, with Public Citizen, have prepared to sue to improve the facility and levy fines against the company for their damages to Louisiana’s waters. The image itself is one of a series of images in legal proceedings, but has more value than others taken from a plane because of its level of detail--it is used as an organizing tool to explain the most desirable picture for officially documenting Oiltanking’s water pollution crimes to volunteer pilots and GRN members who reside in the area. GRN, Sierra Club, Louisiana Environmental Action, and Tulane Law, with Public Citizen, are currently in negotiations with the company. Image from http://www.010collaborative.net Jamaica Bay, NYC Public Lab organizer Gena Wirth and Eymund Diegel, along with Rob Holmes of the Dredge Research Collaborative, conduct aerial imaging documentation on various restoration islands in Jamaica Bay. Aerial maps document progress on the Army Corps of Engineers initiative to restore eroding salt marsh habitat with recycled dredge material, show shoreline and vegetation change over time, and document citizen participation in these efforts. Jamaica Bay’s Islands are in constant transformation. For decades, Yellow Bar hummock (pictured here) has been shrinking and losing ground due to intensifying urban impacts in the Jamaica Bay watershed. This pattern recently reversed course under the direction of the Army Corps of Engineers, who use the island as a site to dispose of dredge material and as a test case for expanding ecosystems in decline. Like much of Jamaica Bay the resulting landscape is neither fully industrial or fully natural, though it retains aesthetic and performative qualities of both. The flat expanse of newly constructed ground is composed of clean sand dredged from the Ambrose Channel, the main shipping channel leading to the port of NY/NJ. Aerial maps reveal the regularized distribution of the complex marsh matrix of sediment, Spartina, and ribbed mussel, which grow together in a functional ecosystem and stabilize the marshland. Beyond the dotted fringe of cordgrass clumps our photos document the expansive island interior, touched by the Army Corps of Engineers in a more economical fashion with a grid of fences marking Spartina plug planting zones. Some mapping events have been led in partnership with the American Littoral Society and Jamaica Bay Ecowatchers. Image by @cfastie Amherst, MA Monitoring invasive aquatic plant removal with UMass Amherst, the US Fish and Wildlife Service, and Pioneer Valley Open Science, using DIY multispectral aerial photography and balloon mapping kits. Aerial photographs of the lake effectively reveal the invasive water chestnut, as it is distinguishable by both color and texture at low altitudes. The goal is to use normal and color infrared images to locate patches of water chestnut as part of the much needed yearly monitoring to prevent the plant from spreading. Continued tech development is working on automated classification of NDVI images for a “one-click” solution for citizens monitoring invasive species in their waterways. Saugus, MA Public Lab worked on a multi-year project with Basurama.org to monitor the growth and treatment of ash at the open landfill bordering the Saugus waste incinerator, adjacent to both wetlands and residential areas, with annual DIY multispectral kite photography. By engaging residents of the Boston area in investigating where their waste ends up and how it is managed, the project raised local awareness and understanding of local waste cycles as well as of the toxicity and exposure issues related to the waste incineration process and the storage of ash. Recently, Public Lab Organizer, Pat Coyle has worked on a 3D (Surface From Motion (SFM)) reconstruction of the site using images collected from the kite photographers. Project lead, Pablo Rey Mazón, hopes to work towards connecting with volume measurement that other Public Labbers are researching, compare with official data and replicate the project with a similar trash incinerator in Bilbao. Image by @mlamadrid Balloon mapping by the Craft Village in Kampala, Uganda Use of balloon mapping by the Craft Village in Kampala, Uganda to temporarily stall eviction proceedings. The goal was to gain time so the community could organize next steps and create a dialogue around urban planning and displacement. Using aerial mapping the Craft Market combined a high resolution map of the area with community narratives. Doing so, the Craft Market was able to legally stall eviction for a month by using the map to acquire a court injunction. They also interfaced with the Ministry of Tourism via the map they created, demonstrating their value to the tourism industry. The Ministry of Tourism sent a team to evaluate the Market and tried to advocate to the Ministry of Land on behalf of the Market. In the end, the Ministry of Land went through with evicting the community. They decided to do a second map to record the progress of clearing and to document the lack of support during the eviction to demonstrate how the eviction displaced the previously flourishing market to a side street. Using this map, the Craft Market is still in the process of advocating their case. The map in MapKnitter can be found here: https://mapknitter.org/map/view/juakali. Text paraphrased from full research note. Gowanus Low Altitude Mapping (GLAM), in the Gowanus Canal Brooklyn, New York: Working with the Gowanus Canal Conservancy and Proteus Gowanus to conduct environmental investigations in the Gowanus Canal Superfund Site and broader watershed using aerial imagery. There are three distinct goals within GLAM: 1) researching biodiversity to better manage their urban ecosystems, 2) conducting eco-detective work to improve the government’s Superfund clean-up plan, and 3) advocating for watershed health by identifying upland sites that can be used for stormwater absorption to reduce downhill sewage overflow events in the canal. GLAM has succeeded in improving the Superfund clean-up plan: diligent investigation led to the discovery of an unknown freshwater inflow in the Gowanus First Street Basin, and their presentation to the EPA’s Community Advisory Group was so effective that Superfund restoration expanded to an additional city block. Additionally, through vigilant aerial surveying through ice and blazing sun, and subsequent analysis, GLAM identified four (4) active pipes and inflows that the EPA’s survey missed which is leading to other improvements in the clean-up plan. Other independent research projects to uncover historical Revolutionary War burial grounds have led to partnerships with the Brooklyn Preservation Council and the local VA (Veterans) chapter, as well as support from the Governor of Maryland and coverage in the NY Times. Image by @cfastie iFarm field trial monitoring Lee, NH: A multi-year project to document and quantify cover crop soil treatment and silvopasture trials using infrared photography, in conjunction with aerial mapping kits. This is part of a broader effort to develop data-driven analysis tools to support small-scale organic farmers, and is being pursued in partnership with Green Start, Farm Hack, Pioneer Valley Open Science, and the sustainable agriculture program at the University of New Hampshire. Through this work, collaborating farmers have gained a better understanding of the health of their crops, as well as a greater capacity for quantitatively and regularly assessing crop health at low cost. In addition to providing a compelling case study and proof of concept for the tools that are being developed through this work, the research has also produced new insights and initiated new projects -- such as more affordable and robust single-camera multispectral camera platforms -- and has paved the way for participants worldwide to more easily leverage and deploy these tools and techniques. Image by @warren DIY oil testing in Somerville, MA Testing at a Boston-area meetup helped to refine "do-it-yourself" methodologies for identifying different contaminant oils -- ranging from motor oil to tarballs washed ashore after a crude oil spill. Attendees to the event, hosted by the neighborhood education group Parts & Crafts, included local residents, as well as members of the Mystic River Watershed Association and Pioneer Valley Open Science. The prototype testing involved a new technique for distinguishing oil samples via florescence using an inexpensive blue laser pointer. The tests were successful, and the technique proved robust: it yielded consistently good results, despite slight variations in sample preparation. These methods show great promise, and will likely be included in our prototype oil contamination test kit. Follow progress on the oil testing kit here: http://publiclab.org/tag/oil-testing-kit. East Providence, RI Working with local residents and Northeastern University to use kite mapping kits to monitor a metal recycling center for code violations and contamination. This is a long, complex investigation involving legal battles. A neighborhood in East Providence, RI adjacent to a large construction waste grinding business has been experiencing toxic dust filtering into homes and yards from the plant. Many in the neighborhood suffer from respiratory and other health problems thought to be associated with the dust. Neighborhood activists managed (with Toxic Action Center's help) to have the waste grinding stopped. However, the same business owner re-opened the plant as a scrap metal processing operation, but with a permit that allows for limited operations under fifteen tons of wood products. The Balloon mapping during March 2013 was organized to document whether, after the waste grinding stopped, if unpermitted processing of materials other than wood started. Advocates have added detailed annotations to their aerial imagery to communicate about the issues on the ground and attempt to convince authorities to take some action against these illicit activities. Image by @karenv Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station mapping with Cape Cod Bay Watch Plymouth, MA: Using images collected via kite mapping, organizers are challenging the lack of a permit for new construction of a waste storage facility at the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station in Massachusetts. Two mapping trips to date have given local residents, led by CCBW, the ability to keep themselves informed about the progress of the construction, in addition to generating images and a compelling story which has resulted in press coverage (WBUR Boston - NPR) for their monitoring and advocacy efforts.	Revert
28	warren	July 21, 2014 21:04 \| almost 10 years ago Here we've collected a series of stories or case studies of work our community has done in the past few years. Origins Public Lab was inspired by the information blackout surrounding the 2010 BP Oil Disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. Despite having a massive impact on residents and the environment, local communities received sparse, incomplete data that contradicted what they could see unfolding in front of them. As news of the spill’s severity spread nationally and outrage about limited access to information simmered locally, Public Lab’s would-be co-founders convened in the Gulf Coast as part of the Grassroots Mapping collaborative. The Grassroots Mappers were a group of people seeking to invert the traditional power structure of cartography by using helium balloons and kites to loft their own "community satellites" made with inexpensive digital cameras. Partnering with New Orleans-based environmental justice organization Louisiana Bucket Brigade, the Mappers trained over one hundred local volunteers and activists who collected over 100,000 aerial images of the coastline before, during, and after the oil spread. Then, using MapKnitter, an open source platform created by the group, residents stitched these images into high resolution maps of the disaster as it unfolded. Through a partnership with Google Earth Outreach, these high resolution maps were uploaded as a primary or historical layer to Google Earth, making them globally accessible and allowing residents to speak their truth about what was going on in the Gulf. Grassroots Mapping becomes Public Lab The success of the grassroots mapping effort galvanized Public Lab’s founders to create a new research and social space for the development of low cost tools that enable community based environmental monitoring and research. By focusing on DIY, open-source tools, Public Lab takes science out of its ivory tower, making technology something anyone can develop, good science something anyone can do, and empowering residents to ask questions and seek answers. With early support from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation via the Knight News Challenge, Public Lab formally launched as a nonprofit organization in summer of 2011. Balloon Mapping of River Restoration at Mardi Gras Pass January 2013: Gulf Restoration Network (GRN), a valuable partner of Public Lab’s and wetlands watchdog group, has repeatedly used aerial mapping tools to advocate for wetlands restoration projects, and to keep community and partner organizations abreast of progress (or lack thereof). One specific instance was the use of kite photography to educate and agitate against the closure of a new branch of the Mississippi River, "Mardi Gras Pass." If left alone, this new distributary arm would feed protective marshes and swamps with nourishing sediment and water. More info can be found here: http://healthygulf.org/201301221984/blog/healthy-waters-/-dead-zone/save-mardi-gras-pass" Image by @eustatic Ironton, LA, United Bulk Coal Terminal monitoring With Public Lab training, tools, and support, Scott Eustis of Gulf Restoration Network (GRN), a Public Lab Organizer, and Devin Martin of Sierra Club, successfully captured low-altitude photos of ongoing coal export dumping in the Mississippi River. The images they captured of the coal pile that builds over time, changed GRN’s understanding of the extent of Oiltanking / United Bulk’s alleged environmental crimes and led to funding for further documentation and water quality analysis of this facility, culminating in a notice of intent to sue under the Clean Water Act. Although GRN had been passively monitoring this site via aircraft, the kite photo, because of its low-altitude and oblique angle, led to a new understanding that moved Louisiana DEQ to do a site visit. GRN, Sierra Club, Louisiana Environmental Action, and Tulane Law, with Public Citizen, have prepared to sue to improve the facility and levy fines against the company for their damages to Louisiana’s waters. The image itself is one of a series of images in legal proceedings, but has more value than others taken from a plane because of its level of detail--it is used as an organizing tool to explain the most desirable picture for officially documenting Oiltanking’s water pollution crimes to volunteer pilots and GRN members who reside in the area. GRN, Sierra Club, Louisiana Environmental Action, and Tulane Law, with Public Citizen, are currently in negotiations with the company. Image from http://www.010collaborative.net Jamaica Bay, NYC Public Lab organizer Gena Wirth and Eymund Diegel, along with Rob Holmes of the Dredge Research Collaborative, conduct aerial imaging documentation on various restoration islands in Jamaica Bay. Aerial maps document progress on the Army Corps of Engineers initiative to restore eroding salt marsh habitat with recycled dredge material, show shoreline and vegetation change over time, and document citizen participation in these efforts. Jamaica Bay’s Islands are in constant transformation. For decades, Yellow Bar hummock (pictured here) has been shrinking and losing ground due to intensifying urban impacts in the Jamaica Bay watershed. This pattern recently reversed course under the direction of the Army Corps of Engineers, who use the island as a site to dispose of dredge material and as a test case for expanding ecosystems in decline. Like much of Jamaica Bay the resulting landscape is neither fully industrial or fully natural, though it retains aesthetic and performative qualities of both. The flat expanse of newly constructed ground is composed of clean sand dredged from the Ambrose Channel, the main shipping channel leading to the port of NY/NJ. Aerial maps reveal the regularized distribution of the complex marsh matrix of sediment, Spartina, and ribbed mussel, which grow together in a functional ecosystem and stabilize the marshland. Beyond the dotted fringe of cordgrass clumps our photos document the expansive island interior, touched by the Army Corps of Engineers in a more economical fashion with a grid of fences marking Spartina plug planting zones. Some mapping events have been led in partnership with the American Littoral Society and Jamaica Bay Ecowatchers. Image by @cfastie Amherst, MA Monitoring invasive aquatic plant removal with UMass Amherst, the US Fish and Wildlife Service, and Pioneer Valley Open Science, using DIY multispectral aerial photography and balloon mapping kits. Aerial photographs of the lake effectively reveal the invasive water chestnut, as it is distinguishable by both color and texture at low altitudes. The goal is to use normal and color infrared images to locate patches of water chestnut as part of the much needed yearly monitoring to prevent the plant from spreading. Continued tech development is working on automated classification of NDVI images for a “one-click” solution for citizens monitoring invasive species in their waterways. Saugus, MA Public Lab worked on a multi-year project with Basurama.org to monitor the growth and treatment of ash at the open landfill bordering the Saugus waste incinerator, adjacent to both wetlands and residential areas, with annual DIY multispectral kite photography. By engaging residents of the Boston area in investigating where their waste ends up and how it is managed, the project raised local awareness and understanding of local waste cycles as well as of the toxicity and exposure issues related to the waste incineration process and the storage of ash. Recently, Public Lab Organizer, Pat Coyle has worked on a 3D (Surface From Motion (SFM)) reconstruction of the site using images collected from the kite photographers. Project lead, Pablo Rey Mazón, hopes to work towards connecting with volume measurement that other Public Labbers are researching, compare with official data and replicate the project with a similar trash incinerator in Bilbao. Image by @mlamadrid Balloon mapping by the Craft Village in Kampala, Uganda Use of balloon mapping by the Craft Village in Kampala, Uganda to temporarily stall eviction proceedings. The goal was to gain time so the community could organize next steps and create a dialogue around urban planning and displacement. Using aerial mapping the Craft Market combined a high resolution map of the area with community narratives. Doing so, the Craft Market was able to legally stall eviction for a month by using the map to acquire a court injunction. They also interfaced with the Ministry of Tourism via the map they created, demonstrating their value to the tourism industry. The Ministry of Tourism sent a team to evaluate the Market and tried to advocate to the Ministry of Land on behalf of the Market. In the end, the Ministry of Land went through with evicting the community. They decided to do a second map to record the progress of clearing and to document the lack of support during the eviction to demonstrate how the eviction displaced the previously flourishing market to a side street. Using this map, the Craft Market is still in the process of advocating their case. The map in MapKnitter can be found here: https://mapknitter.org/map/view/juakali. Text paraphrased from full research note. Gowanus Low Altitude Mapping (GLAM), in the Gowanus Canal Brooklyn, New York: Working with the Gowanus Canal Conservancy and Proteus Gowanus to conduct environmental investigations in the Gowanus Canal Superfund Site and broader watershed using aerial imagery. There are three distinct goals within GLAM: 1) researching biodiversity to better manage their urban ecosystems, 2) conducting eco-detective work to improve the government’s Superfund clean-up plan, and 3) advocating for watershed health by identifying upland sites that can be used for stormwater absorption to reduce downhill sewage overflow events in the canal. GLAM has succeeded in improving the Superfund clean-up plan: diligent investigation led to the discovery of an unknown freshwater inflow in the Gowanus First Street Basin, and their presentation to the EPA’s Community Advisory Group was so effective that Superfund restoration expanded to an additional city block. Additionally, through vigilant aerial surveying through ice and blazing sun, and subsequent analysis, GLAM identified four (4) active pipes and inflows that the EPA’s survey missed which is leading to other improvements in the clean-up plan. Other independent research projects to uncover historical Revolutionary War burial grounds have led to partnerships with the Brooklyn Preservation Council and the local VA (Veterans) chapter, as well as support from the Governor of Maryland and coverage in the NY Times. Image by @cfastie iFarm field trial monitoring Lee, NH: A multi-year project to document and quantify cover crop soil treatment and silvopasture trials using infrared photography, in conjunction with aerial mapping kits. This is part of a broader effort to develop data-driven analysis tools to support small-scale organic farmers, and is being pursued in partnership with Green Start, Farm Hack, Pioneer Valley Open Science, and the sustainable agriculture program at the University of New Hampshire. Through this work, collaborating farmers have gained a better understanding of the health of their crops, as well as a greater capacity for quantitatively and regularly assessing crop health at low cost. In addition to providing a compelling case study and proof of concept for the tools that are being developed through this work, the research has also produced new insights and initiated new projects -- such as more affordable and robust single-camera multispectral camera platforms -- and has paved the way for participants worldwide to more easily leverage and deploy these tools and techniques. Image by @warren DIY oil testing in Somerville, MA Testing at a Boston-area meetup helped to refine "do-it-yourself" methodologies for identifying different contaminant oils -- ranging from motor oil to tarballs washed ashore after a crude oil spill. Attendees to the event, hosted by the neighborhood education group Parts & Crafts, included local residents, as well as members of the Mystic River Watershed Association and Pioneer Valley Open Science. The prototype testing involved a new technique for distinguishing oil samples via florescence using an inexpensive blue laser pointer. The tests were successful, and the technique proved robust: it yielded consistently good results, despite slight variations in sample preparation. These methods show great promise, and will likely be included in our prototype oil contamination test kit. Follow progress on the oil testing kit here: http://publiclab.org/tag/oil-testing-kit. East Providence, RI Working with local residents and Northeastern University to use kite mapping kits to monitor a metal recycling center for code violations and contamination. This is a long, complex investigation involving legal battles. A neighborhood in East Providence, RI adjacent to a large construction waste grinding business has been experiencing toxic dust filtering into homes and yards from the plant. Many in the neighborhood suffer from respiratory and other health problems thought to be associated with the dust. Neighborhood activists managed (with Toxic Action Center's help) to have the waste grinding stopped. However, the same business owner re-opened the plant as a scrap metal processing operation, but with a permit that allows for limited operations under fifteen tons of wood products. The Balloon mapping during March 2013 was organized to document whether, after the waste grinding stopped, if unpermitted processing of materials other than wood started. Advocates have added detailed annotations to their aerial imagery to communicate about the issues on the ground and attempt to convince authorities to take some action against these illicit activities. Image by @karenv Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station mapping with Cape Cod Bay Watch Plymouth, MA: Using images collected via kite mapping, organizers are challenging the lack of a permit for new construction of a waste storage facility at the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station in Massachusetts. Two mapping trips to date have given local residents, led by CCBW, the ability to keep themselves informed about the progress of the construction, in addition to generating images and a compelling story which has resulted in press coverage (WBUR Boston - NPR) for their monitoring and advocacy efforts.	Revert
27	warren	July 16, 2014 20:29 \| almost 10 years ago Here we've collected a series of stories or case studies of work our community has done in the past few years. Origins Public Lab was inspired by the information blackout surrounding the 2010 BP Oil Disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. Despite having a massive impact on residents and the environment, local communities received sparse, incomplete data that contradicted what they could see unfolding in front of them. As news of the spill’s severity spread nationally and outrage about limited access to information simmered locally, Public Lab’s would-be co-founders convened in the Gulf Coast as part of the Grassroots Mapping collaborative. The Grassroots Mappers were a group of people seeking to invert the traditional power structure of cartography by using helium balloons and kites to loft their own "community satellites" made with inexpensive digital cameras. Partnering with New Orleans-based environmental justice organization Louisiana Bucket Brigade, the Mappers trained over one hundred local volunteers and activists who collected over 100,000 aerial images of the coastline before, during, and after the oil spread. Then, using MapKnitter, an open source platform created by the group, residents stitched these images into high resolution maps of the disaster as it unfolded. Through a partnership with Google Earth Outreach, these high resolution maps were uploaded as a primary or historical layer to Google Earth, making them globally accessible and allowing residents to speak their truth about what was going on in the Gulf. Grassroots Mapping becomes Public Lab The success of the grassroots mapping effort galvanized Public Lab’s founders to create a new research and social space for the development of low cost tools that enable community based environmental monitoring and research. By focusing on DIY, open-source tools, Public Lab takes science out of its ivory tower, making technology something anyone can develop, good science something anyone can do, and empowering residents to ask questions and seek answers. With early support from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation via the Knight News Challenge, Public Lab formally launched as a nonprofit organization in summer of 2011. Balloon Mapping of River Restoration at Mardi Gras Pass January 2013: Gulf Restoration Network (GRN), a valuable partner of Public Lab’s and wetlands watchdog group, has repeatedly used aerial mapping tools to advocate for wetlands restoration projects, and to keep community and partner organizations abreast of progress (or lack thereof). One specific instance was the use of kite photography to educate and agitate against the closure of a new branch of the Mississippi River, "Mardi Gras Pass." If left alone, this new distributary arm would feed protective marshes and swamps with nourishing sediment and water. More info can be found here: http://healthygulf.org/201301221984/blog/healthy-waters-/-dead-zone/save-mardi-gras-pass" Image by @eustatic Ironton, LA, United Bulk Coal Terminal monitoring With Public Lab training, tools, and support, Scott Eustis of Gulf Restoration Network (GRN), a Public Lab Organizer, and Devin Martin of Sierra Club, successfully captured low-altitude photos of ongoing coal export dumping in the Mississippi River. The images they captured of the coal pile that builds over time, changed GRN’s understanding of the extent of Oiltanking / United Bulk’s alleged environmental crimes and led to funding for further documentation and water quality analysis of this facility, culminating in a notice of intent to sue under the Clean Water Act. Although GRN had been passively monitoring this site via aircraft, the kite photo, because of its low-altitude and oblique angle, led to a new understanding that moved Louisiana DEQ to do a site visit. GRN, Sierra Club, Louisiana Environmental Action, and Tulane Law, with Public Citizen, have prepared to sue to improve the facility and levy fines against the company for their damages to Louisiana’s waters. The image itself is one of a series of images in legal proceedings, but has more value than others taken from a plane because of its level of detail--it is used as an organizing tool to explain the most desirable picture for officially documenting Oiltanking’s water pollution crimes to volunteer pilots and GRN members who reside in the area. GRN, Sierra Club, Louisiana Environmental Action, and Tulane Law, with Public Citizen, are currently in negotiations with the company. Image from http://www.010collaborative.net Jamaica Bay, NYC Public Lab organizer Gena Wirth and Eymund Diegel, along with Rob Holmes of the Dredge Research Collaborative, conduct aerial imaging documentation on various restoration islands in Jamaica Bay. Aerial maps document progress on the Army Corps of Engineers initiative to restore eroding salt marsh habitat with recycled dredge material, show shoreline and vegetation change over time, and document citizen participation in these efforts. Jamaica Bay’s Islands are in constant transformation. For decades, Yellow Bar hummock (pictured here) has been shrinking and losing ground due to intensifying urban impacts in the Jamaica Bay watershed. This pattern recently reversed course under the direction of the Army Corps of Engineers, who use the island as a site to dispose of dredge material and as a test case for expanding ecosystems in decline. Like much of Jamaica Bay the resulting landscape is neither fully industrial or fully natural, though it retains aesthetic and performative qualities of both. The flat expanse of newly constructed ground is composed of clean sand dredged from the Ambrose Channel, the main shipping channel leading to the port of NY/NJ. Aerial maps reveal the regularized distribution of the complex marsh matrix of sediment, Spartina, and ribbed mussel, which grow together in a functional ecosystem and stabilize the marshland. Beyond the dotted fringe of cordgrass clumps our photos document the expansive island interior, touched by the Army Corps of Engineers in a more economical fashion with a grid of fences marking Spartina plug planting zones. Some mapping events have been led in partnership with the American Littoral Society and Jamaica Bay Ecowatchers. Image by @cfastie Amherst, MA Monitoring invasive aquatic plant removal with UMass Amherst, the US Fish and Wildlife Service, and Pioneer Valley Open Science, using DIY multispectral aerial photography and balloon mapping kits. Aerial photographs of the lake effectively reveal the invasive water chestnut, as it is distinguishable by both color and texture at low altitudes. The goal is to use normal and color infrared images to locate patches of water chestnut as part of the much needed yearly monitoring to prevent the plant from spreading. Continued tech development is working on automated classification of NDVI images for a “one-click” solution for citizens monitoring invasive species in their waterways. Saugus, MA Public Lab worked on a multi-year project with Basurama.org to monitor the growth and treatment of ash at the open landfill bordering the Saugus waste incinerator, adjacent to both wetlands and residential areas, with annual DIY multispectral kite photography. By engaging residents of the Boston area in investigating where their waste ends up and how it is managed, the project raised local awareness and understanding of local waste cycles as well as of the toxicity and exposure issues related to the waste incineration process and the storage of ash. Recently, Public Lab Organizer, Pat Coyle has worked on a 3D (Surface From Motion (SFM)) reconstruction of the site using images collected from the kite photographers. Project lead, Pablo Rey Mazón, hopes to work towards connecting with volume measurement that other Public Labbers are researching, compare with official data and replicate the project with a similar trash incinerator in Bilbao. Image by @mlamadrid Balloon mapping by the Craft Village in Kampala, Uganda Use of balloon mapping by the Craft Village in Kampala, Uganda to temporarily stall eviction proceedings. The goal was to gain time so the community could organize next steps and create a dialogue around urban planning and displacement. Using aerial mapping the Craft Market combined a high resolution map of the area with community narratives. Doing so, the Craft Market was able to legally stall eviction for a month by using the map to acquire a court injunction. They also interfaced with the Ministry of Tourism via the map they created, demonstrating their value to the tourism industry. The Ministry of Tourism sent a team to evaluate the Market and tried to advocate to the Ministry of Land on behalf of the Market. In the end, the Ministry of Land went through with evicting the community. They decided to do a second map to record the progress of clearing and to document the lack of support during the eviction to demonstrate how the eviction displaced the previously flourishing market to a side street. Using this map, the Craft Market is still in the process of advocating their case. The map in MapKnitter can be found here: https://mapknitter.org/map/view/juakali. Text paraphrased from full research note. Gowanus Low Altitude Mapping (GLAM), in the Gowanus Canal Brooklyn, New York: Working with the Gowanus Canal Conservancy and Proteus Gowanus to conduct environmental investigations in the Gowanus Canal Superfund Site and broader watershed using aerial imagery. There are three distinct goals within GLAM: 1) researching biodiversity to better manage their urban ecosystems, 2) conducting eco-detective work to improve the government’s Superfund clean-up plan, and 3) advocating for watershed health by identifying upland sites that can be used for stormwater absorption to reduce downhill sewage overflow events in the canal. GLAM has succeeded in improving the Superfund clean-up plan: diligent investigation led to the discovery of an unknown freshwater inflow in the Gowanus First Street Basin, and their presentation to the EPA’s Community Advisory Group was so effective that Superfund restoration expanded to an additional city block. Additionally, through vigilant aerial surveying through ice and blazing sun, and subsequent analysis, GLAM identified four (4) active pipes and inflows that the EPA’s survey missed which is leading to other improvements in the clean-up plan. Other independent research projects to uncover historical Revolutionary War burial grounds have led to partnerships with the Brooklyn Preservation Council and the local VA (Veterans) chapter, as well as support from the Governor of Maryland and coverage in the NY Times. Image by @cfastie iFarm field trial monitoring Lee, NH: A multi-year project to document and quantify cover crop soil treatment and silvopasture trials using infrared photography, in conjunction with aerial mapping kits. This is part of a broader effort to develop data-driven analysis tools to support small-scale organic farmers, and is being pursued in partnership with Green Start, Farm Hack, Pioneer Valley Open Science, and the sustainable agriculture program at the University of New Hampshire. Through this work, collaborating farmers have gained a better understanding of the health of their crops, as well as a greater capacity for quantitatively and regularly assessing crop health at low cost. In addition to providing a compelling case study and proof of concept for the tools that are being developed through this work, the research has also produced new insights and initiated new projects -- such as more affordable and robust single-camera multispectral camera platforms -- and has paved the way for participants worldwide to more easily leverage and deploy these tools and techniques. Image by @warren DIY oil testing in Somerville, MA Testing at a Boston-area meetup helped to refine "do-it-yourself" methodologies for identifying different contaminant oils -- ranging from motor oil to tarballs washed ashore after a crude oil spill. Attendees to the event, hosted by the neighborhood education group Parts & Crafts, included local residents, as well as members of the Mystic River Watershed Association and Pioneer Valley Open Science. The prototype testing involved a new technique for distinguishing oil samples via florescence using an inexpensive blue laser pointer. The tests were successful, and the technique proved robust: it yielded consistently good results, despite slight variations in sample preparation. These methods show great promise, and will likely be included in our prototype oil contamination test kit. Follow progress on the oil testing kit here: http://publiclab.org/tag/oil-testing-kit. East Providence, RI Working with local residents and Northeastern University to use kite mapping kits to monitor a metal recycling center for code violations and contamination. This is a long, complex investigation involving legal battles. A neighborhood in East Providence, RI adjacent to a large construction waste grinding business has been experiencing toxic dust filtering into homes and yards from the plant. Many in the neighborhood suffer from respiratory and other health problems thought to be associated with the dust. Neighborhood activists managed (with Toxic Action Center's help) to have the waste grinding stopped. However, the same business owner re-opened the plant as a scrap metal processing operation, but with a permit that allows for limited operations under fifteen tons of wood products. The Balloon mapping during March 2013 was organized to document whether, after the waste grinding stopped, if unpermitted processing of materials other than wood started. Advocates have added detailed annotations to their aerial imagery to communicate about the issues on the ground and attempt to convince authorities to take some action against these illicit activities. Image by @karenv Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station mapping with Cape Cod Bay Watch Plymouth, MA: Using images collected via kite mapping, organizers are challenging the lack of a permit for new construction of a waste storage facility at the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station in Massachusetts. Two mapping trips to date have given local residents, led by CCBW, the ability to keep themselves informed about the progress of the construction, in addition to generating images and a compelling story which has resulted in press coverage (WBUR Boston - NPR) for their monitoring and advocacy efforts.	Revert

« »

Public Lab Wiki documentation

Revisions for stories

Grassroots Mapping becomes Public Lab

Balloon Mapping of River Restoration at Mardi Gras Pass

United Bulk Coal Terminal Monitoring

Documenting Restoration Projects in Yellow Bar

Monitoring Invasive Aquatic Plant Removal

Monitoring an Open Landfill

Use of Balloon Mapping to Temporarily Stall Eviction Proceedings

Gowanus Low Altitude Mapping (GLAM)

Documenting and Quantifying Soil Treatments

Refining Methodologies for Oil Identification

Documenting Code Violations by Metal Recycling Center

Pilgrim Nuclear Power Plant Mapping

Wetlands Restoration

Flood risk-reduction Advocacy

Community direct action to reduce flood risk

Community wetlands education

Grassroots Mapping becomes Public Lab

Balloon Mapping of River Restoration at Mardi Gras Pass

United Bulk Coal Terminal Monitoring

Documenting Restoration Projects in Yellow Bar

Monitoring Invasive Aquatic Plant Removal

Monitoring an Open Landfill

Use of Balloon Mapping to Temporarily Stall Eviction Proceedings

Gowanus Low Altitude Mapping (GLAM)

Documenting and Quantifying Soil Treatments

Refining Methodologies for Oil Identification

Documenting Code Violations by Metal Recycling Center

Pilgrim Nuclear Power Plant Mapping

Grassroots Mapping becomes Public Lab

Balloon Mapping of River Restoration at Mardi Gras Pass

United Bulk Coal Terminal Monitoring

Documenting Restoration Projects in Yellow Bar

Monitoring Invasive Aquatic Plant Removal

Monitoring an Open Landfill

Use of Balloon Mapping to Temporarily Stall Eviction Proceedings

Gowanus Low Altitude Mapping (GLAM)

Documenting and Quantifying Soil Treatments

Refining Methodologies for Oil Identification

Documenting Code Violations by Metal Recycling Center

Pilgrim Nuclear Power Plant Mapping

Grassroots Mapping becomes Public Lab

Balloon Mapping of River Restoration at Mardi Gras Pass

United Bulk Coal Terminal Monitoring

Documenting Restoration Projects in Yellow Bar

Monitoring Invasive Aquatic Plant Removal

Monitoring an Open Landfill

Use of Balloon Mapping to Temporarily Stall Eviction Proceedings

Gowanus Low Altitude Mapping (GLAM)

Documenting and Quantifying Soil Treatments

Refining Methodologies for Oil Identification

Documenting Code Violations by Metal Recycling Center

Pilgrim Nuclear Power Plant Mapping

Grassroots Mapping becomes Public Lab

Balloon Mapping of River Restoration at Mardi Gras Pass

United Bulk Coal Terminal Monitoring

Documenting Restoration Projects in Yellow Bar

Monitoring Invasive Aquatic Plant Removal

Monitoring an Open Landfill

Use of Balloon Mapping to Temporarily Stall Eviction Proceedings

Gowanus Low Altitude Mapping (GLAM)

Documenting and Quantifying Soil Treatments

Refining Methodologies for Oil Identification

Documenting Code Violations by Metal Recycling Center

Pilgrim Nuclear Power Plant Mapping

Grassroots Mapping becomes Public Lab

Balloon Mapping of River Restoration at Mardi Gras Pass

United Bulk Coal Terminal Monitoring

Documenting Restoration Projects in Yellow Bar

Monitoring Invasive Aquatic Plant Removal

Monitoring an Open Landfill

Use of Balloon Mapping to Temporarily Stall Eviction Proceedings

Gowanus Low Altitude Mapping (GLAM)

Documenting and Quantifying Soil Treatments

Refining Methodologies for Oil Identification

Documenting Code Violations by Metal Recycling Center

Pilgrim Nuclear Power Plant Mapping

Grassroots Mapping becomes Public Lab

Balloon Mapping of River Restoration at Mardi Gras Pass