##Objective## Use one of the public labs DIY helium balloons to do mapping of a local invasive aquatic plant **Water Chestnut **and to help map in downtown Amherst to assist in **city planning**. ##Mission## This project has 2 parts or 'missions' to it the first part being an aerial photo mapping of a local invasive species (Water chestnut) at a site (Westfield). The cameras used have been adjusted for one to be RGB and the other infra red. They've also been set to shoot photos simultaneously every 7 seconds.The goal is to upload these images into some sort of photoediting software such as photo shop in order to highlight the water chestnut canopy. From the highlighted photos we want to upload into ArcGIS using tools such as georefrence (in order for the map to be correctly located) and then use almost a suitability analysis to map out the invasive. The second portion to this project is aerial mapping in the town of Amherst. We hope to do this in an area that is building a large apartment building but are looking for an area close by that could possibly be used as a parking lot. The goal is to use the aerial balloon mapping images to show potential spots within a certain distance of site that could be turned into a parking lot. The steps for this are similar to those of the invasive plants once images are taken and inputted into ArcMap ##How?## Using a helium filled 5 foot balloon attached to a 3D printed camera rig that has two cameras (RGB and infrared-see below). [![999.JPG](https://i.publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/007/568/medium/999.JPG)](https://i.publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/007/568/original/999.JPG) **Camera rig** [![photo_39999.JPG](https://i.publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/007/573/medium/photo_39999.JPG)](https://i.publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/007/573/original/photo_39999.JPG) [![photo_49999.JPG](https://i.publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/007/574/medium/photo_49999.JPG)](https://i.publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/007/574/original/photo_49999.JPG) **Balloon pre set up ** [![photo_1999.JPG](https://i.publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/007/575/medium/photo_1999.JPG)](https://i.publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/007/575/original/photo_1999.JPG) ## First attempt at balloon and kite flying## On Wednesday October 15th we had our first 'trial' run with our helium balloon and the DIY mapping! The weather was not exactly ideal but we were all still excited to finally get the balloon in the air [after much complications with actually getting helium to fill it]. A lot of students from the class came out to show support, help and just see this actual contraption go up! We started it out by first filling up the balloon with helium tank [since this was our first time we were unsure of how much helium it would need to lift the camera rig, we ended up having to go back and fill it a bit more after the initial fill up but hey that is all part of the learning process] after we got correct helium to lift the balloon it was time to attach the 3D printed camera rig with cameras [set to take photos every 7 seconds with 4 second intervals] to the balloon. We were a little unsure of how to do this at first and tried to follow what directions we had and ended up attaching in two spots which seemed to work well [most of this can all be seen in the many pictures I've uploaded documenting the steps below]. After this we were set for the first trial and lift off of the balloon! And it worked! We we're just outside of Holdsworth on the UMass Campus but we got lift off [considering the weather] for a bit before we decided that maybe it is safer not to fly now and wait until the wind is well a little less windy...But since there was wind and we were already out there we decided to try out the kite. We went down to the fields near the Mullins center [they offered a little more space...and less of an obstacle of items to run into] we used the 9ft kite [the larger of the two] and attached the camera rig in a similar way as we did to balloon and took off. We found that as it was windy it was still a challenge to get the kite up there and did require a lot of space and heavier winds for the weight of the rig. It also may not be as an exact picture for the type of aerial footage we are looking for. But lots of fun to fly and see it all in action none the less. First step getting the helium tank ready [![32.JPG](https://i.publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/007/569/medium/32.JPG)](https://i.publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/007/569/original/32.JPG) [![photo_12.JPG](https://i.publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/007/578/medium/photo_12.JPG)](https://i.publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/007/578/original/photo_12.JPG) Then started to fill up the balloon [![2222.JPG](https://i.publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/007/571/medium/2222.JPG)](https://i.publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/007/571/original/2222.JPG) [![photo_1ff.JPG](https://i.publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/007/572/medium/photo_1ff.JPG)](https://i.publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/007/572/original/photo_1ff.JPG) [![photo_2ff.JPG](https://i.publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/007/576/medium/photo_2ff.JPG)](https://i.publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/007/576/original/photo_2ff.JPG) [our makeshift way to hold down balloon using railing and bungee cord] [![photo_4ff.JPG](https://i.publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/007/577/medium/photo_4ff.JPG)](https://i.publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/007/577/original/photo_4ff.JPG) [attachment of camera rig string to the balloons tether] [![666.JPG](https://i.publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/007/579/medium/666.JPG)](https://i.publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/007/579/original/666.JPG) [![photo_5.JPG](https://i.publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/007/580/medium/photo_5.JPG)](https://i.publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/007/580/original/photo_5.JPG) [![photo_5ff.JPG](https://i.publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/007/581/medium/photo_5ff.JPG)](https://i.publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/007/581/original/photo_5ff.JPG) [![photo_3111.JPG](https://i.publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/007/582/medium/photo_3111.JPG)](https://i.publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/007/582/original/photo_3111.JPG) And once everything is all set [![photo_144.JPG](https://i.publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/007/583/medium/photo_144.JPG)](https://i.publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/007/583/original/photo_144.JPG) Also here are a few photos from the kite with camera rig first flying attempts [![photo_3.JPG](https://i.publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/007/584/medium/photo_3.JPG)](https://i.publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/007/584/original/photo_3.JPG) [![ww.JPG](https://i.publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/007/585/medium/ww.JPG)](https://i.publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/007/585/original/ww.JPG) ##Local Invasive Aerial Mapping in Westfield## Professor Charlie Schweik and a fellow student of mine working on this project, Tony Volpini went out to Westfield (Brick Yard Ponds) Monday morning (October 20th) to try out the balloon mapping of invasive aquatic plants in the area. They were looking at water chestnut a local invasive here in Massachusetts. They were using the RGB and infra red cameras to try and definitely see plant canopy in the water. We're hoping to use the images taken on Monday and hopefully photo shop out the areas with water chestnut or highlight them and then take these images and put into ArcMap. ****The study area of water chestnut in Westfield**** [these images were give to us by Karen Leigh] [![Westfield_Brickyard_Ponds_2013_Aerial_photo_GIS_map.jpg](https://i.publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/007/587/medium/Westfield_Brickyard_Ponds_2013_Aerial_photo_GIS_map.jpg)](https://i.publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/007/587/original/Westfield_Brickyard_Ponds_2013_Aerial_photo_GIS_map.jpg) [![Westfield_Brickyard_Ponds_GIS_map.jpg](https://i.publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/007/588/medium/Westfield_Brickyard_Ponds_GIS_map.jpg)](https://i.publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/007/588/original/Westfield_Brickyard_Ponds_GIS_map.jpg) Here are the infrared pictures taken from aerial balloon [![IMG_0319.JPG](https://i.publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/007/589/medium/IMG_0319.JPG)](https://i.publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/007/589/original/IMG_0319.JPG) [![IMG_0326.JPG](https://i.publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/007/590/medium/IMG_0326.JPG)](https://i.publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/007/590/original/IMG_0326.JPG) [these images were from Professor Charlie Schweik] [![1020140821_resized.jpg](https://i.publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/007/591/medium/1020140821_resized.jpg)](https://i.publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/007/591/original/1020140821_resized.jpg) [![1020140839_resized.jpg](https://i.publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/007/592/medium/1020140839_resized.jpg)](https://i.publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/007/592/original/1020140839_resized.jpg) [![1020140855_resized.jpg](https://i.publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/007/593/medium/1020140855_resized.jpg)](https://i.publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/007/593/original/1020140855_resized.jpg) [these images were taken by Karen Leigh]