Public Lab Wiki documentation


Gulf Coast

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The Public Lab Gulf Coast office is located in New Orleans, LA at 4035 Washington Ave. You can join other Gulf Coast Public Labbers through our Gulf Coast Google Group (https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/plots-gulfcoast), where we announce events in the Gulf Coast region and projects that you can get involved with. If you're interested in proposing a project, a new focus in the Gulf Coast region or want to conduct your own mapping session, please contact us, and we'll help you get started (equipment, training, finding volunteers, etc.).

Gulf Coast Organizers:

Scott Eustis
Dan Beavers
Alex Stoicof
Matt Pendergraft
Hunter Daniels
Stevie Lewis
Shannon Dosemagen
Eric Kugler

2014 Plans and Projects

2013 Plans and Projects

  • 2013 Barnraising. Archived information on the Barnraising: http://publiclab.org/wiki/barnraising-2013.

  • Public Lab recently received a contribution from Patagonia Clothing Company to do aerial mapping of twenty sites in Barataria Bay that grassroots mappers had previously worked at in 2011. The project is set to run between October 2013 and October 2014.

  • Public Lab has been working with a team at NASA DEVELOP, based at Stennis Space Station, using the DIY spectrometer to look at refinery flares. To view related research notes, search for the tag "flare".

  • Public Lab will be participating in DredgeFest Louisiana, mapping five sites ahead of time and collaborating with the Dredge Research Collective to create annotated maps that will be used during the main DredgeFest event in January 2014. To get involved, please contact Scott Eustis or Shannon Dosemagen.

  • The Gulf Coast region will be piloting a "Map Stitching Team". Similar to the work done during the BP oil spill in 2010, the corp will be a way for people, from anywhere in the world, to get involved in helping to provide technical assistance and do image stitching of data being collected in the Gulf Region, specially during the Barataria Bay project. To get involved, please contact the Public Lab Cartography Collective.

Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Mapping 2010-2011

Since May 2010, we have been using balloon mapping to capture aerial imagery of spill-affected sites in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida. Our work on the Gulf Coast in 2010, was done in cooperation with groups such as the Louisiana Bucket Brigade and the University of South Alabama on a community-led monitoring of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. The data has been gathered can be viewed in:

the Public Laboratory Archive »

More images and information can be found at:

While mapping the oil spill, we were not trying to duplicate the satellite or flyover imagery (though we helped to coordinate some of the flyovers and tried to ensure that the data was publicly accessible). Instead, we were helping Gulf Coast residents to use balloons, kites, and other simple and inexpensive tools to produce their own documentation of the disaster and hoping that such data collection will continue to support environmental research, policy, and regulatory changes in coming years.

2012 Mapping Plans and Ideas

  • Bayou Bienvenue [background] [restoration] [greenslice]

  • NO East (schools, Nature Center) late December 2012

  • Big Branch map annotation

  • Cypress Restoration on MRGO spoilbank (St Bernard Foundation) January 2013

2011 mapping plans and focuses

  • Producing our second paper map (with the support of DevelopmentSeed) of Wilkinson Bay.
  • Providing digital archives of collected images to libraries across the Gulf Coast
  • Mapping restoration and remediation efforts in the Louisiana wetlands
  • Continued mapping of the Barataria Bay region in partnership with the Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium
  • Connecting with researchers regarding data use and potential collaborations
  • Testing out new PLOTS tools- infrared and UV cameras
  • Testing out a time lapse camera that will be mounted in a wetland area near Cocodrie, LA
  • Testing the Hydrogen Sulfide sensor that is currently in development

Grassroots Mapping: Kickstarter Pitch from TungstenMonkey on Vimeo.

Site Contacts

Join

How can you help?

  • Sort imagery we've collected so that it can be stitched into maps
  • Sponsor the printing of one of our maps to be distributed on the Gulf Coast
  • Volunteer to help with data analysis and outcomes
  • Volunteer in the area to fly balloons/kites, make maps Volunteer Here
  • Volunteer your expertise around further development of H2S sensing and the infrared camera

How-to Mapping Guides

Look at our 4-page PDF guide to get started.

Equipment:

  • Canon cameras or Android phones (see Balloon Mapping Materials)
  • Weather balloons (5 feet diameter or more)
  • string, lots of string

Mapping Resources

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