Using Kite and Balloon Aerials to identify Gowanus Canal Water Pollution Sources

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Public Laboratory for Open Technology & Science

Grassroots Mapping

Kite Photographed “Grassroots� Crop Marks of Roman Buildings, Grosseto, Tuscany, Italy, Flickr, Paolo Opaxir, May 2008

Creating cheap open source aerial imagery and data for Community efforts to cleanup a polluted neighborhood in Brooklyn, NY, USA

Bringing memories and fun back to civic data


Unless stated otherwise, all photo credits are Grassrootsmapping.org, 2011







Brouwer’s Bridge Site A Historic Revolutionary War Bridge: Location of a strategic 1776 Battle of Brooklyn conflict.

Sample Balloon Aerial for Community Advocacy for a Potential Boat House & Memorial Bridge on EPA Superfund Site

Daniel Barry, New York Times, 2005

Overlay from 1766 Ratzer map 2011 Balloon Canoe Aerial courtesy of Gowanus Canal Conservancy / Gowanus Dredgers Canoe Club




2012: A weekly Citizen water quality testing program with the River Project



Goal: make the Gowanus Canal swimmable

What Kind of Water Quality Do You Think We’ll Need ?


Winnie the Pooh says: By improving most polluted tributaries we bring up everyone’s water quality We need to target worst areas first for new sewer and storm water projects




Sample Aerial of how pictures are used for planning water filtering parks & pipe mapping


Sample Aerial of how pictures are used for planning water filtering parks


Sites for which we we want aerial data :

URBAN WATER CYCLE IT RAINS

WATER GOES INTO PIPE

versus ECOLOGICAL WATER CYCLE EVAPORATION IT RAINS CONDENSATION SOME WATER GOES INTO PIPE

Water Sensitive Urban Design How can cheap High resolution aerials help ?

INFILTRATION

WE ARE LOOKING FOR GOOD INFILTRATION SITES

Being able to see the vegetation is important:

1766 Historical Watershed Modeling by Lucas Kronawitter, 2011 ArcHydro Watershed Flow Map by Eymund Diegel, 2010 Grass by Albrecht Durer, 1503


Brouwers Brook Restoration

(Degraw Street Bioswale) Mapping the historic streams of the Gowanus Canal for daylighting & restoration plans Are there clues in the water’s color ?


ASSIST CITY IN THEIR GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE PLANNING


1766 stream

Overlay from 1766 Ratzer map, 2011 Balloon Canoe Aerial courtesy of Gowanus Canal Conservancy / Gowanus Dredgers


Ate Atema Architects First Street Basin redevelopment proposal





27 March 2011 Grassroots Mapping Kite Aerial

SECOND AVE STREET END & GOWANUS CANAL AERIAL SHOWS USE OF PUBLIC STREET BY MARMURSTEIN BUS DEPOT AS OUTDOOR MOTOR YARD & CONSEQUENT ILLEGAL MOTOR OIL SPILLS



Sample Aerial of how pictures are used for monitoring water quality pollution sources




HISTORIC FLOOD MANAGEMENT ISSUES

Historic Streams

Diverted into Sewer during 1850’s and causing overflows ?

dlandstudio / Gowanus Canal Conservancy 1766 NATURAL WATER SHED

2011 PIPED SYSTEM

BOND STREET COMBINED SEWER OVERFLOW (RH 35)

Denton’s Pond Lucas Kronawitter

4TH STREET BASIN

5TH STREET BASIN: CAN IT’S CONTAMINATED FILL BE CLEANED OUT AND THE PUBLIC RIGHT OF WAY BE RESTORED AS A FLOODWAY CONNECTION TO J.J. BYRNE PARK ? Old Stone House / Byrne Park

MARYLANDER SITE: IF CONFIRMED, SHOULD BE INTEGRATE IT INTO 6TH STREET BLUEWAY (BEING BUILT) TO PROTECT IT AS A MEMORIAL OPEN SPACE?





1776 Battle of Brooklyn Johnson Map



27 August 1776 – Delaware & Maryland Regiments stranded when Brouwer’s Bridge blown up 256 of them buried in lost mass grave near 8th Street & 3rd Ave


Battle of Brooklyn


Battle of Brooklyn Sites dlandstudio / Gowanus Canal Conservancy SPONGE PARK PLAN

HISTORIC 1776 WAR OF INDEPENDENCE SITES

Brouwer’s Mill Bridge Battle Site & Historic Dam

Denton’s Mill Battle Site Battle Site / Potential Second Burial Ground 1776 OLD STONE HOUSE BATTLE

Old Stone House Battle Site

Presumed Grave Location

Veterans Monument

Marylander’s Burial Ground ( May have been relocated to Greenwood Cemetery – being researched by FROGG archeologists )

Potential Alternative Burial Ground

Original Stone House location

Old Stone House Battle Site









1850 Willard Day 8th Street and Third Ave Cut and Fill Survey for the regrading of 8th Street Source: Bob Furman 2012 Marylander Research Archives

“Marylander” Hill before it was lowered by 1 or 2 feet during 1850’s road construction





We allowed a Public Waterway and Revolutionary Battle Site to become a Chemical Garbage Dump, and for America’s First Military Graveyard to be forgotten vacant lot ‌ What will be our Historical Legacy ?


We must now restore these HISTORIC SITES and integrate them with the City Green Infrastructure Plan and the Superfund Improvement Program Better Citizen Science aerials can help by making high quality data and community research available What do YOU think ? This presentation available at: www.proteusgowanus.org in the Hall of the Gowanus archive For aerials or data contact eymund@gmail.com


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