Utilizing NASA Earth Observations and Community Science to Detect and Map the Displacement of Cladophora along the Milwaukee County Shoreline
Abstract
When Cladophora washes ashore and decays, it creates unaesthetic and unpleasant smelling beaches, potentially endangering public health and threatening the local tourism economy. Although Cladophora is naturally occurring and nontoxic, the accumulation and decay of this green macroalgae creates salient socioeconomic issues for communities situated along the shoreline of Lake Michigan. Decaying Cladophora promotes the growth of toxic bacteria, which may harm humans and wildlife. In collaboration with Groundwork Milwaukee, the 2018 NASA DEVELOP Lake Michigan Water Resources team created Cladophora Habitat Suitability and Washup Predictive Maps to identify areas where the algae grows and predict where it will most likely come ashore. These maps were created using Landsat 8 Operational Land Imager (OLI) and Aqua Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) imagery of Lake Michigan near Milwaukee, WI, from June to September for the years 2016 and 2017. To engage community stakeholders and students, the team also created an ArcGIS Collector App (to gather in situ data), a social media campaign, a YouTube video, and an ESRI Story Map (to publish on GWMKE's webpage). The social media campaign, video, and story map helped highlight to the public the socioeconomic issues surrounding Cladophora, the project workflow and map products, and the benefits of utilizing NASA Earth Observations to assist the local Milwaukee community in addressing this issue. The ArcGIS Collector App, created to validate the project maps with in situ data of Cladophora sightings collected by GWMKE, exposed GWMKE student interns to applied geospatial techniques, helping develop their careers in the Earth sciences and geographic information systems. In short, the variety of media platforms serves to visualize and enhance understanding of Cladophora, which is beneficial for fostering dialogue within the local community and promoting community involvement in cleaning the beaches.
- Publication:
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AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2018
- Bibcode:
- 2018AGUFMED52A..07C
- Keywords:
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- 0825 Teaching methods;
- EDUCATIONDE: 0845 Instructional tools;
- EDUCATIONDE: 0850 Geoscience education research;
- EDUCATIONDE: 0855 Diversity;
- EDUCATION