#08-005
February 20, 2008
Skidaway Institute scientists help develop Ossabaw Island as a living
laboratory
The dream to turn Ossabaw Island into a living laboratory accessible to anyone
with a computer is a step closer to reality. Skidaway Institute of Oceanography
and the Ossabaw Island Foundation have received $200,000 in grants from the
Georgia Power Corporation and the Georgia Research Alliance to build a network
of sensors on the remote coastal Georgia barrier island. The goal is to allow
educators, students and scientists to study the island and monitor changes in
the environment from off-island locations.
"Based on a number of workshops with state scientists and other stakeholders, we
initiated the idea to establish an observing system on the island so people
could have access to the island, not just by going over by boat, but also
remotely through sensors and computer technology," said Herb Windom, a Skidaway
Institute scientist and one of the originators of the plan.
 |
| School groups visit Ossabaw Island
frequently to learn about the history and ecology of Georgia's barrier
islands. |
Other partners in the project include the Georgia Department of Natural
Resources, which manages the island; the Ossabaw Island Foundation, which is
responsible for developing educational and cultural programs; and the Alliance
for Coastal Technology (ACT), a consortium of research laboratories, including
Skidway Institute, whose goal is to promote the development of remote sensor
technology.
Ossabaw is an undeveloped barrier island several miles south of Savannah. In
1978, the West family who owned the island sold it to the state of Georgia with
the understanding it would never be developed, and would be used for education
and research. It was established as Georgia's first heritage trust.
Through grants from Georgia Power, the Ossabaw Foundation has installed a power
grid and a broadband wireless communication system essential for operating a
sensor network. ACT established monitoring wells on the island to monitor ground
water, and last August, also with aid from Georgia Power, a weather station was
set up. Real-time weather conditions from this system can be monitored on-line
at www.georgiaweather.net.
The next phase will include three sensor systems to monitor water quality -- on
the coast, in a creek and in a pond. Additional sensors will also be deployed in
wells to monitor the groundwater levels, temperature and salinity. Within the
next year, more and different sensors will be added to the network, including
video cameras on the beach and at other locations on the island.
"Ossabaw is one of the very few islands protected from development due to its
status as a heritage trust," said Windom. "So here is a place for people to look
at a barrier island and see how it responds to a variety of things, like
seasonal changes in climate, storm events, droughts or global climate change."
Windom envisions educators, students and researchers continuing to visit the
island as they do now. "You can bring in an education group and they can study
the island as it is," he said. "Then they can follow it when they return to
their classroom."
According to Paul Pressly, director of the Ossabaw Island Foundation's education
programs, the goal of the project is two-fold. "We want the information coming
from the sensors, video cameras and other monitors to go into every classroom in
the state of Georgia," he said. "Secondly, we want researchers to be able to
place sensors that serve their research purposes on the island, whether
monitoring water quality, tarpon activity in the creeks or other forms of animal
life. Through our network of sensors and cameras, we have the opportunity of
redefining how coastal ecology is taught in this state."
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|
Technicians install the weather station
on Ossabaw Island. |
Armstrong
Atlantic State University professor Ashraf Saad has already begun such a
program. With a $1.2 million grant from the National Science Foundation, Saad
has developed OssaBest, a project to increase the preparation and participation
of students entering information technology careers. OssaBest will prepare 90
teachers and 120 students from the Savannah-Chatham County School System over
the course of the three-year project. Participants will learn how to use
advanced information technologies for the exploration of Ossabaw Island, being
able to observe natural phenomena via real-time transmission of video and data
from the sensor network.
"When the National Science Foundation, Georgia Power and the Georgia Research
Alliance made grants this fall to create an observatory on Ossabaw Island, we
knew we had crossed a magical threshold," said Pressly. "We now have the
resources to put together a path-breaking program for research and education
that respects the island's undisturbed nature."
The barrier island observatory will be called the Georgia Power Observatory, in
recognition of Georgia Power's long-standing support for projects on the island.
Posted: 2008/02/25 12:03:50 |
During
the 2006 legislative session the Georgia General Assembly approved a $5 million
appropriation for the construction of a new laboratory and instructional
building. Governor Sonny Perdue signed the budget package that included the
appropriation.