Waterviz
Waterviz
Waterviz
Background
The Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest in NH is a site
associated with the Smart Forest network, an initiative
undertaken by the USFS Northern Research Station to use
multifunctional environmental sensors and sensor networks
to communicate environmental conditions to researchers,
managers and the public in real time. Intrigued by the idea to
engage non-scientists with the ability to monitor the major
components of the water cycle in real time, a team of
scientists, artists, graphic designers and educators developed
the Waterviz, an online artistic simulation and sonification of
the water cycle that reflects the hydrologic processes
occurring at that moment in time using data captured from a
small headwater catchment in the Hubbard Brook valley.
Methods
This image
accurately reflects
water moving,
through almost all
parts of the water
cycle, through a
small forested
watershed in NH
during Tropical
Storm Irene on 28
August 2011.
Hydrologic variables
Precipitation
Evaporation
Surface Runoff
Infiltration
Deep Drainage
P = Q + E + S
P: precipitation
Q: runoff
E: evapotranspiration
S: change in
storage
Funding Sources:
USDA-Forest Service
NH EPSCoR
Northeast Climate Science
Center
Anonymous donor