Last month we flew a kite and took aerial photographs of the Hi-Crush frac sand operation in Augusta, WI, using techniques developed by Public Lab. The Public Laboratory for Open Technology and Science (Public Lab) is a community -- supported by a 501(c)3 non-profit -- which develops and applies open-source tools to environmental exploration and investigation. The tools allow ordinary citizens to engage in monitoring and research. Using kites or balloons, Public Lab has developed a easy-to-use system for taking aerial photographs, which has been utilized by communities in Peru to produce maps to support land tenure claims and by environmentalists and citizens in Louisiana to monitor the 2010 BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill.
In brief, the technology entails rigging up a small digital camera to a kite or weather balloon and then flying it over the site that you wish to photograph. Online, open-source software is available from Public Lab to stitch the photographs into an aerial map. A student and I decided to explore how this technology might be applied by citizens concerned about the rapid growth of frac sand mining. We collaborated with the Concerned Citizens of Bridge Creek and the Citizens for Environmental Stewardship, both based out of the Augusta area, and we were joined by two members of Public Lab who were touring the region to learn more about frac sand mining.
