SOARS PROGRAM RESEARCH PROJECT

SOARS PROGRAM RESEARCH PROJECT

SPONSORED BY:      OhioView

                                    NASA Glenn Research Center

                                    Ohio Aerospace Institute

                                    Cuyahoga River Remedial Action Plan

PRESENTATION:   Cuyahoga River Community

                                    Planning Organization



                        Happy Days Visitors Center

                                    Cuyahoga Valley National Park

            Wednesday August 20, 2002

                                    5:00pm



Seven graduate-level students from several Ohio universities, and from Southwest Texas State University, will present the findings of the ten-week SOARS research study of the Cuyahoga River basin on Wednesday, August 20 at 5:00 p.m. at the Happy Days Visitors Center in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park. Recent weather and climatological phenomena have caused significant flooding in many parts of the Cuyahoga River watershed, making the study a particularly timely endeavor.

The SOARS research project, which utilized NASA satellite imagery, digital elevation models, and GIS (Geographic Information Science), was conducted at Kent State University, under the direction of Assistant Professor Mandy Munro-Stasiuk.

The project, which focused on the entire Cuyahoga River Watershed, studied urban sprawl over a 25-year period, as well as its relation to loss of forest and farmland, the effects on river and lake temperatures, the roles on water clarity, and the acceleration of impervious surfaces and resultant runoff. Additionally, the research examined hydrological characteristics in the Watershed and its tributary watersheds.

Students participating in the summer-long SOARS (Scientific Outreach and Applications using Remote Sensing) Program utilized hands-on remote-sensing research— the review and interpretation of data and imaging retrieved from remote satellites— in studying the 25 years of urbanization and vegetation change in the Cuyahoga River Watershed.

Their findings will be presented to the Cuyahoga River Community Planning Organization for use in its future planning. To assist in the study’s end-use (both for the CRCPO and the public), the researchers created the most comprehensive and accessible database to-date for the entire Cuyahoga River Watershed. They have converted this into an online, user-friendly, downloadable database that includes:

Satellite imagery dating back to 1976,

Aerial photographs,

Topographic maps, and

Digital elevation data

“We are very encouraged with the results of the SOARS initiative, as well as the resourcefulness of the students participating in the program,” said 2003 SOARS Program Director Mandy Munro-Stasiuk of Kent State University. “This effort should prepare the students for graduate work in advanced remote sensing research, as well as provide local planning organizations valuable insights into how satellite data can aid in their strategic planning.”

Dr. Munro-Stasiuk, an assistant professor of Geography at Kent State, is the primary SOARS Academic Director and a principal investigator for OhioView. The seven upper-level undergraduate and graduate students were chosen from the eleven OhioView member universities for this year’s SOARS internship.

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Additionally, one student, who had previously worked for the University of Toledo, was chosen from Southwest Texas State University.

The SOARS program was established and sponsored by NASA Glenn, Ohio Aerospace Institute, and the OhioView consortium of research universities, in its initial year of operation in 2002. It focused last year’s research on a limited section of the Cuyahoga River basin— the Chippewa Creek subwatershed.

The Cuyahoga River Remedial Action Plan (the recipient of last year’s research) joined as a sponsor in 2003 SOARS program, and the research was expanded to include the entire Cuyahoga River Watershed. The SOARS data will provide much-needed Watershed-wide analysis to complement the targeted data that exists on small sections of the system. Further, Cuyahoga River Remedial Action Plan Executive Director Jim White believes the SOARS findings could help the Cuyahoga River Remedial Action Plan to encourage greater coordination of local ordinances, and can serve as a catalyst for research by local tributary groups along the Cuyahoga River. This, in turn, could lead to the prevention of floods and flood plain problems and can address future run-off issues in the planning stage.

Funded primarily by NASA, the SOARS program marries the teaching of remote sensing concepts to students with timely community-based research projects.   Through SOARS, student researchers gain exposure to state-of-the-art NASA data and satellite imagery in their study of the geophysical and environmental effects on a given area. These include the study of:

Ground quality

Water quality

Agricultural usage

Mineral composition

Erosion

Urban sprawl

The OhioView Program, which represents eleven Ohio universities, guides SOARS’ content and provides student instruction. Like the OhioView program at large, SOARS focuses its efforts on establishing new applications for satellite data, as well as on educating students and business about potential “real world” uses for the technology.

The eleven OhioView schools are:

Bowling Green State University

Central State University

Cleveland State University

Kent State University

Miami University

Ohio State University

Ohio University

University of Akron

University of Cincinnati

University of Toledo, and

Wright State University

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MEDIA INQUIRIES, PLEASE CONTACT:                FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, VISIT:

Tim Moore                                                                    www.kent.edu/SOARS

216-228-6624