- This event has passed.
Launch Event: CITIZEN SCIENCE PROJECT: COASTAL FLOODING
September 21, 2020 @ 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm
The City of Belfast Climate Crisis Committee announces the launch of its citizen science project to collect data on coastal flooding events in the Belfast Bay. The launch of “Belfast Coastal Flooding: Storms and Sea Level Rise”, will be live streamed from the Belfast Free Library on Monday, September 21st, at 6pm.
The live stream will be on the library’s YouTube channel- the link will be posted the day of the event.
The following day, Tuesday, September 22nd at 3:30pm there will be an in-person meet up and demonstration at the Belfast Harbor parking lot.
This citizen science project invites people to participate by going to one of six designated sites around the Belfast Bay and take photographs of high water events which can then be uploaded to the project page on Gulf of Maine Research Institute’s Ecosystem Investigation Network ( investigate.gmri.org/project/coastal_flooding/ ). The data will be used by city planners and meteorologists at the National Weather Service (NWS) to help predict high water events and document coastal flooding.
This is the beginning of a long-term project to monitor the effects of climate change, including sea level rise. The design team members have already installed a weather station on the City pier, and are in the process of installing a tide gauge. By documenting weather and water levels, correlated with observed flooding and NWS predictions, the people of Belfast will get valuable insight into the effects of expected sea level rise on our city’s shoreline and infrastructure.
The launch event will include: presentations by Gulf of Maine Research Institute experts describing science behind sea level rise, and the processes of citizen science; members of the project team, including Belfast Area High School students who will describe some of the equipment and methods that will be used. A demonstration on how to navigate the website will also occur at the launch.
The “Belfast Coastal Flooding: Storms and Sea Level Rise” project has been developed through a collaboration between the City of Belfast Climate Crisis Committee, the National Weather Service, and the Belfast Free Library, and is supported through a grant and assistance of the Gulf of Maine Research Institute [GMRI].