Other Surface Water and Remote Sensing

Groundwater Short Clips Groundwater Animation How Sinkholes Happen like Guatemala Happen

Other Surface Waters What is a wetland? An area where the water table is at, near or above the land surface long enough during the year to support adapted plant growth What are the types of wetlands? Swamps, bogs, and marshes Swamp: a wetland dominated by trees Bogs: a wetland dominated by peat moss Marshes: a wetland dominated by grasses

North Carolina Wetlands

Swamps, Bogs, Marshes in NC Great Dismal Swamp Beech Creek Bog Click Here to Watch a Video about how ancient Indians located Groundwater Bodie Island Marsh

Technology and the Hydrosphere Remote Sensing - allows scientists to use satellites to monitor all areas of Earth Hundreds of km above Earth’s surface Detects changes in light and energy that are not visible to the human eye Computers can covert to colors Example: temperature

Technology and the Hydrosphere (con’t) Remote Sensing (con’t) Uses: Amounts and location of phytoplankton Amounts of dissolved organic compounds Location and amount of sediment Temperatures (predict El Nino) Buoys can be used to record temperatures, winds, currents, and air temperatures

Ground Truthing The information gathered on the GROUND to verify remote-sensing information.

Technology and the Hydrosphere (con’t) GPS (Global Positioning System) – uses satellites to pinpoint locations on Earth Calculates latitude and longitude at 3 or more sites Click to picture to see how GPS works

Technology and the Hydrosphere (con’t) GIS (Geographic Information Systems) – mapmaking software that creates different map layers for the same area Each layer contains different information Example: Mapping a Watershed would include different layers, each showing something different like temperature, nitrate levels, pH, dissolved oxygen, pollution Using all the layers, the location of possible polluters can be determined

Technology and the Hydrosphere (con’t) Click on the image to watch a video about GIS