Grassroots mapping
A couple of days ago, we went with the folks of LA Bucket Brigade (again!) to do some grassroots mapping (aerial photography actually) in the Bay Jimmy & Wilkinson Bayou (29.45193, -89.89812), and it was superb ~ and dystopic :/
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Seen from up there is so different from what you see from the water :
We went in those super cool (noisy though) boats :
Boat seen from the balloon (!!!) :
This is how it works :
So we do the same but with a helium Balloon flying at ~1000ft, with a camera attached to it, looking down, taking a picture automatically every 5 seconds or so :
I took a chance to try to enhance the "photography cabin" with Sue Stoessel, Bennie Gregory and Hunter Daniel (in a previous mapping trip though): 
You see, it is just a bottle of soda and some duct tape, you can DIY it!
Now you may wonder why we take these pictures :
- for science study and evaluation of the impact of the oil spill on the coast and the marsh lands.
- for legal purposes, so we have evidences of the impact of the oil spill at the court of justice ;) I'm in love with this technique Gonzo Earth and Grassrootsmapping keep on improving, also because I really need it to assess the efficiency of the oil spill collecting robot I am working on : protei.org. Here we were testing to see how well we can sail the robot upwind with a long tail :
that's the robot I am prototyping this week :
If you want to help on the making of the protei robot, or do some aerial photography of the oil spill, get involved at LA Bucket Brigade, contact Shannon Dosemagen <shannon@labucketbrigade.org>, or Hunter Daniel <hunterdaniel@gmail.com> 901-550-7667 directly by phone to arrange a trip in the sun :)
