Saving Lake George: Can Sensors And Big Data Protect $1 Billion In Tourism?

IBM Research Scientist Harry Kolar (right), Sandra Nierzwicki-Bauer of the RPI Darrin Fresh Water Institute (center) and Eric Siy from The FUND to Save Lake George scout locations for new sensors. Credit: Erin Reid Coker/Feature Photo Service for IBM

As I write this update, campers and wildlife enthusiasts 185 miles to my north are converging on New York State’s crystal-clear, 32-mile-long Lake George for one of the last hurrahs of summer.

While they’re busy setting up their tents on the interior islands, they may run across scientists being dispatched there over the next three years as part of an ambitious, multi-million-dollar environmental monitoring plan that will use sensors and Big Data analytics to study the lake’s complicated ecosystem.

This isn’t just some tree-hugger-inspired boondoogle. Surrounded almost entirely by forests (46 percent of which are state preserves), Lake George generates a whopping $1 billion in tourism annually. It may seem invulnerable, but the long-term health of its natural ecosystem is in question, which could pose a threat to that revenue.

That’s because over the past 30 years, road salt applied to the flanking roads during the harsh winter months as well as storm-water runoff have contributed to a threefold increase in salt levels in the lake. Both of these factors are also encouraging chlorophyll growth, which threatens water clarity, and therefore tourism.

Enter the Jefferson Project at Lake George (named for the third president of the United States, who was a fan), spearheaded by IBM‘s Smarter Water experts, researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and the non-profit FUND for Lake George.

Their idea is to use a combination of data analytics, three-dimensional (3-D) computer models, and 30 years worth of historical data to improve scientific understanding of how stuff is circulated around the lake. Eventually, that information could be coupled with real-time data feeds, such as weather forecasts, to predict the possible impact of certain events on the lake, and maybe even to take action to prevent particularly negative outcomes.

“Lake George has a lot to teach us, if we look closely,” said Rensselaer President Shirley Ann Jackson. “By expanding Rensselaer’s Darrin Fresh Water Institute with this remarkable new cyberphysical platform of data from sensors and other sources, and with advanced analytics, high-performance computing and web science, we are taking an important step to protect the timeless beauty of Lake George, and we are creating a global model for environmental research and protection of water resources.”

This isn’t the first big project using sensors and IBM Big Data technology to develop an environmental protection plan.

Several years ago, IBM teamed up with Marine Institute Ireland to monitor wave conditions, marine life and pollution in and around Galway Bay. Drivers of that research included concerns over tourism and the local fishing industry. But the data was also used to assess whether or not the bay is a viable location for wave-generated electricity.

There’s also a sensor-enabled monitoring network installed up and down the 315-mile long Hudson River. The River and Estuary Observatory Network (REON) is tracking temperatures, salinity, dissolved oxygen and pollution metrics; it is also being used for mapping fish populations. The first-of-its-kind effort is a collaboration between IBM and The Beacon Institute.

“From this data, we can build scientific models to understand how changes in chemistry and biology affect the fish and the river, and by extension, the larger scale ecology,” said Arthur Sanderson, professor of electrical, computer and system engineering at Rensselaer and senior science advisor for The Beacon Institute, referring to the Hudson River network.

Personally, I’m still not sure I would eat a fish caught in the Hudson, at least down near New York City. But real-time monitoring systems like REON and the one being installed in Lake George will certainly help communities and businesses make much more informed decisions about how to use water resources around the world.
-Heather Clancy, Contributing writer for Forbes
http://www.forbes.com/sites/heatherclancy/2013/09/03/saving-lake-george-can-sensors-and-big-data-protect-1-billion-in-tourism/print/