A Backyard Science Approach to Environmental Monitoring

Wednesday, December 16 2009

Jessica Lundquist - a University of Washington assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering - uses dime-sized temperature sensors, which were first developed for the refrigerated food industry, and tennis balls to study mountain precipitation.

In the summer, Lundquist attaches the sensors to tennis balls that are weighted with gravel, and uses a dog-ball launcher to propel the devices high into alpine trees where they will record winter temperatures.

Lundquist studies mountain precipitation to learn how changes in snowfall and snowmelt will affect the communities and environments at lower elevations. If the air temperature is above 32 degrees Fahrenheit the precipitation will fall as rain, but if it's below freezing, it will be snow.

"It's fun, like backyard science," Lundquist said of her sensors, which were originally designed to record temperature of frozen foods in transit. She began adapting the devices for environmental science as a postdoctoral researcher in Colorado and has refined them over the years.