Citizen Science and Water Resources in Upstate South Carolina

Water resources are critical for all facets of human health, development, and well-being. Currently up to 11% of the world population remains without access to improved drinking water supplies, and 2.8 billion people around the world are affected by shortages for at least part of the year. Increased demand and use, drought, and climate change can reduce these precious supplies even further. Your personal habits regarding the use of water make a difference in the abundance and quality of our water resources.

For these activities, you will explore how moving water interacts with topography using an Augmented Reality Sandbox as well as act as a citizen scientist -- that is, as a member of the general public who collects scientific data. You will collect geospatial data, which is data that includes the location in addition to the informational component, in the form of a simple survey about water use habits.

In these activities, you will:

- Use the Augmented Reality Sandbox to examine how topography affects flowing water

- Examine local rivers using Google Earth

- Collect geospatial data about water use habits in the field using a tablet equipped with the Collector app

- Make a map of the survey data in ArcGIS Online