The Water Cycle Visualization Project

WaterViz for Hubbard Brook represents the nexus between the hydrologic sciences, visual arts, music, and information design.

Hydrologic data, captured from a small watershed at the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest in the White Mountains of New Hampshire using an array of environmental sensors, is transmitted to the internet and used to drive a computer model that calculates all components of the water cycle for the catchment in real time. These data, in turn, drive artistic visualizations and sonifications of the water cycle, reflecting the hydrologic processes occurring at that moment in time.

It is our hope that these information expressions will allow people anywhere in the world to better understand the dynamic inputs, outputs, and storage of water in this small, upland forested watershed as they are occurring.

WaterViz Team

This project involves the collaboration of many talented participants, each of whom bring their unique abilities to create an artistic representation of ecological processes occurring at Hubbard Brook.

  • Lindsey Rustad, Project Lead, USDA Forest Service, Durham, NH.
  • Mary Martin, Web Programing and Data Management, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH.
  • Xavier Cortada, Visual Artist, Professor of Practice in the Department of Art and Art History at the University of Miami.
  • Marty Quinn, Sonification Designer/Composer, Design Rhythmics Sonification Research Lab.
  • Mary Robbins, Teacher of the Visually Impaired, Columbia, SC
  • Sarah Garlick, Science Policy and Outreach, Hubbard Brook Research Foundation.
  • Michael Casey, Center for Cognitive Neuroscience, Principal Investigator for “Music, Health, and Medicine,” a Medical Humanities Network project.
  • Amey Bailey, USDA Forest Service, Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest, Woodstock, NH.
  • Scott Bailey, USDA Forest Service, Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest, Woodstock, NH.
  • Clara Chaisson, Outreach and Communications, Hubbard Brook Research Foundation.
  • Ivaylo Dzhedzhev, Visualization Developer, Simosol Oy, Finland.
  • Mark Green, Hydrologic Modeling, Plymouth State University, Plymouth, NH.
  • Alison Magill, Web Design and Content Management, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH.
  • Jussi Rasinmäki, Visualization Developer, Simosol Oy, Finland.
  • Fred Swanson, Emeritus Scientist, USDA Forest Service, HJ Andrews Experimental Forest, Corvallis, OR.
  • Sarah Thorne, Education Specialist, Gilmanton, NH.

Acknowledgments

The following organizations have been instrumental in creating WaterViz, and we thank them for their generous support:

USDA Forest Service
National Science Foundation DEB-1548175
NSF EPSCoR New Hampshire

We also acknowledge the contributions of numerous people, including:

Anonymous Donor
Denise Blaha
Juan Carlos Espinosa
Irene Goodman
Gajan Sivandran
Jacquelyn Wilson