_Tidmarsh Farms: Living Observatory

Plymouth, Massachusetts’ 250-acre Tidmarsh Farms is undergoing large-scale restoration. As a part of the project, a team of ecologists, designers, and innovators has come together to create a “Living Observatory” to document the change. The initiative expects to install a network of sensors across the ecosystem, which will stream visual, aural, and environmental data. Users will be able to access live feeds of that data from the website. Over time, users will be able to observe how ecologists have analyzed and responded to that data. The multi-sensory approach not only reveals the scope of the project, but feeds back into it, helping to guide the restoration.

The project is still developing prototype sensors and experimenting with data visualization. An array of sensors reveals environmental data like humidity, barometric pressure, and radio signal strength.  The team set up an audio stream in mid-2013, and more developments are expected soon.