Grantee Research Project Results
Final Report: Environmental Condition On-Line DFW Metroplex (ECOPLEX)
EPA Grant Number: R827065Title: Environmental Condition On-Line DFW Metroplex (ECOPLEX)
Investigators: Dickson, Kenneth L. , Acevedo, Miguel F. , Atkinson, Samuel F. , Kennedy, James H. , Waller, William T. , Martin, Howard
Institution: City of Denton , University of North Texas
EPA Project Officer: Packard, Benjamin H
Project Period: November 1, 1998 through October 31, 2000 (Extended to December 31, 2001)
Project Amount: $484,868
RFA: Environmental Monitoring for Public Access and Community Tracking (EMPACT) (1998) RFA Text | Recipients Lists
Research Category: Water , Sustainable and Healthy Communities , Air , Environmental Statistics , Ecological Indicators/Assessment/Restoration
Objective:
The objective of this research project was, through the use of both innovative and proven environmental monitoring technologies, to collect real-time and time-relevant environmental data that will be used to inform the citizens of the City of Denton, The Elm Fork watershed, and the Dallas/Fort Worth metropolitan area of current, historical, and near-term forecasts of environmental conditions to which citizens are exposed.
Summary/Accomplishments (Outputs/Outcomes):
The City of Denton (CoD), Texas, partnering with the University of North Texas, implemented an EMPACT Metro grant to provide the citizens of Denton, Texas, the Elm Fork of the Trinity River watershed, and the Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW) MetroPlex Web accessible information regarding water, air, and land resources. The goal of the project was to provide access to current environmental information, while increasing public awareness of important environmental quality parameters. A result of this grant has been Environmental Conditions Online for the DFW MetroPLEX (ECOPLEX), a partnership between CoD and the Institute of Applied Sciences at the University of North Texas. In recognition of the range and complexity of environmental quality issues, formulation of ECOPLEX resulted in a holistic, cross-media approach, following the watershed paradigm, to provide time-relevant environmental information. The project has developed technologies for collecting and reporting water quality and quantity data; implemented technologies for the measurement of ultraviolet radiation; deployed an Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) satellite down link system; and provided links to ground level ozone, weather predictions, and reservoir water quantity. All information is available via the Internet (http://www.ecoplex.unt.edu) and updated in an appropriate time frame for each parameter. An active public outreach component was developed using CoD's cable access channel, literature distribution, and a kindergarten through eighth grade spiraling curriculum and teacher training program. A major component of ECOPLEX is the further development of a centralized watershed management system within CoD, incorporating physical, chemical, and biological sensors throughout the city's watersheds, and providing the public and city personnel timely information on the status of the watershed.
Major Accomplishments
Ultraviolet light intensity has been monitored and archived since 1998. Data are available through the ECOPLEX Web page. The Dallas/Fort Worth MetroPLEX has been declared a non-attainment area in terms of ozone standards. ECOPLEX links to the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission's Ozone Forecast for the Dallas/Fort Worth MetroPLEX.
Time-relevant measures of water quality are being collected from Lake Lewisville, near the water intake structure of the City of Denton, and Pecan Creek, a subwatershed within and operated by the city. Measurements of physical and chemical parameters include: pH, temperature, conductivity, dissolved oxygen, and turbidity. In addition to the physical and chemical data being collected, clam gape, a measure of the distance between the valves of the clams, is being recorded and reported in a time-relevant manner. Living organisms integrate the totality of their environment, and the use of clam gape is an attempt to achieve an understanding of the time- relevant conditions in the lake, at least as they relate to this species. Another biological parameter that was monitored at the lake platform is chlorophyll a. Chlorophyll a can be used to understand aspects of the trophic nature of the reservoir. These data can be observed in near real time on the ECOPLEX Web Site; the historical data also are archived and available. Flow at the Pecan Creek site is dominated by discharge from the water reclamation plant during normal conditions. However, consistent with intermittent creeks of this type, it is subject to dramatic changes in flow during storm events.
The City of Denton has established, as part of its drainage program, a series of stations distributed across three subwatersheds within the city limits. These stations are equipped with various water quantity devices such as rain gauges, stream gauges, and automatic gates that close bridges in locations with frequent flooding. The data from these devices are reported on the ECOPLEX Web Page through an interactive map that permits users to point to a particular station near their residence or school to display the most recent data from that station. These stations are a part of the city's high water flow warning system. When conditions exist that require the closing of certain roads, the information is displayed on the Internet map. These data also are archived and available to the user. The water quantity section of the Web Page also links to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Fort Worth District Office Web Page. This Web Page includes information on many different aspects of the reservoirs in the district. For example, one of the daily measures available from this Web site is lake level. These data can be used to help inform and educate the public as to the dynamics of multi-purpose reservoirs, and how the actions of the public can influence the water quality and quantity of their reservoirs.
A time-relevant satellite down link is being implemented. When functional, this facility will provide time-relevant information on land use in the area. Although satellite images obtained over short intervals are not necessarily useful in land use change analyses, the archived data should provide a significant resource for education and research into the relationships between land use changes and resource impacts.
The weather link on ECOPLEX contains data for Dallas, Fort Worth, and Denton.
In addition, radar and satellite images of current weather conditions are available.
The AVHRR is operational and images are being collected. Because of the nature
of the images, the immediate impact of the database will not be high. However,
the long-term spatial coverage should provide an excellent source of prospective
comparison.
The Teacher's Corner component of ECOPLEX is a big part of the effort to relate the time- relevant information collected and organized on ECOPLEX to the public in general, and to school children, primarily K8. A team of teachers from the Denton, Texas, Independent School District has developed lesson plans surrounding each of the major components on the Web Page. Materials to support the lesson plans for ultraviolet light have been acquired. Several workshops have been held to instruct the teachers how to implement the lesson plans for their grade level, and to provide them with the materials to do so.
Public Outreach
This project successfully brought disparate (air quality, solar radiation, water quality, water quantity, satellite imagery) data together at a central site (http://www.ecoplex.unt.edu) that is accessible to the public and CoD personnel via the Internet. All data collected is time-relevant and archived and accessible for future use. Spiraling curricula (K-8), also available on the Web site, have been developed for water quantity, water quality, and ultraviolet light. Teacher training for the developed curricula has been completed.
The cooperative effort with the CoD helped facilitate the development and testing of a time-relevant, whole organism biomonitor based on bivalve gape and its deployment as part of the City's watershed protection program. Time-relevant, whole organism biomonitors provide realistic exposure/response information during episodic events that can be used in conjunction with temporal and spatial land use data to guide managers in their efforts to control toxicity associated with point and non-point source inputs.
Journal Articles:
No journal articles submitted with this report: View all 41 publications for this projectSupplemental Keywords:
biomonitoring, time-relevant, ozone, ultraviolet light, education, reservoir, land use, biosensor, chlorophyll a, stormwater, monitoring, remote sensing, bioaccumulation, water., RFA, Health, Scientific Discipline, Air, Geographic Area, Ecosystem Protection/Environmental Exposure & Risk, Ecology, Hydrology, air toxics, Environmental Chemistry, State, Monitoring/Modeling, Susceptibility/Sensitive Population/Genetic Susceptibility, tropospheric ozone, genetic susceptability, Ecological Risk Assessment, monitoring, sensitive populations, EMPACT, environmental monitoring, chlorophyl, air pollutants, meteorology, stratospheric ozone, community-based approach, ozone , health risks, ambient air, ozone, monitoring stations, public information, VOCs, children, air pollution, human exposue, time-relevant monitoring, human exposure, web site development, predictive model, Texas (TX), community-based, ecosystem restoration, public access, water quality, atmospheric monitoring, human health, real time monitoring, Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs), public health alerts, public outreach, outreach and education, air quality, real-time monitoring, environmental hazard exposuresRelevant Websites:
http://www.ecoplex.unt.edu Exit
Progress and Final Reports:
Original AbstractThe perspectives, information and conclusions conveyed in research project abstracts, progress reports, final reports, journal abstracts and journal publications convey the viewpoints of the principal investigator and may not represent the views and policies of ORD and EPA. Conclusions drawn by the principal investigators have not been reviewed by the Agency.