Can urban development become more environmentally friendly? Real-time UGA study aims to find out.
How did your country report this? Share your view in the comments.
Diverging Reports Breakdown
Can urban development become more environmentally friendly? Real-time UGA study aims to find out.
Researchers will use advanced technologies like satellite imagery, drones, and sensors to track changes in the environment over time. The two-year Hydrometeorology and Land Cover Change Observational Study will begin this summer. Rowen is a 2,000-acre planned community designed to foster collaboration, knowledge sharing and innovation 35 miles from Atlanta. The findings will inform urban planning and development strategies, guide sustainable growth and mitigate adverse environmental effects, says the Rowen Foundation’s Mason Ailstock, president and CEO of the foundation. “Rowen will ultimately be a template for how we do smart, sustainable, resilient development on a large scale going forward,” says Dr. J. Marshall Shepherd, director of the Atmospheric Sciences Program at UGA. “I saw this as an opportunity to get some baseline understanding of what the weather and geographical landscape, even aspects of the land use, look like now,” said Shepherd.
Researchers will use advanced technologies like satellite imagery, drones, and sensors to track changes in the environment over time.
The project aims to inform sustainable development strategies and mitigate negative environmental effects.
The University of Georgia is partnering with the Rowen Foundation in an effort to study how large-scale developments impact local weather, geography and watershed properties in real time.
“As part of our mission we are heavily focused on the environment,” said Mason Ailstock, president and CEO of the Rowen Foundation. “The 2,000 acres that we own will be used as a platform for learning, innovation, research and forming partnerships to bridge our higher education partners. At our core we are focused on understanding how the environment currently is, how development is executed, how we’re using and learning from the land itself and climate over time.”
Rowen is a 2,000-acre planned community designed to foster collaboration, knowledge sharing and innovation 35 miles from Atlanta. In partnership with Gwinnett County, Rowen provides an ecosystem where education, business, research and smart city solutions converge to drive innovation in medicine, agriculture and the environment.
The two-year Hydrometeorology and Land Cover Change Observational Study will begin this summer. HALOS is the fifth Living Lab project established by Rowen.
HALOS will generate critical baseline data to monitor how large-scale development impacts local weather, geography and watershed properties in real time.
Research will be led by Dr. J. Marshall Shepherd, director of the Atmospheric Sciences Program at UGA, alongside co-investigators from UGA’s Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, the Odum School of Ecology, the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences and the College of Engineering.
“I saw this as a perfect science experiment,” said Shepherd . “You have this pristine acreage here in Gwinnett County. Over the next decade I imagine it is going to develop into sort of an innovation community. Rowen wants to go from nothing to something in a very sustainable and resilient way.”
The study will deploy advanced technologies, such as satellite imagery, drones and real-time sensing instruments to monitor environmental indicators through December 2027.
All equipment and technology have been provided by Weatherstem, an industry leader in scientific instrumentation.
Shepherd said getting in on this research project early will allow a better understanding of the climate.
“I saw this as an opportunity to get some baseline understanding of what the weather and geographical landscape, even aspects of the land use, look like now,” said Shepherd. “We can get some early data on temperature, air quality and water temperature. As this develops out, we can see longitudinally over time. We can see how those things change.”
Shepherd said he anticipates that Rowan’s approach create something different from standard land developments.
The project aims to investigate the impacts of urban heat islands and assess the effects on air quality, flooding and water quality from early-stage construction through future growth at Rowen, according to a news release.
The findings will inform urban planning and development strategies, guide sustainable growth and mitigate adverse environmental effects. The longitudinal nature of the study will allow for continuous monitoring and adaptation of strategies based on real-time data and trends.
Climate data collected through the project will be shared with local government and made available to K-12 students and teachers for real time experiential learning.
“Developments happen all around us, whether you’re in Augusta, Gwinnett County or Atlanta,” said Shepherd. “That’s not going to change. Rowen will ultimately be a template for how we do smart, sustainable, resilient development on a large scale going forward. Rowen is serving as an example for how this can be done while still caring about the landscape that they’re developing within.”
This reporting content is supported by a partnership with several funders and Journalism Funding Partners.
Erica Van Buren is the climate change reporter for The Augusta Chronicle, part of the USA TODAY Network. Connect with her at EVanBuren@gannett.com or on X: @EricaVanBuren32.