Lots of great work being done in Vermont. Look for more information coming on a TAC collaboration and LEAFFEST 2012.

Low Elevation Aerial Flights For Earth Sensing Technology

· WHAT: A joint meetup of the Vermont outpost of PLOTS and the Pioneer Valley Open Science hacker group

· WHEN: September 22 and 23, 2012 (Saturday and Sunday)

· WHERE: Chris’s house in Salisbury, Vermont (2878 Upper Plains Road)

· HOW: Bring a tent and stay the whole weekend, there will be lots of food.

· WHY: Because hacker/mappers like camping and eating, too.

PLOTS Organizers Chris Fastie and Ned Horning will be hosting the gathering to share progress on some projects that the new Pioneer Valley Open Science group in Amherst, MA has started: · How to send audio of a kite- or balloon-borne camera to the ground using cheap, hacked walkie-talkies. · How to send a low battery alert from a flying camera to the ground using ZigBee (Arduino compatible WiFi). · How to build, program, and calibrate an Arduino-based H2S sensor. · Others? There may also be demonstrations of (or at least hand waving about) DIY Hydrogen production, radio control of a VIS/NIR camera rig featuring a professionally modified Canon G11, live video downlink from a flying Powershot, and any other related projects. Any good weather on the weekend will be used for flying kites or balloons to field test gear and, with luck, to capture some aerial images. Poor flying weather will allow us to make progress on project development, and maybe use MapKnitter to align our new aerial photos. Everyone is welcome to attend all or part of the weekend. We will post more details here as they emerge. Let us know if you are interested in attending by posting a reply here, or tweeting with #leaffest2012. Top image: Chris’s backyard on October 15, 2008 (the leaves will still be mostly green in September). There is lots of room for tents here and in the surrounding woods. (Hey, you want level, go to Iowa.)