International team maps Lake Erie

In an effort to isolate where Lake Erie pollution comes from, Buffalo State has begun mapping the Lake Erie shoreline in 3-D, with some international help from one of Buffalo State's Chinese partner schools.

The project is in collaboration with Capital Normal University in Beijing, China, who provided the equipment for the mapping, said Tao Tang, associate professor in the geography and planning department.

"They bought this equipment, which is very pricey," Tang said. "This is new technology, just recently developed. It's high-tech equipment, and relatively expensive."

According to the Center for China Studies website, Capital Normal is one of several schools in China that Buffalo State has a relationship with. Several graduate students and professors from Capital Normal are involved with the project as well.

"I have been collaborating with Capital Normal for… more than eight years," Tang said.

The technology used in the project involves an invisible laser that is shot out toward the objects on the shoreline. The reflection from the laser is captured by the equipment, and the distance from the point of the object is calculated, creating a 3-D image of whatever is on the shoreline. This can then be transferred into a virtual reality, 3-D image of the shoreline, Tang said. The equipment is known as LIDAR technology, which stands for light, detection and ranging.

"Basically, we would like to capture the trees, the vegetation and buildings along the lakeshore," he said.

This is useful, Tang said, because it provides another way to look at how area waterways are polluted.

"What we want to find out is if we have some kind of a factory here, we have a farm here and we have a natural forest here, if that makes any difference in terms of near-shore pollution distribution," he said.

Boats are needed for the project, as the shoreline is mapped from the lake. The Great Lakes Center Field Office provides help with this, said Mark Clapsadl, field station manager.

"For the project, I have offered some technical advice about what is possible as far as vessel operation along Lake Erie," he said. "I've also provided some assistance with the field work."

Getting the equipment to the United States was an interesting challenge, Tang said.

"We actually carried two pieces of the equipment with us as part of the carry-on luggage on the airplane from Beijing to here," he said.

Based on an international treaty granting scientific researchers and medical practitioners the ability to travel with their equipment, traveling was much easier, Tang said. The equipment has its own passport.

"Both the United States and China signed this treaty," he said. "You carry all of your equipment with the passport, and it will simplify the customs (process) of the treaty countries."

Tang said he would like to see more interest in the project from Buffalo State students.

"The current situation is that I would like some students to work on this and help," he said. "Right now, we don't have many students involved in this."

Michael Canfield can be reached by email at Canfield.record@live.com.