I think I just found my new summer pastime. Thanks to Kickstarter, I discovered grassroots mapping a few months ago. Don’t know what grassroots mapping is? It’s the art of creating your own aerial photos using a balloon or kite and a digital camera.
http://youtu.be/iseigOBm4k4
http://shop.breadpig.com/collections/publiclaboratory/products/balloon-mapping-kit
Thanks to the project being funded you can now buy your own aerial mapping system. For only $85 the kit comes with a balloon, high test “string”, rubber gloves (so you don’t get rope burn), clips, ties, and instructions.
Using the open sourced web program mapknitter and viewed in google maps. This technique can be used to show change over time or give short term aerial photos of events. It has already been used to map the BP Horizon Oil Spill and the Occupy movement.
http://shop.breadpig.com/collections/publiclaboratory/products/balloon-mapping-kit
The kit can be bought at breadpig.com
You can learn more about the grassroot mapping movement at grassrootsmapping.org
Also be sure to check out the Public Laboratory for Open Technology and Science (PLOTS) at publiclaboratory.org
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