Public Talk Presented by Friends of Lake Monroe: “Satellites, Drones, and Tape Measures – Studying Sediment Movement in Rivers and Floodplains” presented by Dr. Eric Barefoot

Join Friends of Lake Monroe for our first Public Meeting in 2023.  Dr. Barefoot is a sedimentary geologist at Indiana University. He studies how flowing water moves sand and silt through rivers and floodplains. Ultimately, his work helps us understand how rain and floods sculpt the landscapes on which we live, grow, and work. Preparing for the impacts of future climate change on communities and infrastructure depends on a better understanding of how rivers behave. He is currently pursuing this research as an NSF Earth Sciences Postdoctoral Fellow with Doug Edmonds and the Sedimentary Systems Lab at Indiana University.

Rivers are dynamic systems that are constantly changing.  Flowing river water erodes sediment, transports it downstream, and deposits it elsewhere.  One of the challenges and opportunities of modern research is the abundance of available data, particularly images and topographic data collected using satellites, planes, and drones.  Dr. Barefoot will discuss the strengths and limitations of different data sets as well as opportunities to collect site-specific data using low-cost DIY sensors.  This research is of particular interest in understanding sediment movement into Lake Monroe, which has been identified as one potential driver of harmful algal blooms.