Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

San Diego River views — one-fifth complete

Join the volunteers from O.B. to Julian

Near Big Rock Road in Santee. They will skip tribal land and private property.
Near Big Rock Road in Santee. They will skip tribal land and private property.

Nature lovers around the globe will soon be able to experience the San Diego River in a virtual environment. Staff, interns, and volunteers from the San Diego River Park Foundation have been traveling the waterway and its tributaries, collecting images and data.

The river bottom is at times rocky and uneven alternating with squishy muck.

The mostly unpaid team has so far covered just over 10 miles of the 52-mile river since they began in June. Now that they’ve reached that milestone, the foundation’s tech partner will begin stitching the data together to create its virtual doppelganger. Once the model is finished, it will be available online for interactive use by the public.

Sponsored
Sponsored
FishViews homepage

Andrew Meyer, a field coordinator for the foundation, says, “Just like Google Streetview, viewers will be able to zoom down the river and access parts of the river that they’ve never seen before,” Meyer said.

FishViews surveyed the Stillaguamish River in northwest Washington.

The San Diego River Park Foundation has partnered with a company, also called FishViews, to complete the project. Brian Footen, president of FishViews, helped Meyer teach volunteers and interns how to operate the equipment, which is housed in a custom backpack and on an instrument-bearing surveying staff. The system can be mounted on a small boat to capture data and images in deeper water.

Resulting views of mapping Elwha River (WA) on FishViews

The equipment includes a 360-degree camera that is customized to integrate with a GPS-tracked data logging system as the river is traveled by foot or boat. An underwater camera captures “snorkel-view” images while water quality sensors measure pH, dissolved oxygen, temperature, salinity, and other variables. While the equipment is operating, every five seconds all the cameras simultaneously take an image and the sensors record their metrics. Once the data has been collected, software processes it into a three-dimensional environment that can be explored online with virtual reality glasses.

Most of riverbed will be covered by foot—wading through the shallows while carrying the equipment. An afternoon of work usually maps less than one mile of the river. Overhanging brush and tree limbs can obstruct the mast with cameras, requiring some deep bending and deft maneuvering to make passage. Footing can be slippery. The river bottom is at times rocky and uneven alternating with squishy muck. Fallen trees must be scrambled over or navigated around. Eyeglasses are fogged by the humidity of the river and vegetation, and gnats and mosquitos hover.

Footen, who has 25 years of experience as a fishery scientist, said he began FishViews nearly four years ago.

The company’s first project used drones to capture aerial images of salmon streams in the Northwest. Footen said they realized that more data would be more valuable and began designing the surveying system. The company has mapped more than 1,200 miles of river, mostly in Texas and Washington.

The foundation plans to continue surveying until it has covered about two-thirds of the total distance, skipping tribal lands and private property. Expeditions are being made approximately weekly, with a minimum of three team members per half-day trip. Sections of the river, from the estuary near Ocean Beach to the headwaters near Julian, are being covered based on the availability and location of volunteers. This week, the team is mapping the River Walk Golf Course, which will complete the data collection for the Mission Valley portion of the river. The San Diego River Park Foundation hopes to complete the project by next summer.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Summit Fellowship wants to be a home of belonging

Unitarian Universalism allows you to be exactly who you are in the moment
Next Article

Flowering pear trees in Kensington not that nice

Empty dirt plots in front of Ken Cinema
Near Big Rock Road in Santee. They will skip tribal land and private property.
Near Big Rock Road in Santee. They will skip tribal land and private property.

Nature lovers around the globe will soon be able to experience the San Diego River in a virtual environment. Staff, interns, and volunteers from the San Diego River Park Foundation have been traveling the waterway and its tributaries, collecting images and data.

The river bottom is at times rocky and uneven alternating with squishy muck.

The mostly unpaid team has so far covered just over 10 miles of the 52-mile river since they began in June. Now that they’ve reached that milestone, the foundation’s tech partner will begin stitching the data together to create its virtual doppelganger. Once the model is finished, it will be available online for interactive use by the public.

Sponsored
Sponsored
FishViews homepage

Andrew Meyer, a field coordinator for the foundation, says, “Just like Google Streetview, viewers will be able to zoom down the river and access parts of the river that they’ve never seen before,” Meyer said.

FishViews surveyed the Stillaguamish River in northwest Washington.

The San Diego River Park Foundation has partnered with a company, also called FishViews, to complete the project. Brian Footen, president of FishViews, helped Meyer teach volunteers and interns how to operate the equipment, which is housed in a custom backpack and on an instrument-bearing surveying staff. The system can be mounted on a small boat to capture data and images in deeper water.

Resulting views of mapping Elwha River (WA) on FishViews

The equipment includes a 360-degree camera that is customized to integrate with a GPS-tracked data logging system as the river is traveled by foot or boat. An underwater camera captures “snorkel-view” images while water quality sensors measure pH, dissolved oxygen, temperature, salinity, and other variables. While the equipment is operating, every five seconds all the cameras simultaneously take an image and the sensors record their metrics. Once the data has been collected, software processes it into a three-dimensional environment that can be explored online with virtual reality glasses.

Most of riverbed will be covered by foot—wading through the shallows while carrying the equipment. An afternoon of work usually maps less than one mile of the river. Overhanging brush and tree limbs can obstruct the mast with cameras, requiring some deep bending and deft maneuvering to make passage. Footing can be slippery. The river bottom is at times rocky and uneven alternating with squishy muck. Fallen trees must be scrambled over or navigated around. Eyeglasses are fogged by the humidity of the river and vegetation, and gnats and mosquitos hover.

Footen, who has 25 years of experience as a fishery scientist, said he began FishViews nearly four years ago.

The company’s first project used drones to capture aerial images of salmon streams in the Northwest. Footen said they realized that more data would be more valuable and began designing the surveying system. The company has mapped more than 1,200 miles of river, mostly in Texas and Washington.

The foundation plans to continue surveying until it has covered about two-thirds of the total distance, skipping tribal lands and private property. Expeditions are being made approximately weekly, with a minimum of three team members per half-day trip. Sections of the river, from the estuary near Ocean Beach to the headwaters near Julian, are being covered based on the availability and location of volunteers. This week, the team is mapping the River Walk Golf Course, which will complete the data collection for the Mission Valley portion of the river. The San Diego River Park Foundation hopes to complete the project by next summer.

Comments
Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Flowering pear trees in Kensington not that nice

Empty dirt plots in front of Ken Cinema
Next Article

Angry Pete’s goes from pop-up to drive-thru

Detroit Pizza sidles into the husk of a shuttered Taco Bell
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.