IT'S THE LARGEST CHALLENGE FACING ANY SCIENTIST trying to understand the dynamics of the natural world: how to reconcile findings from controlled
laboratory experiments with data collected from the decidedly uncontrolled conditions of on-site field research.
Researchers will now be able to do just that when the Outdoor StreamLab goes into operation. The Outdoor StreamLab is a joint initiative of the Institute of Technology’s
St. Anthony Falls Laboratory (SAFL) and the National Center for Earth-surface Dynamics (NCED), a research center founded and headquartered
at SAFL.
SAFL overlooks the Mississippi River across from downtown Minneapolis.
Once opened, the Outdoor StreamLab will join SAFL’s Indoor and Virtual StreamLabs where researchers
use model stream flumes and high-powered computers to simulate conditions in natural river systems.
“It’s always been difficult to control the variables of on-site measurements,”
said SAFL’s director Fotis
Sotiropoulos. “This is what led to the Outdoor StreamLab’s creation. It allows us to use full-scale models where we can control variables, like flow rate, sedimentation, flora and fauna. The new facility will make it possible to tackle a wide range of questions that relate to how ecosystems
relate to flow dynamics.”
Tackling those questions grows more critical by the moment. More than half of the rivers and streams in the United States have suffered degradation because of erosion, excessive
nutrients, and altered stream flow. As a result, stream restoration represents a $1 billion business each year.
Despite that investment, according
to Sotiropoulos, “Everything done today in the field is ad hoc, not based on sound science. That means there are two kinds of stream restoration projects: those that have failed; and those in the process of failing.”
The Outdoor StreamLab, which will allow researchers to control discharge,
water velocity, bed and plain substrate, channel morphology, and floodplain vegetation, includes two structures: the 130-foot Riparian Basin, which will open first, and the 430-foot Riverine Corridor.
According to Anne Lightbody, the Outdoor StreamLab’s director of research,
several projects are already scheduled to begin this summer at the new facility.
The projects give you an idea of the range of work that can be undertaken at the lab,” she explains. “They cover the dynamics of streambed, sediment load criteria, the effects of vegetation on stream flow, groundwater
and more.”
However research is not the only benefit the outdoor lab will bring to the University. “The lab not only presents an opportunity to do great science, but also tremendous outreach
possibilities,” said Sotiropoulos.
Situated opposite the Guthrie Theatre, the Outdoor StreamLab is located next door to Energy Water Power Park opening this fall. SAFL plans to erect signage explaining the research projects underway at the lab and is already in discussions with the Science Museum of Minnesota
about how the two institutions might collaborate on outreach and education.
“It is a unique facility unlike anything
else in the world,” he said. “In addition to great science and great outreach, it is going to add a lot of beauty to the riverfront.”
SAFL overlooks the Mississippi River across from downtown Minneapolis.
Once opened, the Outdoor StreamLab will join SAFL’s Indoor and Virtual StreamLabs where researchers