VIMS

Hampton Flood Gauges

Crabbing Hampton's Tidal Flooding

This page catalogs a group of six (6) water level gauges throughout the City of Hampton that were installed by Olivia Basco through the award of a Hal Tayloe scholarship at Hampton Roads Academy in 2018. The gauges feature unique Crab-Inspired markers to identify each location in the City through image analysis of publicly-posted pictures. The signs also feature a QR code to direct aspiring citizen-scientists to a cloud-based geo-form where they may upload pictures of the current water level along with the Lat/Long location of the site to a map like the one of the gauge locations below:

These data are used alongside other regional citizen-science initiatives like Catch the King (2017 volunteer flood extents depicted as blue dots in map below) to better understand Sea Level Rise and tidal flooding impacts. The Virginia Institute of Marine Science also uses these data to validate their predictive models and improve their accuracy (as shown by the blue flooded land areas on the map below, corresponding with VIMS' 2017 Catch the King tidal flood extent forecast).

Map of Selected Gauge Locations (Click on a Crab Icon to learn more; click the image in the popup to navigate to the gauge's dedicated page or use the list at the bottom of this page):

Media Coverage:
The project was covered by Tamara Detrich of the Daily Press in her article, Student installs tide gauges in Hampton for citizen scientists to help create 3D flood map on 10/26/2018: http://www.dailypress.com/news/science/dp-nws-catch-king-advance-20181022-story.html

This video is a brief segment of an interview by Robin McCormick on Channel 47, Hampton, VA, with Olivia Basco and Derek Loftis describing their project to install water level gauges throughout the City. The full 17-min. interview video is available here via the City of Hampton's Youtube Channel: https://youtu.be/tvYc7OzpYdk

Olivia Basco, HRA Class of 2019

About High School Student, Olivia Basco, from Hampton Roads Academy, and her water level gauge project made possible through the award of a 2018 Hal Tayloe Scholarship

Hampton Flood Gauge 01 (Horseshoe Crab)

Crabbing Hampton, VA's Tidal Flooding at the Miss Hampton II Dock over the Hampton River. One of six (6) citizen-science monitoring gauges installed by High School Student, Olivia Basco, from Hampton Roads Academy, through the award of a 2018 Hal Tayloe Scholarship.

Hampton Flood Gauge 02 (Hermit Crab)

Crabbing Hampton, VA's Tidal Flooding at Gosnold’s Hope Park near the Boat Ramp to Back River. One of six (6) citizen-science monitoring gauges installed by High School Student, Olivia Basco, from Hampton Roads Academy, through the award of a 2018 Hal Tayloe Scholarship.

Hampton Flood Gauge 03 (Ghost Crab)

Crabbing Hampton, VA's Tidal Flooding in the Olde Wythe Neighborhood over Indian River Creek. One of six (6) citizen-science monitoring gauges installed by High School Student, Olivia Basco, from Hampton Roads Academy, through the award of a 2018 Hal Tayloe Scholarship.

Hampton Flood Gauge 04 (Fiddler Crab)

Crabbing Hampton, VA's Tidal Flooding at Air Power Park next to Newmarket Creek. One of six (6) citizen-science monitoring gauges installed by High School Student, Olivia Basco, from Hampton Roads Academy, through the award of a 2018 Hal Tayloe Scholarship.

Hampton Flood Gauge 05 (Spider Crab)

Crabbing Hampton, VA's Tidal Flooding at the Barking Dog Dock over the Hampton River. One of six (6) citizen-science monitoring gauges installed by High School Student, Olivia Basco, from Hampton Roads Academy, through the award of a 2018 Hal Tayloe Scholarship.

Hampton Flood Gauge 06 (Blue Crab)

Crabbing Hampton, VA's Tidal Flooding at the Buckroe Beach Pier over Chesapeake Bay. One of six (6) citizen-science monitoring gauges installed by High School Student, Olivia Basco, from Hampton Roads Academy, through the award of a 2018 Hal Tayloe Scholarship.