Schoonover Center Green Roof Weather Station — Live Webcam
Schoonover Center Green Roof: From White Membrane to Living Garden
The roof of Ohio University's Schoonover Center in Athens underwent a real transformation. The building, which houses the School of Media Arts and Sciences, was long covered with a white membrane that reflected sunlight into offices and hallways, creating discomfort for those working inside. In the summer of 2020, a green roof with a weather station appeared here, which not only solved the overheating problem but also became a testing ground for scientific research.
The project addressed several challenges simultaneously: reducing the thermal load on the building, creating an educational platform for students, and providing a tool for studying the urban microclimate. Today, this webcam allows you to observe the weather station's operation and the condition of the green cover from anywhere in the world.
Rooftop Weather Station: What the Sensors Measure
The meteorological equipment on the Schoonover Center roof is not just one or two sensors, but an entire complex of instruments. Installed here are a tipping-bucket rain gauge, temperature sensors, light sensors, humidity sensors, and wind speed and direction sensors. Each of them contributes to the picture of continuous environmental monitoring.
Special attention deserves the PurpleAir air quality sensors. These devices are equipped with two laser particle counters that measure particulate matter (PM) concentration every 2 minutes and automatically upload data to a public map. This measurement frequency allows for high-detail air pollution tracking — which is especially valuable for researchers studying the impact of green spaces on urban air quality.
Project History: How the Pandemic Accelerated the Green Roof's Creation
The Schoonover Center green roof was installed in July 2020, at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. The irony of the situation is that the quarantine restrictions that paralyzed many construction projects here played a positive role — the building was virtually empty, which simplified the installation work on the roof.
The project was funded by several grants. The total amount of funds raised was over $250,000. These funds went not only toward creating the green roof itself but also toward installing meteorological equipment that turned it into a full-fledged research platform.
Research and Education: Over 50 Project Participants
The Schoonover Center green roof is not just an architectural element but a living educational tool. The project involves over 50 students, faculty, and researchers from various departments of Ohio University. Students gain access to real meteorological data, learn to work with sensors, and analyze environmental indicators.
The project is led by Natalie Cruz Daniels — Associate Professor of Environmental Studies and Director of the Environmental Studies Program at Ohio University. Under her leadership, the green roof has become an interdisciplinary platform where the interests of ecologists, meteorologists, engineers, and urban planning specialists converge.
Athens, Ohio: A University Town in the Appalachians
Athens, Ohio is not the capital of Greece but a cozy university town in the southeastern part of the state, in the foothills of the Appalachians. Ohio University, founded in 1804, is the oldest educational institution in the Northwest Territory and defines the entire life of the city. Athens has a population of about 24,000 people, and a significant portion is connected to the university in one way or another.
The city is surrounded by forests and hills, creating a special microclimate. Winters here are snowy and moderately cold, summers are warm and humid. These are precisely the conditions that make the Schoonover Center green roof especially interesting for research: the vegetation on the roof year-round demonstrates how green spaces behave in a continental climate with pronounced seasonality.
Technical Equipment on the Roof: Antennas, Sensors, Frames
The webcam at the Schoonover Center is aimed at the roof section where all the main equipment is concentrated. Metal frames are located on the surface, holding various types of sensors. Nearby are antennas for data transmission and junction boxes where cable runs from all instruments converge.
The green roof structure is designed with consideration for the weight of water-saturated soil, which varies depending on soil depth, composition, and plant selection. This is a critical parameter: after heavy rains, the roof's mass increases significantly, and the building's load-bearing structures must withstand this load. Engineers accounted for all these factors at the design stage.
Environmental Mission: Three Goals of the Green Roof
The Schoonover Center green roof serves three goals simultaneously: research, education, and sustainable development. The research component includes monitoring the microclimate, air quality, and the effectiveness of green spaces in urban conditions. The educational component provides students with hands-on experience working with real equipment. Sustainable development is manifested in reducing the building's energy consumption and mitigating the urban heat island effect.
Before the green roof appeared, the Schoonover Center surface was covered with a white membrane that reflected sunlight into the offices and hallway of the School of Media Arts and Sciences. This created discomfort for people working inside: excessive lighting and heating of the premises. The green roof solved this problem by replacing the reflective surface with an absorbing one — vegetation and soil effectively dampen solar radiation.
Vegetation on the Roof: Wildlife Above the Campus
Unlike decorative green roofs planted with neat lawns, the Schoonover Center roof is covered with wild vegetation. Grasses, weeds, and flowering plants grow here, forming a natural community. This approach allows scientists to observe how an ecosystem develops without human intervention and compare it with traditional green roofs.
Wild vegetation requires minimal maintenance, reducing operating costs. The plants' root systems hold the soil in place, preventing erosion, while the foliage creates an additional layer that protects the roof's waterproofing from UV radiation and temperature fluctuations. On the camera, you can see the plants swaying in the wind — living proof that the roof truly "works" as an ecosystem.
What You Can See on the Camera
The online camera broadcasts a view of the Schoonover Center green roof section where the meteorological equipment is installed. In the frame is the roof surface covered with wild vegetation: grasses, weeds, and flowering plants. Against this backdrop, metal frames with sensors, antennas, junction boxes, and cable runs stand out. On the right, a brick building wall with a white window in a classical style is visible. In the background are trees, Ohio University campus buildings, a parking lot with cars, and street lighting. The broadcast is in real time, allowing you to observe weather conditions and the life of the green roof at any time.
