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International
Raining Forests: An Introduction to Replanting Forests by Air
After hurricanes Katrina and Rita ripped through the the Gulf Coast, thousands of acres of mangrove forests were left bare. Scientist Mark Hodges believes he has devised a way to reforest these large areas of earth in a short amount of time.
In Raining Forests, Dr. Hodges will attempt to strategically drop tens of thousands of canisters filled with seedlings in an appropriate location. The task force will carry out a series of tests to determine which type of aircraft, delivery mechanism and canister design to use, as well as whether the seeds will be able to self-plant.
The Goal
The goal of aerial reforestation is to be able to reforest large, inaccessible areas of denuded forest from the air. Mark Hodges, an environmental engineer, plans to design a universal delivery mechanism that can be fitted to helicopters throughout the world. These will be able to distribute the specially designed canisters containing seeds or seedlings of any chosen local species. He hopes that these systems can eventually be cheaply and simply fitted to aircraft in Third World countries, to aid reforestation projects around the globe.
Test 1: Falling Objects
The idea of this test is to look at the simple physics of how things fall out of an aircraft. Scientists will use a Skyvan skydiving plane with a tailgate that opens at the back. The "bombs" will be made from colored flour in biodegradable paper bags. In the drop zone, the team will have marked a grid pattern on the ground. The idea is to try two different methods of aerial release to see which gives the best distribution throughout the grid.
A simple delivery mechanism will be installed in the back of the Skyvan based on a cluster of tubes with a quick-release trapdoor on the front. When the plane is in the right place over the drop zone, Dr. Singer will pull the cord and release the bombs. Scientist Mark Hodges will measure the average distance between the flour bombs on the ground.
The drop will be carried out four times: low and slow, low and fast, high and slow then high and fast. After each drop, Dr. Singer will take a digital photo of the results from the air to analyze later.
