ASTRA is pleased to announce the launch of a new website to deliver results of our statewide lake mapping program to the general public. This site provides free lake bottom contour (bathymetric) maps of over two dozen local, state, and federal lakes and reservoirs across the state. Users can download a map suitable for viewing and printing in PDF format from the site. As additional lakes continue to be mapped by ASTRA, maps for those reservoirs will be posted on the website, with the long-term intent of providing maps for nearly every reservoir in the state. Contour maps of the lake bottom are the first product to be delivered via the website, with additional products in development.

Visit Kansas Lake Maps at: http://www.kansaslakemaps.com

Each month ASTRA produces an e-newsletter with the latest news, projects, stories, research, and updates from the ASTRA team. To view the archive of newsletters from previous months, please visit our press section. To subscribe to the ASTRA newsletter, click “Join Our Email Listserve” on the left hand side of the page.

Newsletters are available in our Press section here: Press.

ASTRA was featured in this November’s Kansas Water Office Online HydroGRAM. Mark Jakubauskas, Jerry DeNoyelles, Scott Campbell, and Matt Linden appear in the article. The feature covers the bathymetric and sediment surveys conducted on Winfield City Lake, located in Cowley county. The HydroGRAM is available here.

Results from our Potter Lake assessment are now available.  A bathymetry map was created and a chemical analysis of sediment samples was conducted. Be sure and check out the page for the lake as well.

We just did an update to the database page. You can now check out the new State and Local section. You’ll find our data on Kansas’ non-federally owned reservoirs as well as a Google Maps view for each.

We’ve added a lot of new features to the site. We’ve added a glossary with terms that are particular to reservoir assessment. You’ll be able to click on words around the site and get a definition. We’ve also added section in our database for .kmz files. kmz files are used by Google Earth to visualize reservoir data geospatially. We hope to have files and maps for each reservoir in our database.

You can also subscribe to the ASTRA email newsletter from our homepage. The monthly newsletter will keep you up to date on our current and upcoming projects. We’ve also set up the blog on our homepage. We’ll have pictures and videos from the field and we’ll point you to any updates, features, or news coverage. You’ll can subscribe to our RSS feed as well.

As you may have noticed, we’ve been working on an update to the site recently. This includes a complete layout redesign as well as having more information at your finger tips. We’ve got a calendar set up so you can see where our researchers will be next. You can now see some of the procedures and equipment we use in our methods section. We’ll be adding more whitepapers, presentations, and other publications to the site and plan to set up a glossary where you can find definitions to the terms we use. You’ll be able to subscribe to our email listserve or to our blog’s RSS feed to find out what we’ve been doing.

The biggest update will be to the database. Data from our research will be available as high definition maps. We’ll also be adding that information to Google Maps in order to help people better visualize data. We hope this site becomes an access point for decision makers, local stakeholders, and research institutions. We also hope it becomes a form of education and outreach so people can help understand the issues facing their reservoirs.

Check back regularly for more updates.