Session Lead: Michael Maddox (University of Maryland, Climate Resilience Network)
Co-Lead(s): Taryn Sudol
Session Format: Oral presentations
Session Description:
On December 2nd, 2025, the new 15-year plan was signed into action by the Chesapeake Bay Program Partners. The new agreement adds a new emphasis on resilience and community engagement. The 2025 agreement states “One of the most important lessons the partners have learned from the past four decades is that although watershed-wide partnerships can help to coordinate and catalyze progress, implementation is locally inspired and driven”.
Localizing mitigation and adaptation planning and implementation requires more localized data and observations. Currently, there remains swaths of “data deserts” in the Chesapeake Bay watershed that need to be filled to make the best possible decisions at the local level with limited resources. To fill this data gap, several groups have developed lower to low-cost sensors that can be installed in dense networks or have invested in uncrewed arial systems. These systems offer approaches for filling in gaps in larger observation networks. Data at the local level also helps inform earth system models, data assimilation efforts and risk analysis.
This session will focus on advances in low-cost and/or densely located sensors and observation systems designed to inform more localized decision-making.