During the summer of 2018 at Fitchburg State University, a group of students worked with several professors and researched on the health of the Nashua River and its tributaries. This was the second year of a three-year research grant program. Two of the projects conducted in the program involved using GIS technology. Samuel Gallagher worked on analyzing land use and land cover changes throughout the Nashua River Watershed. State and national datasets covering a time span of four decades were collected, investigated, and contrasted at both watershed and sub-watershed scales. Particular characteristics of the watershed such as imperviousness were also studied. Caroline Anderson focused on simulating Nashua River flooding in Fitchburg. Three levels of flooding scenarios (minor, intermediate, and major) were simulated in ArcScene. The impacts of the simulated floods, particularly on urban area, number of buildings, and building square footage were calculated.
