Making Environmental Data Publicly Accessible at Kingsland Wildflowers with Temboo

This summer, Newtown Creek Alliance worked with Temboo to bring insights from soil quality monitoring devices to a publicly accessible online dashboard. These insights can be accessed via QR codes located on each of the devices around the Kingsland Wildflowers Green Roofs. This was a major step in providing public access to environmental data that can enhance community engagement conversations and further develop educational resources on urban ecology.

Temboo is an environmental insights platform, which was developed by using soil, water, and air sensors that require a no-code implementation to collect data. The devices are connected via Wi-Fi and feed real-time data to their digital platform. In 2021, Temboo installed a soil moisture monitoring system on the Kingsland Wildflowers Green Roofs at Broadway Stages. Temboo’s system on the green roofs enables NCA to monitor real-time data on soil moisture across four of the green roofs to compare the performance of the different microhabitats as well as inform irrigation needs and patterns. 

These environmental insights help close the gap between the physical world and the digital world. By making this data publicly accessible with a quick scan of a QR code on a smartphone, the sensors become a shared resource to enhance NCA’s educational programs and stewardship activities in regards to maintaining the quality of the green roofs. Furthermore, NCA hopes these insights can spark a larger conversation on the need to expand publicly-accessible environmental data through new technologies. These insights could be key components of curriculums, community engagement activities, and environmental justice initiatives across New York City. Seamlessly monitoring the quality of our soil, water, and air will be key to ensuring a healthy urban ecology and contribute to efforts in fighting climate change.

Additionally, check out this interview at Temboo with NCA’s Director of Advocacy and Education, Lisa Bloodgood.


This programming is made possible with the generous support from Consolidated Edison, Inc.




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