Schoonover Green Roof Webcam – See a Rooftop Meadow

The Schoonover Green Roof Webcam looks down on a planted rooftop at Ohio University in Athens, Ohio, where grasses and flowering plants grow on the roof above the building’s main lobby. The frame is small and specific. Concrete pavers run between the planting beds, a guyed instrument mast stands near the middle carrying a sensor enclosure, and a low parapet closes the far edge. Behind that sit a red brick wing of Schoonover Center and a stand of mature trees, with a campus parking area just visible past the wall. This is not a wide campus panorama, and it does not pretend to be. What it gives is a close, patient look at a working research roof as a season moves through it.

About the Schoonover Green Roof

Schoonover Center for Communication is the home of the Scripps College of Communication at Ohio University. The building was remodeled in 2013 with a roof deck built to carry a green roof, though nothing was planted on it at the time. In the fall of 2017 an interdisciplinary group of faculty began working to get the planting done, and the installation was completed in early July 2020, on the roof over the main lobby.

The growing medium is engineered to be lighter than ordinary soil. That let the crew lay it 10 centimeters (4 inches) deep rather than the 5 centimeters (2 inches) a roof of this kind normally carries, and the extra depth supports larger plants than the low mats used on most green roofs. It is the reason the beds on camera read as a meadow of tall stems rather than a flat carpet of sedum.

The roof is a research instrument as much as a garden. Equipment up there tracks temperature, ultraviolet radiation, air quality, biodiversity, water runoff and water quality, and a flume system measures the water leaving the planting beds after heavy rain along with the quality of that water. Faculty from the College of Arts and Sciences, the Scripps College of Communication, the Voinovich School of Leadership and Public Affairs, the Russ College of Engineering and Technology and the Patton College of Education have all worked on the project. The deck is rated to hold only a handful of people at a time, which is much of the reason a camera was put up there at all.

The town below is small. Athens sits at 216 meters (709 feet) above sea level in the hills of southeastern Ohio, on the Hocking River, and recorded a population of 23,849 at the 2020 census. Ohio University was chartered here in 1804, and Athens was incorporated as a village in 1811.

Weather and Climate in Athens, Ohio

Athens has a humid continental climate with four clearly separated seasons, and the roof registers all of them. January is the cold end, averaging a high of 3 C (38 F) and a low of -6 C (22 F), with about 45 centimeters (17.6 inches) of snow across a typical year. In winter the beds are reduced to bare stems and matted litter, and after a snowfall the pavers and parapet often hold a thin white line.

Summer runs warm and humid, with July averaging a high of 28 C (82 F) and a low of 17 C (63 F). That is when the beds are at full height and deepest green, and heavy summer storms are what the flume system was installed to measure. Spring brings the beds back from bare soil over several weeks, so the change is easy to follow day to day. By late September the planting typically stands tall and has gone to seed, with straw and rust tones mixed through the green and the trees behind the roof beginning to turn. The roof carries no lighting of its own, so the view is best caught during daylight hours on Eastern Time.

Things to Do Near Athens, Ohio

The Hockhocking Adena Bikeway is the obvious walk or ride from campus. It runs about 35 kilometers (22 miles) of paved trail along a former railroad line between Athens and Nelsonville, following the Hocking River and passing through Wayne National Forest on the way. Back in town, the Athens Farmers Market trades year round and sits within easy reach of the trail and the compact downtown.

Strouds Run State Park lies just east of the city at an elevation of 215 meters (705 feet) and is built around Dow Lake. The Blackhaw Accessible Trail and the wooded Lakeview Trail reach the water and the hill country behind it, and more than 42 kilometers (26 miles) of singletrack wrap Dow Lake and link the city with the park. A longer drive northwest reaches the Hocking Hills landmarks, where Old Man’s Cave, Ash Cave and Cedar Falls are the three most visited stops.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Where is the Schoonover green roof located?

It is on Schoonover Center for Communication at Ohio University in Athens, Ohio, in the southeastern corner of the state. Athens is a town of 23,849 people on the Hocking River, roughly in the hills between Columbus and the West Virginia border.

What can you see on the Schoonover Green Roof Webcam?

Planting beds of tall grasses and flowering plants, concrete paver paths running between them, a guyed instrument mast with a sensor enclosure, and a low parapet at the far edge. A red brick wing of Schoonover Center stands to one side, with mature trees behind and part of a campus parking area past the wall.

What is the weather like in Athens, Ohio?

Cold winters and warm, humid summers. January averages 3 C (38 F) by day and -6 C (22 F) overnight, July averages 28 C (82 F) and 17 C (63 F), and the town gets around 45 centimeters (17.6 inches) of snow in a typical year.

When was the Schoonover green roof planted?

The installation was completed in early July 2020. The building had been remodeled in 2013 with a roof deck capable of carrying the weight, and faculty started pushing to have it planted in the fall of 2017.

Why does Ohio University have a green roof on Schoonover Center?

It works as a teaching and research site as well as a planting. Instruments on the roof record temperature, ultraviolet radiation, air quality, biodiversity, water runoff and water quality, and flumes capture what leaves the beds after heavy rain, which gives several colleges a shared outdoor laboratory on campus.

Can you visit the Schoonover green roof in person?

Access is limited. The deck is rated for only a handful of people at a time, so it is not open for general visits, and the camera is how most people see the planting.

What is the best time to watch the Schoonover Green Roof Webcam?

Daylight on Eastern Time, since the roof has no lighting of its own. Late spring through early autumn shows the beds at their fullest, while winter strips them back to stems.

Source: Ohio Campus Webcam