Lake Erie harmful algal bloom, western basin, 2011
NASA Earth Observatory using USGS Landsat data — public domain.
Open source/license record
Sources and image credits
Every image and major quantitative claim has an origin.
This page records what each image depicts, where it was made when known, who created it, its source or license, and the evidence behind the national opportunity model.
Image credits
Documentary context, clearly labeled.
Every public image carries a visible short credit where it appears. Documentary photographs do not depict Second Atmosphere facilities; conceptual images are labeled as AI-generated.
Harmful algal bloom near a boat dock, Lake Erie
NOAA Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory — public domain.
Open source/license recordSoil and fertilizer runoff from a farm field, Iowa, 1999
Lynn Betts, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service — public domain.
Open source/license recordBlue Plains Advanced Wastewater Treatment Plant, Washington, D.C., circa 2016
U.S. EPA — public domain.
Open source/license recordAerial view of a wastewater-treatment plant
Michal Jarmoluk — Pixabay Creative Commons, as identified by USGS.
Open source/license recordPresque Isle State Park and Erie, Pennsylvania, 1992
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers — public domain.
Open source/license recordHarmful algal bloom across western Lake Erie, July 9, 2018
Aerial Associates Photography, Inc., Zachary Haslick / NOAA GLERL — Public Domain Mark.
Open source/license recordAlgal bloom in the Detroit River, July 2, 2005
NOAA Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory — public domain.
Open source/license recordHarmful algal bloom along the shore of Lake Dora, Florida
Nara Souza / Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission — public domain.
Open source/license recordBeach covered by a harmful algal bloom, Mozingo Lake, Missouri
Jennifer L. Graham / USGS — public domain.
Open source/license recordThe Ridges conceptual facility
AI-generated conceptual visualization of a potential aeroponic algae cultivation facility. It does not depict an existing Second Atmosphere installation.
Origin: Lucas-approved project visualization.
Covered biological infrastructure beside wastewater treatment
AI-generated conceptual visualization of covered biological infrastructure adjacent to a wastewater-treatment facility. It does not depict an existing Second Atmosphere installation.
Origin: Generated for the Second Atmosphere image audit and approved by Lucas.
Data and research
Sources behind the central scale and nutrient-recovery narrative.
Direct links are provided for technical review. Values should be rechecked immediately before public launch because agency datasets and reports can be updated.
U.S. EPA — Sources and Solutions: Wastewater
EPA overview stating that U.S. wastewater-treatment facilities process approximately 34 billion gallons of wastewater per day.
Open EPA sourceU.S. EPA ECHO — POTW typical pollutant concentration rationale
Source for representative municipal total-nitrogen and total-phosphorus concentration proxies used in the planning model.
Open EPA sourceU.S. EPA — Preliminary Effluent Guidelines Program Plan 14
Cross-industry nutrient-discharge estimates, including reported loads and modeled likely nutrient discharges used in the combined national boundary.
Open EPA PDFThe Resource Hiding in U.S. Wastewater
Two-page public-development brief summarizing the national mass-balance boundary, environomic value framework, and scientific limitations.
Open the two-page brief