GeoSpatial Blog

Nov. 18: Most students now have group projects underway--see preliminary list below. Remaining students need to team up for group projects at this time. Let your instructor know about group membership and topics.
- Coffey, Edie, Frehe -- GIS for flood management, Douglas County, KS.
- Peterson, Markowitz, Nelson -- Mining in Colorado.
- Blake, Boruch, Ross -- GIS applications for deer population.
- Pick, Countryman, Clough -- GIS applications for earthquakes.
- Reardon, Rogers, Randall -- Antarctic experiences with GIS.
On Friday the 13th, your instructor and his wife conducted kite aerial photography at the Elk River Wind Farm in the Flint Hills. In spite of the unlucky date and other difficult conditions, we had some success--see wind energy. This is likely our last venture for the season.
Nov. 16: Our focus for the remainder of the semester is group projects. Begin to collect background information and references for your projects. The reading assignment this week is data quality and managing error.
Reminder: all lab exercises are due this week--none will be accepted after Thanksgiving.
Contribution from Matt Randall: I'd like to share this website--see draganfly. It's a remote helicopter with a camera rig, similar to what we used on the class field trip.
Nov. 12: During our class field trip to Ross Reservation, we discussed the use of fire as a management technique. Intentional burning is the primary means utilized in the Flint Hills to maintain tallgrass prairie conditions. John Countryman contributed these night shots of prairie fire.

Images © J. Countryman.

Nov. 10: Contribution from Liz Coffey: I found some applications of GIS that suprised me, namely the use of GIS in archeology mapping as well as an analytical tool in the depositional environment of artifacts. An article from ESRI titled Spatial Analysis of an Ancient Cave Site describes the use of and application of GIS in an ancient Mayan cave. Another use of GIS with statistics is for criminology to map high-crime areas and to predict where crime is to occur up to a month in advance. An article published by CBS News gives an overview as well as an outline of the years of research coming to completion in 2003.
Nov. 9: This week our attention shifts to group projects, and the reading assignment covers project planning. Students should discuss with each other possible project topics. Each group should have 2-3 members; this applies to on-campus and distance-learning students alike. We will review possible projects in class. For a selection of previous student work, see geospatial projects.

Contribution from John Countryman: These photos were from a trip to Armenia with the National Guard unit that I am with. We had a stop off in England before we went to Armenia. The pics are from the flight between here and England, and they are of Greenland from between 36 and 38 thousand feet.

Images © J. Countryman.

Nov. 5: Contribution from Cliff Nelson: Interesting--the first map to name America--go to Gadling.com.
Nov. 2: Our subject this week is Internet and GIS. See also GCraft sources and web.pdf (download via FTP). Our final lab exercise is an imagery search. Note this is a double-lab, worth 20 points.

Canadian glossary on satellites.

Oct. 29: Contribution from Philip Rogers: As noted in this recent Congressional Research Service piece, since the mid-1990s when President Clinton's Executive Order went into effect calling for the creation of a NSDI, the various federal agencies charged with moving forward with the initiative have not managed to work together as had been envisioned. The author proposes some changes in approach that could make progress possible in some areas -- as he points out, "there are no technical problems in developing the NSDI, only organizational ones." Go to CRS on GIS.

Oct. 26: As we approach the end of October, the reading assignment this week is GIS applications with case studies from biology, geology, climate, archaeology, and urban conditions. The lab exercise is based on our class trip to Ross NHR. Students who attended the trip should complete both portions (A & B), which represent two exercises (10 points each). Note: for part A, do only questions 1-3. Other students should do part B only and conduct a field experience of your own (contact instructor for details).

The field trip to Ross Reservation was highly successful with nice fall weather and good autumn color. Fourteen students participated along with your intructor and GTA. In addition to working with GPS, we conducted kite aerial photograph from the western side of the reservation. Sample kite aerial photos are presented below.

Canon Elph (color-visible) photographs
Left: students observe the initial launch of the camera rig from the telescope mount (just left of trailer). Note shadows. Right: overlooking the central building complex. Cool-season grass (brome, fescue) is still green, whereas warm-season grass (big/little bluestem, Indian grass) has turned reddish brown and golden yellow.
Left: oblique view looking toward the northwest over Gladfelter Pond. Some deciduous trees are bare, and some display their autumn foliage. Dark green trees are eastern red cedar. Right: closeup vertical shot of Gladfelter Pond; north toward top. The green "pads" in the water are American lotus (Nelumbo lutea).

Tetracam ADC (color-infrared) photographs
Active vegetation appears pink and maroon.
Left: Overview of central building complex. Cool-season grass and algae on sewage pond (left) appear bright pink. Right: vertical shot showing all of Gladfelter Pond; north toward top. Cedar trees are maroon, willows are bright pink/white, and American lotus is also pink. Compare with pictures above.

*Tetracam ADC* (color-infrared) photographs
Active vegetation appears pink and maroon.
	Left: Overview of central building complex. Cool-season grass and algae on sewage pond (left) appear bright pink. Right: vertical shot showing all of Gladfelter Pond; north toward top. Cedar trees are maroon, willows are bright pink/white, and American lotus is also pink. Compare with pictures above.

Ground photos at Gladfelter Pond
Left: overview of the pond taken from the dam looking westward. Right: students collect GPS data from the end of the dock.
Left: floating aquatic and emergent shoreline vegetation seen from the dock looking toward the southwest. Right: closeup shot of American lotus pad. These pads are typically 30-40 cm in diameter.

Oct. 23: Our distant student in Antarctica, Molly Reardon, sent this contribution: Just wanted to share some photos I took during the flight from McMurdo Station to the South Pole. The flight route took us through the Trans Antarctic Mountains and over several glaciers. I believe the glacier photos that I took were of and in the vicinity of the Beardmore Glacier. You can actually see the direction of ice flow in some pics and the cracks and crevasses in the top layer. The pics aren't great as the window kept fogging-up and then freezing very quickly on the inside. We were also breathing oxygen at the time and it was very cold on the plane.

Images © M. Reardon.

Oct. 22: We have discovered a problem with the metadata file for band 5 (sc97-5.rdc) in this week's lab exercise. A mistake in Y min/max values caused the band 5 display to be compressed east-west. This also affected any composite images made with band 5. This mistake has been fixed; a corrected version of the file is available via FTP.
Oct. 19: The mid-term exam has been graded and returned to students individually. Scores ranged from the 90s to the 60s percentages. Most of the class did quite well; median score on the exam was 87%. We will review results in class this week. We continue the theme of remote sensing with a Landsat overview (introduction only) and a lab exercise on Landsat imagery.
Our field trip to Ross Reservation will take place on Saturday, Oct. 24th. Meet in the campus north parking lot--next to practice athletic fields--at 9 o'clock Saturday morning. Bring your lunch/beverage, notebook, etc. Wear appropriate clothing and footgear for walking through prairie fields and woodlands. We will spend the morning practicing map, compass, and GPS skills. In the afternoon, we will attempt small-format aerial photography. At this point Saturday's weather forecast is looking quite nice.
Note: All students in eastern Kansas are expected to participate in the field trip. More distant students must undertake a field experience of their own; contact your instructor for details.
Oct. 13: Contribution from Philip Rogers: The NSGIC presentation titled "Who? What? Why We Better Care?" is probably of general interest to the class. The timeline shown on slide 5 is a nice overview of key events related to GIS since the 1970s. Go to NSGIC (click forward to slide 5 and enlarge to full view).
Oct. 12: Welcome back from fall break! The mid-term exam is now available. Please follow instructions for turning in your answers by the deadline (Thursday). There is no on-campus class meeting this week, as the exam is in progress. The ICEMAPS2 web server remains offline.
Oct. 7: Mid-term grades are due early next week. We've had several exercises up to this point, but the mid-term exam will not be completed until after mid-term grades are due. All students who are active and making suitable progress will receive approximate grades based on work to date. Below is the course roster. Students are encouraged to contact each other regarding potential group projects for this course.

Active student roster (ver. 1.0).

Note 1: your instructor will be away on an extended
field trip for ES 546 during the fall break.

Oct. 6: Contribution from Liz Coffey: I was looking through the ESRI webpages and found a news section called ArcWatch. Some of the first articles were examples of practical uses of GIS mapping for human or animal welfare. The article I read was about mapping the hibernation areas for bats to ultimately limit the spread of the "white-nose" disease. ArcWatch is labeled as the "e-magazine for GIS news, views, and insights." After reading articles, the author of the articles have links to related issues or more information.
I also found on the USGS a link to an article of geospatial analysis used to indicate landslide prone areas of the United States and Puerto Rico. These maps that were produced can be used for later applications. Go to landslides.
Oct. 5: Fall break on Thursday and Friday--no class meeting on campus this week! The web-GIS exercise is due now. In the mean time, begin to review for the mid-term exam, which will cover all lecture and lab material to date. The exam will be available Oct. 12 and due on the 15th. Begin checking the course schedule or blog evening of Oct. 11th.
Contribution from Charles Boruch: Learn about ArcGIS. ERSI launched ArcGIS Online, a web-based repository where users can find and share geographic content.
Oct. 1: Contribution from Philip Rogers: I added some additional information about data sharing, as well as a new page on ethical use of geospatial data.

Sept. 29: This week's bonus question was popular and has been claimed already. The answer, of course, is Mickey Mantle, one of the greatest baseball players of the 20th century.

Superwide-angle view over Commerce, Oklahoma with the passive treatment plant in lower left foreground (see below). Chat piles in right background mark old mining area which is the source for contaminated ground and surface water. Boyhood home of Mickey Mantle marked (*) on left side. Image © J.S. Aber.

Sept. 28: After a warm weekend, autumn weather has arrived in Kansas, just on schedule. We have completed Idrisi tutorials--exercise 1-6 is due this week, and we will move on to other types of lab exercises. This week is web-based GIS; this is essentially an online version of ArcView software for viewing and displaying GIS datasets. The reading assignment is manned-space photography.

Your instructor and his wife had an interesting time at the Tar Creek conference in Miami, Oklahoma last week. We had an opportunity to conduct blimp aerial photography at a passive treatment facility in neighboring Commerce. The series of ponds is designed to simulate wetlands with biological and chemical cleaning of contaminated water draining from old lead and zinc mines nearby. The treatment facility removes lead, zinc, cadnium, iron, and other heavy metals. Only a small amount of power is necessary to run aeration pumps; the power is provided by a solar panel and small wind turbine.

Super-wide angle vertical view taken from 500 feet height; note vehicles at upper left corner for scale. Inlet pool displays rusty orange color, upper left end of system. Outlet channel with clear water to lower right side. Image © J.S. Aber.

This week's bonus question: What sports figure is the most famous person to come from Commerce, Oklahoma? The first three students to answer with an explanation (source) will receive a bonus point for the next lab exercise.

Sept. 25: Contribution from Molly Reardon: I stumbled upon this on CNN. What a fun article...and kudos to the MIT student for not giving up on a crazy idea. The photo of the earth with curvature and black space in the background is remarkable. See CNN report.
Contribution from Philip Rogers: I recently returned from the ESRI Health GIS Conference, which took place in Nashville. It was a great experience. I have begun to record some additional thoughts that I have about geospatial data sharing, among other topics. Go to data sharing.
Sept. 21: We continue the theme of remote sensing this week with aerial photography; see also GCraft airphoto. Our last Idrisi tutorial is exercise 1-6. This exercise puts together what you have learned so far to create a complete and effective map composition. Follow the tutorial instructions carefully, and note the additional questions at the end about image file types.
Note: Your instructor will be away from campus Sept. 22-24 attending a conference in Oklahoma--see Tar Creek. Kary Reznicek will supervise class sessions in the GSA lab.
Last week's bonus question: The latitude difference between Emporia, KS (38��N) and the South Pole (90�S) = 128�� @ 111 km per degree = ~14,265 km. According to infoplease.com, the distance from Emporia to Penang, Malaysia is ~14,870 km, more than 600 km farther than the South Pole! Note: exact distance calculations depend on the geodetic datum and may vary slightly.
Sept. 14: Nearly half way through September already! The local weather forecast looks relatively good this week, so on-campus students should plan on a short outdoor GPS demonstration. Otherwise, tutorial 1-4 is due, and students should work on 1-5.
We have covered introductory map and cartography subjects, so now we're ready to move on to the subjects of aerial photography and satellite imagery. See remote sensing and GCraft remote sensing.
Bonus question: The farthest student your instructor has had previously was in Penang, Malaysia. This student earned both a GSA graduate certificate and M.S. degree from ESU via distance learning. This semester, one of our students (in this course) will be stationed at the South Pole, Antarctica. So the question is, which is farther away from Emporia, Kansas--Penang or the South Pole?
This question involves a so-called great circle route--the shortest route between any two points on the globe. As a clue, consider that the distance from Emporia to the South Pole is simply the difference in latitude degrees @ 111 km per degree. The first three students to answer with an explanation (source) will receive a bonus point for the next lab exercise.
Sept. 8: Welcome back from the Labor Day break! We continue this week with GPS (see below) and tutorial 1-4.
Sept. 4: Some distance-learning students took advantage of the opportunity for an "Idrisi" bonus point. For those who want more info, see al-Idrisi's world map.
Contribution from Matt Randall. Go to www.wolframalpha.com. There is a "Places and Geography" button at the bottom. I only found this site today, but I plugged "geomagnetism Emporia, KS" into the search bar (gold box at top) and it brought up some info; kind of neat.
Sept. 3: Looking ahead to next week, our subject is global positioning system--see NCGIA GPS overview and GPS, map and compass from the U.S. Geological Survey. Idrisi tutorial 1-3 will be due, and we'll start on tutorial 1-4. In the mean time, have a nice Labor Day break!
Sept. 2: It's official, Emporia set record low temperatures three days in a row this week: Sunday was 50�, Monday 46�, and Tuesday 52�F. The Monday temperature was the lowest ever recorded for the month of August! Combined with tying or setting record lows twice the previous week, that's quite a cool run of weather, which was experienced across most of eastern Kansas.
This happens some years when high pressure is persistent in the Rocky Mountains. Warm air is directed northward along the Pacific coast from California to Alaska, and cool air flows southward in the Great Plains. While Kansas has enjoyed an unusually mild summer, California is baking and burning.
So, is this a short-term anomaly or a trend? Last year at about this time, also record low temperatures were set in Kansas. For example, a record low was reached at Atchison on Sept. 9. The new mark of 42�F shattered the old Atchison record of 49�F set in 1966. In fact, Kansas summer weather has been relatively cool and wet for the past several years--the last really hot summer was 2000, when many record high temperatures were set.
These climatic fluctuations track closely with sunspot cycles. The last peak in sunspots was 2000-01. The current sunspot minimum has been significantly longer than usual, by at least 2-3 years, which may explain these climatic variations. See sunspot predication. GIS is utilized to store, analyze, and model such climatic data across regions and globally.
Otherwise, during the on-campus lab session yesterday, Alan Peterson asked about magnetic declination. Most topographic maps of eastern Kansas indicate declination of ~6-8�E. But declination varies as the magnetic poles slowly drift. Current declination for eastern Kansas is ~4�E. For more info, see NGDC.
Sept. 1: Contribution from Charles Boruch: I think this is a pretty interesting article. See GPS for trains.
Aug. 31: Cool weather continues in eastern Kansas! On Sunday morning, Emporia set a new record low at 50�F. This morning's low temperature of 46�F shattered the old 56�F mark. In fact, this would set a record low for the month of August, and we are on track to set another daily record low temperature for tomorrow--stay tuned.
Our subject this week deals with how maps locate things on the Earth's surface--see georeferencing and GCraft projection. Tutorial 1-2 is due at this time, and we begin 1-3. On-campus students will have a map demonstration in the GSA lab.
Note: Two more items have been added to the geospatial resources list.
- Journal of Maps, an open-access journal for map publications.
- Remote Sensing, an open-access journal for scholarly articles.
Bonus point: What is the origin of the name "Idrisi" of our GIS software? Available only for the first three distance-learning students who respond by Wednesday. Bonus point added to next lab score.
Aug. 25: Last week, on-campus students had a bonus-point opportunity for the term taiga. That opportunity is now past--see Encyclop�dia Britannica.
Aug. 24: Saturday morning, Emporia tied the record low temperature of 55�F, and Sunday morning a new record low was set at 53�, breaking the old mark from 1984 by 3�! Is this global warming?
Our reading assignment this week is NCGIA unit 002. Idrisi Taiga tutorial 1-1 is due this week, and we move on to 1-2. Note: some on-campus students will work in the GSA lab on Tuesdays at 1 o'clock and others on Thursdays, due to the large number of students in the course.
Fall picnic: physical sciences fall picnic will take place on Thursday, Sept. 3rd in Hammond Park (just west of campus). All geospatial analysis students are invited to attend--pick up tickets for $3 each in PS office.
Aug. 17: Classes begin this week. On-campus students meet in the GSA lab (SH 16) at 1 o'clock Thursday afternoon. We will introduce Idrisi Taiga; distance-learning students should acquire this software right away. Our first reading assignment is a GIS overview from GCraft.
Reminder: all students must fill out, sign, and return the student agreement form either electronically or in paper format. On-campus students will do this at our first class meeting.
Disturbing news about Landsat 5, which recently celebrated its 25th anniversary of collecting earth imagery. The venerable satellite lost power and spun out of control a few days ago. Stability and function seem to be restored, but imagery must be evaluated--see Landsat 5 status reports.
Aug. 13: The fall semester begins next week, and our first on-campus class meeting will take place on Thursday, 1 o'clock in the geospatial analysis laboratory (SH 16). We have a large group of on-campus students and several distance-learning students as well. All students need to be enrolled with fees paid by tomorrow, Aug. 14. At this time, all distance-learning students should be in contact with your instructor regarding course procedures.
Note: all students must fill out, sign, and return the student agreement form either electronically or in paper format. On-campus students will do this at our first class meeting.
Your instructor had a productive summer, which involved kite and blimp aerial photography of wetland sites in Pennsylvania, Maine and Massachusetts--see latest additions at geospectra.net.
Welcome to Geospatial Analysis! This course will be offered during the fall 2009 semester. The course is taught in a distance-learning mode with weekly lab and review sessions available for on-campus students. Course requirements, readings, and lab exercises are quite similar for both on-campus and distance-learning students.
Distance-learning students should enroll for ES 351 ZA. They must have access to Idrisi Taiga software, which is the primary GIS utilized in this introductory course. Distance-learning students can obtain a "student starter" license for only $95, which is limited to one year usage.
Beginning in August, students should consult this blog frequently for course activities, notes, announcements, and reminders. All students are expected to make regular contributions to the blog as part of your course participation. Send blog text and images to your instructor.
Please contact the instructor with any comments or questions about the course.

	Left: students observe the initial launch of the camera rig from the telescope mount (just left of trailer). Note shadows. Right: overlooking the central building complex. Cool-season grass (brome, fescue) is still green, whereas warm-season grass (big/little bluestem, Indian grass) has turned reddish brown and golden yellow.
	Left: oblique view looking toward the northwest over Gladfelter Pond. Some deciduous trees are bare, and some display their autumn foliage. Dark green trees are eastern red cedar. Right: closeup vertical shot of Gladfelter Pond; north toward top. The green "pads" in the water are American lotus (Nelumbo lutea).

	Left: overview of the pond taken from the dam looking westward. Right: students collect GPS data from the end of the dock.
	Left: floating aquatic and emergent shoreline vegetation seen from the dock looking toward the southwest. Right: closeup shot of American lotus pad. These pads are typically 30-40 cm in diameter.