Just a commentary for the under 50's.
I did my Phd field work in West Greenland. Working a coastal area some 350
km square up to a modest 1500 m of fjord coast line.
I got dropped off with a field assistant who I'd met for the first time a
couple of days before, with a 16ft wooden boat (no boating experience), (I
had to patch the boat with my bread board an old sock and marge for caulking
mid season got a row for damaging the survey's property, - but it stopped
the leak) a small tent and a big "Niger" style one (for those of you who
were boys scouts), three months food rations in tins packed in wooden boxes,
(these eventually held samples) a heavy duty short wave radio, radio poles
and wire in case I needed to radio for help (it didn't work, the radio that
is). Wooden hafted ice axes, a couple of thick Aran sweaters, not fleeces.
Emergency rations to carry in the field packed in a tin lifeboat water proof
box, an ash framed Bergen, one spare set of clothes, brass primus stoves (2)
paraffin for same and miscellaneous other stuff. None of the kit was light
weight, all was the stuff Amundsen, Scott, Shackleton would have recognised
every bit.... Indeed, embarassingly, Tiso's here in Glasgow have a climbing
museum display in their shop with my kit in it.
Second year was much the same, but I did get some helicopter rides, but
ferrying the same pile of poo around. Weather much like a bad easter in the
west of scotland but with mossies in the middle of the season in similar
quantities to the familiar midge.
And told to get on with it.
I did, and it was great , but I wouldn't do it again now. And it would be
stupid to suggest that today's students replicated the equipment experience.
Hasn't it changed a lot? The kit is real magic, it keeps you dry, is light,
tents are a fraction of the weight, sleeping bags work, ie you sleep don't
shivver, and you phone home on your mobile daily if not more, not leave
you're your day diary in an envelope addressed home under a rock by the tent
door on the off chance the supply boat visits... But lets not forget that
field work still includes some hard physical work and we should buy into the
managed risk implied and whether we are penniless academics or corporate we
do the job because we choose to. I look forward to the anti-gravity saddle
we can use to float up to the outcrops but I think we might just miss
something even if we are doing better science. Hmmmm.
alan
-----Original Message-----
From: Tectonics & structural geology discussion list
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Zoe Shipton
Sent: 20 July 2005 14:08
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: digital mapping
Hi all
I spent several weeks my PhD field area mapping faults with a total station
(and feeling very high-tech with it!) and the odd bit of map and compass
work. I have to confess to being slightly jealous when after someone came
along and mapped a lot more using a differential GPS in 21 days! I was very
relieved when they got the same results as me, though! (see Maerten et al,
2001 JSG 23 p585- 592, Fig 7) It seems to me that this kind of excercise is
only worth doing with detailed pre-trip planning. In maerten et al - they
describe a nice way of setting up a "data dictionary", but of course this
requires a good bit of previous fieldwork to define the problem that you're
trying to map.
As for a wish list, I'm off to a field area next week with a day-long hike
in with an elevation gain of 5000ft - so light would be very good. My Phd
student will be camping in a wilderness area for 2-3 weeks at a time, for
three months so have to carry all batteries in. The only solar powered
battery recharger I've found (from REI.com) does fine for headlamp batteries
but can barely rustle up enough juice for a digital camera. So how about a
Baygen Radio-style windup GPS/laptop? We'll have a GPS, and will download
the points into a laptop (left in the car while were in the field -
insurance, another big cost of digital stuff). But in this case by far the
best system is old fashioned maps (generated from DEM etc data in ArcView),
compass and field notebook. That being said, I suspect the biggest market
for this stuff isn't penniless academics, it's geotech or oil companies who
have generators and manpower to lug stuff around and recharge it.
I agree with Alan that there is a strong case to be made for teaching
traditional field methods as a tool for thinking, and as a way of teaching
good data management. But we should also be teaching our undergrads about
how to use things like GPS in the field. I have come across ugrads who just
wrote down GPS points and a dip and strike in their notebook. I have also
heard from Mountain Rescue folks of people who used GPS to get from A to B
not realising there was a cliff/river/deadly thing in the way.
Cheers
Zoe
At 12:28 20/07/2005, you wrote:
>All,
>
>maybe we should create a wishlist and send it to several companies with
>the hope that they take our needs into account in future apparats.
>
>For field-work in high mountain regions with hour-long ascends and
>interspersed climbing, I would wish an apparatus that is o light (less
>that 2 kg) o can be folded to a size fitting into the small bag I carry
>around my belly to have my hands free for climbing (i.e. A5 format) o
>comes with additional light-weight spare batteries o doesn't mind
>getting wet or dusty o has some kind of sunshield to facilitate work in
>bright sunlight
>
>In addition, I would wish to have some more satellites out there. GPS
>is a great thing to have and can save a lot of time in positioning
>oneself and sample locations etc., however its use is limited in steep
>valleys or densely vegetated areas with little or no satellite
>reception. Waiting for 15 minutes to receive a signal that indicates
>your position with an accuracy of 60-100 m is quite common and rather
>useless there, and I've even received positions as far as 2 km away
>from where I've actually been.
>
>In conclusion I think that digital mapping can save a lot of time and
>is a great technology, but it is not perfected for all types of field
>area yet.
>
>Cheers, Julia
>
>
>
>Quoting Tim Wynn <[log in to unmask]>:
>
> > Alan,
> > Great post. I think that progressing with this type of exciting
> > digital technology whilst carrying a healthy scepticism (and a map,
> > compass and notebook as backup) is the way to go for fieldwork.
> >
> > As an aside, my best purchase for traditional Scottish fieldwork was
> > one of those divers notebooks (plastic paper) that would work with a
> > pencil even when totally submerged. I have also seen people use the
> > same paper for maps, reducing the need for peering through plastic
> > bags that steam up and leak. Also progress through technology I guess.
> >
> > Tim
> >
> >
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Tectonics & structural geology discussion list
> > [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Alan Gibbs
> > Sent: 20 July 2005 10:26
> > To: [log in to unmask]
> > Subject: Re: digital mapping
> >
> > Hi Phil,
> >
> > Coming from the generation where we felt it character forming to use
> > plane tables, and detailed compass work, mostly in the driving rain,
> > I do have a genuine concern that letting the machine take the strain
> > will reduce our ability to spot nonsense when it inevitably happens.
> >
> > However, apart from that and the grumpy old man's knee jerk about
> > loss of moral fibre I'm all for anything that makes life easier and
> > allows more time to do what you are actually meant to be doing in
> > the field which is looking at the rocks and trying to think about what
they mean.
> >
> > However there are some caveats that come from some recent field
> > experience in the FSSU on a minerals project last year. The present
> > generation of kit still has some serious flaws. Hooking up all the
> > bits you need , gps, digital compass/clino, pc, camera etc is in
> > practice a bit of a nightmare and it is all very susceptible to
> > battery life, wires going in the right places,pin snot being bent
> > etc, and anything that goes wrong, which it does in field
> > conditions, turns it instantaneously into a whole pile of shit, and
> > you are then scrabbling in the rucksack or the back of the Lada for
> > the real stuff -so you do end up carrying two sets of kit. (not
> > quite as easy as nipping back to the car and hostel in Durness and
> > being able to do a quick lunch time pub break too).
> > Another key problem, which is rarely a problem in Scotland(!) is
> > that the screens are difficult to read in bright sunshine,
> > particularly on battery power for the pc/pda bit of the kit.
> >
> > Otherwise fantastic that it is a reality at long last and the
> > ability to take stuff like the analytical software into the
> > field(2DMove, 4DVista , MapInfo in my case) to reference the data
> > base, play analytical games on the move, plot stereo and do scat
> > analysis as you traverse is stunning and is a real productivity tool
> > in that you can qc your field work to determine if you actual have
> > caught the data/information that you need to problem solve.
> >
> > So draw backs: screens, battery reliabilty, general
> > techno/wire/stuff/ spaghetti, need to carry back up stuff, and
> > robustness in real conditions, dust, rain, bumping around in field
vehicle.
> > It is not field fixable when it fails.
> > Does take some explaining in field areas where they still have
> > uniformed guys stood around with rifles guarding strategic road
> > junctions and stopping people photographing goats crossing plank
bridges.
> >
> >
> > Positively:
> > It actually works really well when it does, and is not too heavy to
> > lug around, Changes field/office work flow to give more, better,
> > data if used imaginatively It's a great productivity enhancement
> > tool
> >
> > But for heavens sake don't forget that the field note book with
> > drawings and your log really is vital as it makes you pay attention
> > to what you are seeing and thinking. Do remember that there are a
> > lot of students - and professionals out there who have stopped
> > taking notes as they believe that xeroxing a paper, or down loading
> > a pdf automatically transfers knowledge and understanding into their
> > heads without having to actually bother to read it.
> >
> >
> > alan
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > Dr Alan Gibbs
> > Director
> > Midland Valley Exploration
> > 14 Park Circus
> > Glasgow
> > G3 6AX
> > tel: 44 (0) 141 332 2681
> > fax; 44 (0) 141 332 6792
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Tectonics & structural geology discussion list
> > [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Phil Clegg
> > Sent: 20 July 2005 09:52
> > To: [log in to unmask]
> > Subject: digital mapping
> >
> > Dear all,
> > I'm canvassing peoples opinions/views regarding digital mapping. I'd
> > like to more clearly understand what the issues are. In particular:
> > If you're reluctant/resistant to try digital mapping i.e. collecting
> > geological field data using a GPS connected to a PDA/tablet PC why?
> > Is it a cost issue? a lack of knowledge about the systems? don't
> > trust the technology? What?
> > If you have experienced digital mapping what were the pros and cons
> > compared with 'normal' mapping?
> >
> > I'm sure it would be an interesting topic for group discussion-
> > However I don't wish to fill peoples inboxes with stuff they're not
> > interested in particularly when many are off doing fieldwork or on
holiday.
> > People can reply to me direct if they wish and I'll put together a
> > selection of views.
> >
> > Cheers
> > Phill
> >
> > --
> > Dr Phillip Clegg
> > Reactivation Research Group
> > Department of Earth Sciences
> > University of Durham
> > DH1 3LE
> > UK
> >
> > Tel: +44 (0) 1913342338 (Direct)
> > +44 (0) 1913342300 (Central)
> > Fax: +44 (0) 1913342301
> >
> > Web http://www.dur.ac.uk/react.res/RRG_web/
> >
>
>
>Dr. Julia Kramer
>Postdoctoral Researcher
>
>Economic Geology Research Institute
>University of the Witwatersrand
>Johannesburg, South Africa
>
>Office: +27-11-717 66 11
>Mobile: +27-72-997 50 72
>http://www.wits.ac.za/geosciences/
>email: [log in to unmask]
>
>
>----------------------------------------------------------------
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************************************
Dr Zoe Shipton
Division of Earth Sciences
Centre for Geosciences
University of Glasgow
Gregory Building, Lilybank Gardens
Glasgow G12 8QQ, Scotland, UK
+44 (0)141 330 2783
http://www.earthsci.gla.ac.uk
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