| Author |
Message |
    
Mark Howe
Moderator
Username: unclemark
Post Number: 489
Registered: 08-2003
| | Posted on Friday, January 08, 2010 - 11:37 am: | 
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I am sorry to report; Yes, it was canceled. |
Mark Howe
Moderator
Username: unclemark
Post Number: 488
Registered: 08-2003
| | Posted on Thursday, January 07, 2010 - 02:18 pm: |
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Currently there are only 5 enrolled in the class so it will probably be canceled tonight. I will let you know when I hear. |
Mark Howe
Moderator
Username: unclemark
Post Number: 477
Registered: 08-2003
| | Posted on Wednesday, April 22, 2009 - 10:37 am: |
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Yesterday Irene and I took the Whaler out so that she could monitor plankton for her project. We were able to do several other things at the same time; we monitored a current of .8 kn, we located the spar buoy at the end of the sewer line on the GPS, we verified depth and water temperature with the depth probe, all kinds of fun oceanography stuff. So how about a volunteer for next Tuesday morning at 10?
Irene wrote:
> Hi Mark!
> We were just about "spot on" with both tows--right between M20 begin and
> end. I have my samples and will begin counting. I did get some good
> stuff--the heavier organisms have now settled to the bottom of the
> tube--I can actually get a measurement of them as far as volume goes.
>
> I am SO HAPPY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
> I hope I can get someone to go out with me next Tuesday for the next 3
> Tuesdays. That should take me up til the end of class. I hope to get good
> data from this. This is better than the Explorer because I'm going to the
> same spot every time, and I have more control over what I'm doing.
>
> I did the titration of the fixed water samples twice and came up with a
> dissolved oxygen of 9.2---can that be possible? Perhaps it was because
> I was right at the survface? I was expecting something like 8.2, which is what I got
> yesterday.
>
> Ok, gotta go count plankton
Mark wrote:
Yes, it looked like a 9 reading just looking at how dark amber it was in the bottle. Check out how much phytoplankton you have there and that may explain it. It is fascinating to see how oxygen tensions will vary through phases of a plankton bloom and during a 24 hour illumination cycle. |
Mark Howe
Moderator
Username: unclemark
Post Number: 476
Registered: 08-2003
| | Posted on Thursday, April 16, 2009 - 08:10 am: |
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Anyone coming in early today? Be sure to let me know or I won't be there: markhowe@cox.net
I am showing the Fish Lab due Apr 23 which is next week. The only lab due at this time is the fish practice labs, which some of you have already done. That was simply making pie and bar graphs of any fish collection [or any census count for that matter] to prove you were able to do it.
Tonight, in addition to everything else, I figure we could try a very brief in class exercise which we have skipped simply because we were working on much more difficult stuff. It is a comparison of a single fish species over the area. Since SCCWRP is trying to find Hornyheads, lets show them where they are.
Note: Irene asked where the color key for fish was; I put it on the fish name list if you copied it last time. We need to make a layer file out of it. |
Mark Howe
Moderator
Username: unclemark
Post Number: 473
Registered: 08-2003
| | Posted on Friday, April 03, 2009 - 09:44 am: |
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This is the GIS portion of the schedule. Note the SCCWRP cruises where they need help. We are constantly in need of fish counters. [Ryan and Mark ??]
It appears we may be on the verge of a breakthru on coming up with a doable and at least semi practical way to show species diversity and biomass over time and environmental conditions. Lots has happened in the last few weeks. |
Mark Howe
Moderator
Username: unclemark
Post Number: 471
Registered: 08-2003
| | Posted on Wednesday, March 25, 2009 - 10:14 am: |
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Tomorrow, Thurs. Mar 26 from 12-2 is Senior Day where High School Seniors are invited to Saddleback to see what programs and classes are available to them here. You as students are the best ambassadors for this so we will be offering extra credit for any of you who can come and help welcome them. Find us somewhere in the Quad anytime after 1130.
I have not heard from anyone yet needing extra time in the lab. It appeared the LAP computers were getting 9.3 installed on Mon. I haven't tried them out tho. The N: drive should be reloaded and ready. Let me know if you need to get into the lab early; otherwise I will see you at 6 for class.
We will go thru the drill for making biodiversity pie diagrams again. |
Mark Howe
Moderator
Username: unclemark
Post Number: 469
Registered: 08-2003
| | Posted on Wednesday, March 11, 2009 - 10:41 pm: |
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Sounds like we may have a quorum tomorrow at 4pm.
Instead of 3pm, this will be for anyone wanting some extra lab time. Not a requirement.
So far, Ned, Kwan, and Allison. Mark and Ryan? Seems like a better response when its not required!? |
Mark Howe
Moderator
Username: unclemark
Post Number: 468
Registered: 08-2003
| | Posted on Wednesday, March 11, 2009 - 12:51 pm: |
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I am hereby terminating the regularly scheduled Mon/ Thurs TBA meetings. Most of you seem to do pretty well working on your own, and there are few who show up anyway. I will count your floating lab time for TBA as well as time we can say is supervised by me in some fashion, such as by phone or internet.
On the other hand, if any of you need some in-lab time, let me know and it can be arranged. Particularly for those needing makeup time or help. |
Mark Howe
Moderator
Username: unclemark
Post Number: 465
Registered: 08-2003
| | Posted on Friday, March 06, 2009 - 10:06 am: |
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The tentative arrangement right now is for three class projects; Ned and Kwan to check on Bolsa Chica wetlands, Irene in the DPMWR, Mark and Ryan on the floating lab. Allison still needs to choose. David is still available to do bathymetry in the Whaler. |
Mark Howe
Moderator
Username: unclemark
Post Number: 464
Registered: 08-2003
| | Posted on Friday, March 06, 2009 - 09:59 am: |
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Last night I gave out copies of the floating lab schedule and will need confirmation on which cruises you are available for. Most urgent is commitment for this coming Monday 12 to 4. It's a four-hour cruise and includes the research trawl, which is a 20 foot net [the usual is a 16 foot net] for 10 minutes. Lots of fish. Lots of work! |
Mark Howe
Moderator
Username: unclemark
Post Number: 461
Registered: 08-2003
| | Posted on Friday, February 27, 2009 - 12:54 pm: |
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http://www.amazon.com/010-00468-00-Without-Barometric-Altimeter-Electronic/dp/B0 00CSP000/ref=pd_bbs_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1235578417&sr=8-1
Price even lower today |
Mark Howe
Moderator
Username: unclemark
Post Number: 458
Registered: 08-2003
| | Posted on Wednesday, February 25, 2009 - 10:04 am: |
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http://www.amazon.com/010-00468-00-Without-Barometric-Altimeter-Electronic/dp/B0 00CSP000/ref=pd_bbs_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1235578417&sr=8-1
$175 for a Garmin 76cx from Amazon. I have not seen a lower price. |
Mark Howe
Moderator
Username: unclemark
Post Number: 455
Registered: 08-2003
| | Posted on Wednesday, February 18, 2009 - 01:09 pm: |
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To convert fathoms to meters:
first convert to yards and then subtract 10% |
Mark Howe
Moderator
Username: unclemark
Post Number: 454
Registered: 08-2003
| | Posted on Wednesday, February 18, 2009 - 10:55 am: |
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Review of last week's class.
Went over dates and times for Floating Lab programs. This week Irene went out Tuesday morning and I think Mark went out Tuesday afternoon. All of you should plan your schedules and let me know.
The P in the right-hand column of the syllabus indicates when projects are due. The second one is due this week, consisting of depth contours comparing NOAA and state shape files, plus the Lasuen seamount, also known as the 14 Mile Bank. The one for bolts is still three weeks away, but I know some of you have been working on it a lot. Mark and Ryan should plan to map their two boats on the weekend cruise to Catalina.
The TBA program will continue to be Monday 4 to 6 and Thursday 3 to 5. You may choose either or both and use the time as makeup for time missed. We will try to contain the Thursday evening class to two hours, 6 to 8, however the extra hour after can be used for makeup.
Last week we went over GPX file editing and exporting. Ned noticed that a group of waypoints can be edited as an average. We reviewed the anatomy of a layer file and the lifecycle of a layer shape. There was a handout on that. Let me know if any of that needs more clarification.
The major in-class demonstration and practice map was the creation of a large shapefile showing various landmark and navigation features as found on charts. Important skills to be learned are editing and making colors and symbols based on categories of features. The next practice map will be all of the trawl stations from J through N showing beginning, end, and middle of each trawl.
I am putting together a survey to determine what you all want from this course. |
Mark Howe
Moderator
Username: unclemark
Post Number: 453
Registered: 08-2003
| | Posted on Thursday, February 12, 2009 - 08:27 am: |
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I will be shifting communication back to this board because it is so much easier to use. We will keep the Blackboard site up to date as a backup.
The reading assignments for this class were for chapters 3-5. Now you should be up to chapter 7; in Chapter 8, 8b demonstrates selecting by attribute which we use a lot. Study it, but keep in mind we will be selecting for fish species rather than real estate :-)
Chapter 9 we'll get to later, 10 skip, 11 is going to be very important! Study chapter 11.
Enough for now.
The schedule for TBA will be Monday 4 to 6 and Thursday 3 to 5. This Monday is a holiday. |
Mark Howe
Moderator
Username: unclemark
Post Number: 444
Registered: 08-2003
| | Posted on Saturday, January 10, 2009 - 02:16 pm: |
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I am posting the course outline for the Marine GIS class as revised from last year.
In a recent navigation class there were a number of students frustrated by the lack of a class for operating a simple GPS unit. I used to tell students to simply push the on button and play with it until they figured it out; I told them it was obvious. Such a simple approach is no longer working. Recent models of GPS handhelds have become pretty intimidating and complex.
This class ( Marine Ecology Survey/GIS), will ultimately show you how to take biodiversity data such as fishing trawl or tidepool counts and show it on a map for Marine life conservation. However, the beginning of the class deals with lots of introductory stuff on oceanography and electronic navigation so I propose to spend the first few weeks on GPS for those interested in learning that skill. The course will continue after that, applying GPS technology to the geospatial analysis of marine organism (fish) populations and map making. But for anyone who loses interest in that stuff, simply drop the class without penalty after a month and you will still have learned a lot about your GPS and the associated software.
I recommend you get your own GPS (the Garmin 76 CX is an excellent buy right now) but I will be able to supply several from the college. My contact information is on the course outline if you have questions, but another way to deal with it is right here on the bulletin board. |
Ted Lavino
Moderator
Username: tlavino
Post Number: 109
Registered: 01-2006
| | Posted on Saturday, November 08, 2008 - 09:43 am: |
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Greetings GIS hounds, thought this might interest you...
http://gisdata.blogspot.com/ |
Mark Howe
Moderator
Username: unclemark
Post Number: 373
Registered: 08-2003
| | Posted on Friday, April 11, 2008 - 12:39 pm: |
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ESRI is sending me copies of 9.2 for everybody plus some gifts to assuage your trauma with the transition. I will have these by the beginning of next week and available for pick up. Let me know if you want me to leave a copy somewhere for you before then. This will probably cure the Vista problems provided you download the servicepak.
I am still checking on the ExpertGPS situation and will let you know what I find out. |
Mark Howe
Moderator
Username: unclemark
Post Number: 372
Registered: 08-2003
| | Posted on Tuesday, April 08, 2008 - 08:49 am: |
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Answer from Ann Johnson, ESRI
First, the student with Vista problems are a MS issue that a lot of non MS software have and the student will have to have 9.2 with SP4 installed to eliminate those issues as ESRI could not go back into 9.1 to correct the MS issues.
MAC – the only way this works is to have the latest MAC with a Windows emulator software. Older Macs will not run ArcGIS.
As to Excel – the issue becomes easier with 9.2 as you can “add an Excel” spreadsheet directly. Some of the issues you talk about may be because ArcCatalog is open and they are working on the Table in Catalog and can’t add it to ArcMap. Be sure that that is not the issue. This may be what happens when it suddenly “pops up” after the student has shut down and come back. Or maybe the closed ArcCatalog and didn’t realize that has anything to do with the issue.
Other problems are as you state with headers, characters, etc. Excel sometimes does not play well with formatting of numeric data. After “cleaning it up” it can be added as a table to ArcMap. One other issue is that MS Excel no longer allows you to save it as a DBF if you are using Windows 2007. You can add the Table to ArcCatalog and save as a DBF there. See also “ArcGIS Desktop Online Help” from the software or have students go to the Knowledge Base under Support tab at the ESRI web page. This is a good exercise on how to “search” and find answers on their own. ArcUser online and in past issues has several articles on how to deal with Excel. Take a look at those (too long to add here). |
Mark Howe
Moderator
Username: unclemark
Post Number: 371
Registered: 08-2003
| | Posted on Tuesday, April 08, 2008 - 07:28 am: |
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The following analysis is what I am forwarding to experts to get their reaction. Let me know any changes you recommend.
I have come up against a number of stumbling blocks in my class using GIS technology.
I have one student who's using Vista. He has attempted to do the Chapter 11 exercise in the Getting to Know GIS tutorial using the 9.1 installation that came with his GTK book. He is unable to use the tool box tools for dissolve and clip.
I have another student who has an older computer using Mac. The GTK doesn't work. In fact he claims he is unable to use ArcView on his computer at all. He and another student claim that older pre-Intel Macs cannot access some software.
A constant problem that we have is getting spreadsheets capable of being added into a map. The following procedures are meticulously followed.
The first row has no spaces, 10 characters or less, no empty cells.
The formatting for lon/lat fields are meticulously formatted to five or six decimal places. This formatting is checked and rechecked.
The area of the spreadsheet is occasionally saved and pasted into a virgin spreadsheet before saving.
The area of the spreadsheet is saved into a dbf4 format and occasionally into a CSV format. Care is taken that only the area of the spreadsheet is saved. Occasionally on the 9.2 computers, tables are saved directly from Excel.
After all of this, usually the resulting spreadsheet cannot be added into the map. Sometimes, after extensive work and frustration, suddenly a table will pop up into the map. Sometimes it will be formatted correctly and sometimes not. Frequently a table that works only works after giving up and shutting down the program, taking a break, and coming back later. Students tend to think that when a table doesn't work it should be deleted and redone. It is very difficult for them to understand that a table that won't work one time may very well be the one that works another time. Another student had an interesting idea; he made a whole series of tables with various misspellings for their names and then tried adding them in one by one. One worked. |
Mark Howe
Moderator
Username: unclemark
Post Number: 369
Registered: 08-2003
| | Posted on Saturday, March 29, 2008 - 09:08 am: |
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Last Thursday night we went over the problems that some of you may have had in Lab 6.
Your assignment for Lab 6 was processing fish data from the handwritten sheets on the boat.
From this data you would create a spreadsheet and bring it into ArcGIS as a shapefile.
You would use symbology to show the data in story form using what you learned in the Chapter 5 to 7 exercises.
Your assignment for next time is Chapter 11.
A major problem --
Until you actually try doing the exercises, you don't know what the hangups are. That's where I'm concerned about some of you. You need to try doing the assignments and then bring your problems to class. If you don't show up for class, you won't get your problems figured out .
This is what we did Thursday night:
1. We went over a summary of the procedures for creating an Excel spreadsheet, converting it to a dbf4 table, and creating a shapefile from it. (Also going the other way -- pulling a spreadsheet out of a shapefile.)
2. We discussed Paste Special in Excel --
Formatting columns on the spreadsheet and ensuring it makes it over to the shapefile attribute table.
3. Finding and dealing with field properties, once you get it to ArcView.
4. We discussed the importance of Chapter 11 in dealing with the toolbox for dissolving and clipping files. Also tools for buffering and finding union; and figuring out how to create a polygon for where the net actually dragged along the bottom collecting specimens.
What works best --
You get busy creating a map, you come up with problems, and you get them worked out in class. This won't work if you haven't tried to do something ahead of time because you don't know what your hangups are going to be.
John is a perfect example; he had several hangups, we worked through them and made many discoveries along the way.
Examples:
How to represent fish counts in symbology.
Why is your shapefile showing up in Sacramento (x-y data was coming up in Albers meters instead of decimal degrees.)
What should the attribute table look like -- like the examples in your files.
But then how do you tell a story using the symbology -- that is the key to everything.
My quandary:
I want to make a pie chart showing the proportion of fish of a given species in the various size classes. If there are a lot of small fish, that will be a big piece of pie. Maybe I have a lot of big ones and a lot of small ones but not many in between. Maybe a histogram would show this better.
To do this right you have to come to class. You have to have examples of what you're trying to do and why it's not working and we need to get everybody's ideas dealing with it. Like on the midterm -- it was easy to see where somebody made a mistake because it plotted out when we put them together. Or the one misspelled file that worked correctly stuck out because of the misspelling.
Anybody interested in doing a trawl station Monday morning? It's a full four hour cruise with 10 minute research trawl; starts at 0730. Let me know by Sunday afternoon. |
Mark Howe
Moderator
Username: unclemark
Post Number: 367
Registered: 08-2003
| | Posted on Friday, March 21, 2008 - 06:17 pm: |
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For next week, besides catching up on the old labs and assignments, you will need to have your fish data in shapefile format. I recommend you cut and paste this from the fish name list.
Once you have created a spreadsheet, you will need to bring it into ArcView and create an x-y data shapefile.
John had the following problems; we must figure out how to deal with them.
I seem to be having a little difficulty. Exercise 6c, pg 165, calls for one to make a pie graph out of natural resources data, but when I try and follow the directions, the data for the pie graphs doesn't seem to be there even after I reload the data on the Exercise disk.
Does anybody else have this problem?
More problematic, I can't seem to get a Fish data Excel spreadsheet in. Is there a special file type I need to save as?
He only two formats I know of are dbf4 and comma deliminated; CVS. Try pasting the data you want into a brand-new spreadsheet and then save another copy.
Don't forget many ArcView problems are solved by simply doing the same thing again,... and again. |
Mark Howe
Moderator
Username: unclemark
Post Number: 365
Registered: 08-2003
| | Posted on Friday, March 14, 2008 - 10:11 am: |
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Only one student turned in the revised Midterm last night. Only 2 students showed up. So now everybody is missing the Harbor Beach lab. All but one the revised midterm. Everybody the Chapt. 5 assignment; that is a fun one.
Now there is a new assignment that will be difficult without having the lecture explanation. Check the lab section for the printouts. Lab 6 requires getting actual fish data and putting it on a map. The report page explains what has happened, what is to be gained and for ideas about the final project.
I gave Walker the assignment for Arend since he expects they will get together to work on it. Mike, do you have a copy of the fish data from the cruise you went on? Your assignment would be that cruise but which one was it? And how will you get the data?
JP I have your flash drive.
Don't forget to download the assignment from the lab section.
Homework assignment is Ch.6-7. |
Mark Howe
Moderator
Username: unclemark
Post Number: 363
Registered: 08-2003
| | Posted on Friday, March 07, 2008 - 06:05 am: |
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Last night we cleared up some misconceptions re lab 5a. The instructions call for editing the list of bolt names for consistency. Identification is by eyeball. There should be 8 categories.
Everybody is missing the harbor beach lab, 5b.
Homework assignment to turn in next week is Chapter 5 in the GIS text. Continuing assignment is Chapt. 5-7. Print and turn in the maps you create to prove you did the assignment.
Last night we talked about "convert to graphics" and "grouping/ ungrouping" items in the legend.
FL programs Friday and Tuesday. Tuesday is important; research trawl and probe. Call me if you can go.
Midterm exam is in two parts. 10 points for the exam last week and 10 points for a final version which you will turn in next week fixed. Some of you have more fixing to do than others. |
Mark Howe
Moderator
Username: unclemark
Post Number: 362
Registered: 08-2003
| | Posted on Wednesday, February 27, 2008 - 09:34 pm: |
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Tomorrow lab with CostaMesa HS is 0930.
Mike, are you making it tomorrow?
JohnPeter has a problem with it. Koral? Walker? Anybody else?
Call me tomorrow before 9 if you can make it.
Mark W. Howe
949-496-3453
949-525-3914 cell |
Mark Howe
Moderator
Username: unclemark
Post Number: 361
Registered: 08-2003
| | Posted on Tuesday, February 26, 2008 - 06:26 pm: |
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This Thurs is the midterm exam.
What kind of exam would you like?
I'm thinking maybe a short map in class and then a take home map to be turned in next week.
Cruise this Thurs morning.
Turn in part of Lab 5 this Thurs.; any part you wish. |
Mark Howe
Moderator
Username: unclemark
Post Number: 358
Registered: 08-2003
| | Posted on Saturday, February 16, 2008 - 08:02 am: |
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Lab 4 will be due next week. The Valentines Day lab was just to get caught up. And eat cupcakes; thanks Koral.
Intertidal tour is Monday, 1-3; meet at the Ocean Institute. Walk behind the building to where the benches are and look for us. Mike bring your GPS.
Next FL is Tues 9.30-2
Note that the 1st Midterm is coming up so keep practicing the labs. xy data, symbology, editing, exporting data, saving layer files, etc. |
Mark Howe
Moderator
Username: unclemark
Post Number: 355
Registered: 08-2003
| | Posted on Wednesday, February 13, 2008 - 09:05 am: |
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Tomorrow night is Valentines and I know you might be tempted to skip. I promise to keep it short but it is important that you not get behind on the procedures we are doing now. You could even be out by 7.30 and still pick up the info you need. You will have another week on what we started last week so there will be no assignments due.
The Ocean Institute is bending over backwards to tailor their program to give us data we need for our analyses. We will need more of an effort to get out on the boat and participate in this work. You missed two [or three] very good opportunities over the past few days. [We had something like 700 fish to count Mon.] Another one is this Friday; only 2 hrs 9.30-11.30. Please try to schedule for as many as possible [Mike already committed]. The schedule is posted.
Don't forget Monday is the tidepool trip if you can make it. |
Mark Howe
Moderator
Username: unclemark
Post Number: 353
Registered: 08-2003
| | Posted on Monday, February 11, 2008 - 05:31 pm: |
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It wouldn't attach the map because it needed shrinking. I don't know how to shrink it. |
Mark Howe
Moderator
Username: unclemark
Post Number: 352
Registered: 08-2003
| | Posted on Monday, February 11, 2008 - 05:27 pm: |
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I went out on the FL this morning and am attaching the map. But I didn't have any of you as students to learn how it is done.
Next is tomorrow morning. Call me. 0730 and lots of fish to count.
I think MySite is down and there may be some other problems with the computers on campus. Best to call me direct. |
Mark Howe
Moderator
Username: unclemark
Post Number: 348
Registered: 08-2003
| | Posted on Wednesday, January 30, 2008 - 09:21 pm: |
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You should all have gotten your Lab 2 assignment for turning in tomorrow night. Be sure to check if you missed it. Grade is based on appearance as well as adherance to the assignment.
Be prepared to enter your hours spent on GIS/GPS on the spreadsheet tomorrow as well.
I will try to post the lab PRIOR to the evening class so that you can have your thoughts collected in advance. Lab 3 will be posted under labs. |
Mark Howe
Moderator
Username: unclemark
Post Number: 342
Registered: 08-2003
| | Posted on Wednesday, January 23, 2008 - 07:10 pm: |
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For class tomorrow night, be sure to bring your flash stick [flash drive] or blank CD to save your work. Remember, you cannot save anything on the Library computers.
If you are receiving this by email your system is working. If you did not, you need to log onto the board and see if it accepts you. I know you all came thru as registered last week but I can't tell if you are actually accepted as active by the system. [I am also sending you a separate email to get you to check here.]
Please report back any problems you have getting the book and software. Check the archives here for past deals found by students, and pass on any deals you find. |
Mark Howe
Moderator
Username: unclemark
Post Number: 275
Registered: 08-2003
| | Posted on Wednesday, February 28, 2007 - 08:42 pm: |
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To get everything to project in WGS84 [there is essentially no difference with NAD83] :
Tools; Options; Geoprocessing; Environments; General; Output Coordinate system [1st box] - As Specified Below; [2nd box] [page icon] Coordinate System tab - select WGS84; add and ok everything else.
After that everything should come in as WGS84. |
Mark Howe
Moderator
Username: unclemark
Post Number: 274
Registered: 08-2003
| | Posted on Wednesday, February 28, 2007 - 08:33 pm: |
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To get the units in decimal degrees instead of meters:
Go to "Data Frame Properties" [several ways; "View" or on the Data Frame itself]
For "Units" select "display" decimal degrees. |
Mark Howe
Moderator
Username: unclemark
Post Number: 261
Registered: 08-2003
| | Posted on Wednesday, January 24, 2007 - 02:18 pm: |
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Here are some spectacular seafloor perspectives. I am not familiar with the technology used in getting the data, but the results are great. They are availible in Arc compatible format if you can figure out how to manipulate them. We are certainly familiar with that drill.
But you don't need that to look at the pictures.
San Diego Nearshore Habitat Mapping (Click on the Habitat Mapping Link)
http://sccoos.ucsd.edu/nearshore/
Seafloor Mapping Lab at CSU Monterey Bay
http://seafloor.csumb.edu/SFMLwebDATA.htm
USGS Seafloor Mapping Project
http://walrus.wr.usgs.gov/pacmaps/ |
Mark Howe
Moderator
Username: unclemark
Post Number: 257
Registered: 08-2003
| | Posted on Friday, January 12, 2007 - 08:23 am: |
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Had a wonderful first GIS Marine Ecology class last night. Brought back memories of my days on the floating lab and I decided to present copies of my historic booklet from that period to members of this inaugural class if it goes. This is particularly appropriate because one of the projects of the class is going out on the present day floating lab collecting fish, inverts and data.
There are presently 6 enrolled with 2 more promised and Marine Ecology meeting today with those possibilities. I have written much to the college and threatened dire consequences if they cancel the class [actually I have been pretty hot about canceling marine science tech classes period]. We shall see what happens next week.
If you want to get in on this opportunity; remember, this is the first time this class or anything like it has ever been offered at Saddleback and maybe anywhere, enroll immediately. Call me for an add code: 949-496-3453. |
Mark Howe
Moderator
Username: Unclemark
Post Number: 249
Registered: 08-2003
| | Posted on Saturday, November 18, 2006 - 07:42 am: |
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I have now posted the course outline here.
Notice that the recommended text is the same one used in the Marine Biology class which is being offered this Spring for the first time in a while I think.
Also MarineBio is not being taught by the same instructor that gave some of you some problems in the past. It is offered as EnvSci 19 and is the required option for the MST Certificate.
Hope lots of you are able to handle a busy Marine Science Spring 2007. |
Mark Howe
Moderator
Username: Unclemark
Post Number: 219
Registered: 08-2003
| | Posted on Monday, July 03, 2006 - 04:32 pm: |
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The number of the Spring class is MST 219. MST is MarineScienceTech.
The number for the Fall class is GIS 110 or GEOG 110. Its the same class, offered in either department; GIS or Geography.
I have hinted that taking a course in Oceanography would be helpful; also there are some classic books you can read.
Everybody should read Between Pacific Tides by Doc Ricketts, made famous by John Steinbeck in Cannery Row and Sweet Thursday [or was it Tuesday?]. Another local gem is the MacGinitie's Natural History of Marine Animals. [They worked out the Kirkhoff Marine Lab in Newport harbor; the funny Caltech building on the right as you enter Balboa bay] These will be a challenge to find, maybe, but well worth passing on to your grandchildren.
While I'm on the subject, Oceanography and Seamanship, by William Van Dorn [Scripps Inst.] is a classic every academically inclined sailor should own. This book is much more the physical aspects of oceanography than the biological and will have less to do with the ecology class, however.
Lastly but importantly: the Saddleback bookstore sells the GIS text and program discs for a lot more than Amazon. Shop around and let us all know what deals you find. The program is called Getting To Know GIS and is generally referred to as the GTK book. List is $70 but Amazon may be less than $50. ESRI is the publisher and 9.1 is the current edition. 9.0 may still be the only GTK available however.
Good questions; keep them coming. I'm heading north but will be checking the board regularly. |
Mark Howe
Moderator
Username: Unclemark
Post Number: 216
Registered: 08-2003
| | Posted on Tuesday, June 20, 2006 - 03:57 pm: |
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This GIS based Marine Ecological Survey course is slated for Spring semester. It will involve using GIS software to build databases to study the mechanisms which determine where various populations of critters are in the ocean. I predict that these kinds of skills will practically guarantee you employment in Marine Science Technology. This is because the tools are so incredibly powerfull and so few workers are able to put the field marine biology together spatially on a map.
What you will be able to do [and be required to demonstrate during the semester] is to study selected populations of species such as fish over an area from Laguna to San Clemente. You will show their locations and abundance together with the environmental factors that make up their ecology. This will include items like food, temperature, and seawater chemistry. Then, by putting these data graphically on a map, you will be able to make research based determinations as to why they are where they are and not other places.
I have previously stated that using Marine GIS technology we can go to any given place in the ocean and be able to say precisely what critters live there and what they have to eat and what the conditions are. From this information we can then come up with ideas about why they are there and what they 'like'.
It is highly recommended that you have a working knowledge of GIS technology prior to getting involved in the survey work on the floating labs [we will be using the Ocean Institute vessels as well as our own]. This Fall semester I will be shepherding all who are interested through the Saddleback GIS course with the view of applying it to Marine GIS in the field. If you are interested, let me know and sign up for GIS 110 on Monday nights; 7-10. The transition to the seagoing portion of the class in the Spring should then be seamless.
If you have previously taken oceanography or marine biology/ ecology classes you will be very well prepared indeed.
I am very much looking forward to this exciting opportunity and will be delighted to explain and demonstrate in much greater detail to anyone interested. |
April Floating Lab GIS opportunities