The Nomad goes on a fossil hunt!
Recently, three colleges converged in western Nevada for four days of field paleontology. Over thirty students participated in a series of field tasks that represented different kinds of field scientific work. The tasks ranged from classic description to modern collection techniques. For the latter, the students mapped a trilobite-rich area using a Nomad computer and SX Blue II sub-meter GPS from Walcott Scientific.
Students found the gear not too cumbersome to wear and use in the field.
Trilobites are extinct arthropods, related to modern insects, crabs, and lobsters. In the Cambrian period, about 500 million years ago, they ruled the seas. Deep water deposits of that age are rich in trilobite fossils. The field exercise was carried out in Esmeralda County, Nevada in glorious weather. The students divided into teams of four members and each team had a guide to the common trilobites. Then, they students scurried about the hills looking for fossil-rich zones. When they found a particularly rich area, the students logged their location with an SX Blue II sub-meter GPS that communicated to a TDS Nomad via Bluetooth.
Nevadia weeksi, common trilobite in the lower field area.
Data was collected as a point-based shape file in ArcPad, set against a topographic map downloaded from a state of Nevada GIS website. In addition to the location information, the students listed the dominant fossil genus and estimated the age. Both the Nomad and GPS worked without a hitch and there was plenty of battery life at the end of the project.
Back at the college, the data was transferred to MapWindow GIS and sent via Shape2Earth to GoogleEarth as a .kml file. This process took less then five minutes. Each student was then e-mailed the .kml file so they could see for themselves just how the fossil bugs were distributed in the field area.
This assignment, and similar ones I have done with my courses, really shows the students both how easy it is to collect data in the field, and how GIS adds value to a project. The Nomad proved an excellent tool in the Nevada desert with the bright screen and rugged design. While many researchers still use tablets and PCs in the field, the use of small PDA data collectors is more efficient on cost, weight, and battery life.
Tags: GIS, GPS, hardware, Mapping
You can comment below, or link to this permanent URL from your own site.
