Day 19

Another productive day, although my brain shuts down post 8 p.m. No worries though, I am on track with everything I need to do. Today I covered the remainder of the north side of the valley, collecting GPS points of fences, cattle guards, cattle, and of course, erosion patches. The ones I saw today were much larger than in the back of the valley. I was amazed at how many appear to be along road cuts.

My classification is going well. My ground points match up nearly perfectly with my eCognition classification. I am really getting excited about my results. Dr. Lee looked over my project proposal and he thinks I am on the right track, so that certainly means I can breath easier. 

I was exploring the imagery tonight and noticed a large, eroded line along the top of one of the ridges. If I want to strengthen my argument that these erosion features are human or cattle induced, I’ve got to see what is causing that patch that I can see in the imagery. This may mean a long and strenuous hike, but it’s all in the name of collecting solid data.

Unexplained erosion

Jeff Williams, of Williams Aerospace made it out to fly today, and the professors also had good luck with their test flights. Even though I don’t know too much of the technology that goes into the drones and UAV’s, it is still always interesting to watch.

Everyday here is better than the last. Tomorrow we get to celebrate yet another birthday, this time Cole, who will turn 22. Sunday is a much-anticipated day off, plans TBD.

I am continuously blown away by how well we get along and how much knowledge is still being shared among the students. We are all still learning everyday, which is of course a good thing!

Still not tired of this view