First day of field work

Today was our first real day of field work. We started out the day by defining our data dictionaries for our respective groups, which would allow us to enter GPS data into the Trimbles in the field in an organized way. Basically, we were creating features and attributes that could be easily integrated into ArcMap. After doing this, we headed out to Kualoa Ranch and drove into the valley. Before we set out, we received a crash course in how to operate the Trimble units- they were really cool. They run windows mobile OS and are full touchscreens, accurate to less than 1m after post-processing, and were pretty intuitive. We had no defined plan on how to tackle the mapping, other than me and Gordon were responsible for hydrologic features. We started out with the geological group and mapped a visible water tower both for the hydrologic value and to georeference the data easily against aerial photos. Then we broke off from geology and headed along the south side of the watershed.

We soon saw our first obvious tributary and headed up to try and check it out. We quickly noticed the incredible density of the vegetation growing along the ephemeral stream channel, but luckily there was what appeared to be a hiking trail traversing the south wall of the watershed, about 200 ft above sea level. We took a point at the intersection of the drainage and the trail, and continued west. Each time we crossed a channel that was well defined, we took a point. Most of them had no water in them, but it was obvious they ran every time it rained, and given the nature of the soils and geology, I wasn’t surprised. We decided to stop for lunch at this strange move prop that was reminiscent of an Aztec sacrificial shrine, mainly because it provided a nice vantage point to get a better grasp on the topography.

View from the "Temple"

Later that evening, we found out it was for a low budget syfy channel flick called Tyrannosaurus Azteca, and I chuckled when I remembered how ridiculous that movie was.

After about two hours of hiking and recording, we were approaching the back side of the watershed, and realized it was time to head back home.

Hala Tree

When we got back to the ranch, we had some free time and decided to go to the beach and relax. The water was incredible as usual, and i had some fun tossing a frisbee around in the shallows, laying out without having to worry about hitting the ground.

After about an hour, we went back to the ranch and learned how to dump the data off our Trimbles. Given that we only had one short day of data, the rest of the day was pretty much wide open to chill, and I honed my pool skills for a while before settling down for some sleep.