25 July, 2002

Survery...........

Today, Dr. Baker and Kendra took the GPR equipment to help a couple REU students work on their research projects. Therefor, the epuipment was not available to be used on my project. Not to worry, there was still plenty of other work to be done.

Darren Bake, and REU student from the University of Missouri at Kansas City, and myself gathered up the survey equipment and headed back to the site where we were collecting GPR data on Tuesday. Dr. Baker wanted survey points in the grid that we gathered radar data on . He will use this data to create a surface map. This map will be compared to similar data collected last year. The map will also be used as a reference for the GPR data collected so that levels flow deposits and buried ice can be correlated to the surface topography.

This area is very interesting as it is very active. It sits right at the edge of a section of the terminal moraine of the glacier, and is known to have buried ice beneath the surface. As the ice melts out, the surface topography changes. Do to itıs location, this area also experiences periodic surges from the glacial ice which also changes the topography.

The grid area sample was 20m x 30m, and survey data was collected every 2m on the grid. If you are quick with math, you will see that we collected 150 points of data. We also collected many points outside of the area as well that will correspond to GPR data collected in that area.

One problem Darren and I encountered is that the survey pole was marked for use with English Standard units. Instead of attempting to do the conversions into metric in the field, we went ahead and collected the measurements in feet and inches and then converted it all to meters once we returned to camp (where we had a handy calculator).

Below, you will find a picture and description of the survey area.

Life Is Good,

DT

Collecting elevation data for an area where GPR data had been previously collected. The flags are placed at 2m intervals and represent data collection points. Notice the terminal moraine in the background, and then the glacier behind that.