Introducing Electronic Mapping Tools in a Geology Field Camp and a Research-Based Geology Curriculum

包括全球定位系统(GPS)和激光测距设备在内的电子测绘工具有望给地质测绘带来革命性的变化。我们的项目将让野战营地和校园里的学生熟悉这种设备的工作，并允许他们发展对地质的新见解，这是这种设备的精度和数据管理能力所允许的。影响最大的将是我们为期六周的野战营地，在落基山脉授课。GPS最适合支持我们的传统测绘工作，并将用于在几个多天项目中定位点和记录数据。激光测距仪与GPS相结合，提供了一种快速、准确的小范围地形和地质测绘方法。当全站仪配合适当的测量技术使用时，可以提供更高的精度，但需要更多的时间。通过在几个项目中同时使用全站仪和测距仪，学生将获得有关每种工具的功能和局限性的实践经验。作为我们项目的结果，学生们将能够为他们的任务选择合适的工具，了解工具的工作原理，在现场环境中有效地使用工具。在我们15年的野外教学夏令营中，我们发现了许多这些工具非常适合解决的现场问题，我们很高兴看到结果。我们已经能够使用GPS进行试点工作，因此拥有设计有效项目的经验。我们系有一个成功的理念，就是让我们所有的仪器都能供各级学生使用。因此，该设备还将支持校园内课程和学生研究项目的创新，从初级学生绘制地形图到高年级学生在当地喷发矿藏精确测绘的基础上开发新的研究项目。

Electronic mapping tools, including global positioning system (GPS) and laser ranging equipment, promise to revolutionize geological mapping. Our project will give students in our field camp and on campus a working familiarity with this equipment, and allow them to develop new insights into geology that the precision and data-managing capability of this equipment allow. The largest impact will be in our six-week field camp, taught in the Rockies. GPS is best suited to support our traditional mapping exercises, and will be used to locate points and log data in several multiple day projects. Laser rangefinders, coupled with GPS, provide a means of fast and accurate detailed topographic and geologic mapping of small areas. Total stations, when used with proper surveying techniques, provide even higher accuracy, at a cost of more time. By using both a total station and a rangefinder in several projects, students will develop practical experience with the capabilities and the limitations of each tool. As a result of our project, students will be able to select the appropriate tool for their task, understand the principles on which the tools operate, use the instruments effectively in a field setting. In our 15 years of teaching field camp, we have uncovered a number of field problems that these tools are well suited to address, and we are excited to see the results. We have been able to pilot work with GPS, and thus have the experience to design effective projects. Our Department has a successful philosophy of making all of our instrumentation available to students at all levels. Thus this equipment will also support innovations in courses and student research projects on campus ranging from introductory students creating topographic maps to seniors developing new research projects based on precise mapping of local outwash deposits.