tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-79248501789754873082024-03-13T19:26:15.497-07:00myObservationsKtChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15309421836316978611noreply@blogger.comBlogger24125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7924850178975487308.post-84943702059337151902016-11-01T17:16:00.000-07:002016-11-01T19:02:10.144-07:00A Data Management Platform for Supporting Multi-Stakeholder Partnerships in Citizen Science<div class="MsoNormal">
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A recent publication by the General Administration Office
(GAO) (<a href="http://www.gao.gov/assets/690/680425.pdf" target="_blank"><span style="background: white; color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Open Innovation
Practice to Engage Citizens and Effectively Implement Federal Initiatives</span></a>)
sends an important message to Citizen Science (CS) organizations: public agencies
will soon be knocking at your door, seeking to partner up with your organization,
motivated by the need to achieve greater impact by enlisting CS enthusiasm, knowledge
and resources. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Such partnering opportunities face significant challenges,
driven by differences inorganizational cultures, both technical (e.g., reaching
agreements on protocols) and administrative (e.g., project scheduling and
reporting). Assuming that a common vision and an action plan are in place would
leave the protagonists with worrying about the tools that would make the
partnership work. Since the most valuable outcome of the partnership is data
(and the knowledge that comes with it), it is obvious that a system for
managing data is key for success. To
address this challenge, we at myObservatory offer a solution that combines the
myObservatory Environmental Information Management System (EIMS) with an
Enterprise Manager (EM), or in short myO/EM.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The vision that guided us at myObservatory
(myObservatory.org) in developing myO/EM led to this outcome: <o:p></o:p></div>
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(1) myO/EM allows the partners to pursue a well-defined set
of common-core, coordinated activities, and at the same time, and in addition, allow
each of the partners to pursue their particular agenda. <o:p></o:p></div>
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(2) myO/EM maintains the highest professional standards in
all aspects of the data acquisition process, including field data acquisition,
documentation and quality assurance, reporting, integrity of the data base and
compliance with data management requirements set by relevant public agencies. <o:p></o:p></div>
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myObservatory is documented extensively at
myobservatory.org. So I will focus here more on the EM component. myO/EM is
designed to face the challenges of a multi-stakeholder collaboration by
supporting common-core activities while at the same time enabling each of the partners
to pursue their own programs. Using the EM component, the group coordinator can
manage projects and members; disseminate instructional material and guidelines;
assimilate authorized data from the common core areas and analyze it using
statistical and graphical tools; set standards for all common activities
starting from field methods all the way to data labeling; create and share
forms; monitor compliance of partners with set project guidelines; devise and
implement quality assurance measures; generate reports; analyze trends and set
alerts; and manage compliance with data management guidelines that could be
mandated by funded projects.<o:p></o:p></div>
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myO/EM controls who can do what and when with any subset of
the data following user-provided guidelines. It queries questionable data
entries. It maintains the integrity of the database (including chain of
custody, keeping records of edits and reversing unwarranted changes. And it
also makes sure that data does not go out the door as people come and go. It
maintains professional backups.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Quality assurance (QA) is at the heart of any project, and particularly
so when facing a broad diversity in user skills. There are several types of
errors that we cover in myO/EM: grammatical errors, physical plausibility
errors, and out of range errors.
Grammatical errors mean, for example, writing 1.a3 instead of 1.03. QA
means catching this error and alerting the parties entering the data and those
managing it. Errors in physical plausibility means entering values outside of
the range of acceptable values for a certain parameter. This could mean, for
example, entering 17 for pH or a negative value for rainfall. Identifying data
that’s out of range means identifying trends in data and detecting data entries
that could be potentially, out of range, but could also be real. When you have
multiple organizations involved, a trickle of data entry errors could become an
avalanche, so it must be controlled at the source. Questionable data entries
must be identified at the source. The myO/EM platform has built-in automated QA
analytical tools that would flag questionable data as soon as it is entered.
This has significant cost savings: you do not want an army of data checkers poring
over data the days before a major report is due, scrambling to come up with
corrections. <o:p></o:p></div>
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myO/EM assists users with implementing new functionality
that could be used by the entire community of partners. This could include, for
example, selecting technological solutions (on both the software and hardware
sides). Technologies, whether developed in-house or imported, could be managed
through myO/EM. A technology platform that is commonly used opens the door for negotiating
favorable arrangements with external suppliers, anywhere from purchasing
sensors to developing solutions for managing legacy data. <o:p></o:p></div>
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In addition to supporting the common-core activities, the myO/EM
tools mentioned above are also available to support the partners’ independent activities
residing outside of the common core. For example, there could be a set of forms
that could be used by all partners in support of common-core activities, and there
could be others that are owned and used by any subset of the partners, one or
more, with or without sharing. The independent and common-core work areas are
firewalled. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Let us not forget what motivates such partnership: it is the
large-scale data acquisition, and this means mobility and diversity of data
acquisition modes. myO/EM supports a variety of data entry modes: manually, by
sensors, using mobile devices, data files (spreadsheets, pictures, documents) uploads
and direct lab feeds.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Finally, there is the issue of customization. No two
projects are the same. There is always a need to customize the EIMS for the
particular needs of a project. And that could easily be done with myO/EM. <o:p></o:p></div>
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To summarize, myO/EM is a hybrid information management
system that allows the partners to work together in the common core and separately
and independently outside of the common core. <o:p></o:p></div>
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myO/EM is now available. Visit our site (myobservatory.org)
or send me a note (<a href="mailto:yoram.rubin@webh2o.net">yoram.rubin@webh2o.net)</a>.
And, as a reminder, the single organization version of myObservatory is
available for free for any non-profit CS. You can sign up on our website. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13135004135178156863noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7924850178975487308.post-59618311592636447712016-08-07T09:46:00.000-07:002016-08-09T17:53:15.694-07:00Challenges with Precision Agriculture: Finding the Balance Between Big Data and Local Conditions<div class="MsoNormal">
Precision Agriculture (PA) is playing a major role in
modernizing agriculture. PA usually means some sort of automated data
collection (usually using sensors), often followed by an analysis (usually
referred to as data mining) that rely on the historical data from multiple
sites/farms. This analysis serves two goals: it provides manufacturers with
better insight into their products, and it is also translated into
recommendations. There is increasing need for farms to be as productive as
possible, while also minimizing and mitigating any environmental impact of
operations. Data mining, however, usually implies averages and correlations.
Can these serve the goals stated above? There is a long history to prove the
value of large-scale data mining, but it comes with a challenge. Although
intended to do so, PA does not meet all the data needs of individual farms. There
is a gap between multi-site data mining, on one hand, and local (farm-scale) data
needs, on the other. Farming is much more than large-scale averages and
correlations. Experienced farmers often have a “feel” for their land, which is
difficult to translate into hard data that’s specific to a local site. It is
said that “all politics is local”, and so is farming. Thus, data must be
acquired and recommendations must be made based off of local farm scale data.
Ideally, PA and local data can be coupled and complement each other in order to
produce site-specific recommendations. <o:p></o:p><br />
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The global trends identified from data mining are important
and helpful, but they neither intend nor are capable of addressing all the
farm-scale challenges. This is a
well-known challenge in all large-sample statistics (from studies of human
populations to spatial and environmental data): large-scale trends do not
provide local-scale answers. For example in medicine, large scale pharmaceutical
trials are obviously very important when considering population health, but
they won’t tell you about the response of a particular individual to the proposed
treatment. As a patient, you obviously care about the local-scale response, not
just population averages. Similarly,
fish do not die of large-scale averages. <b><o:p></o:p></b><br />
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There is more to farming than a sensor in some soil. Farmers
have their own ideas about what data to collect, where to collect it, and how
to figure out which data is most useful.
This is true in many branches of agriculture. We can find an example for
this challenge in an article by Noel Magnin, an agriculture expert, who commented
on a well-known behavior in vineyards (LinkedIn, February 9, 2016): “Quality in wine grapes is due to some water
constraint during the last steps of fruit maturation associated among other
things with secondary metabolites production. Grape quality leads to
wine quality and the best vintages occurred when water constraint is present
and obviously when the maturation stages just before fruit collection have seen
little to no rain. <b>However, there are
within vineyards locations where</b> fruit quality never reaches a level high
enough to result in high quality wine”. So, one can look at average crop
quality parameters, trying to provide some general fixes, but it is the problem
locations, where the soil becomes saturated at critical times, that would make
the difference between poor, medium, and high quality grapes. You need to know
where the trouble spots are, and large-scale averages won’t tell you that. <b><o:p></o:p></b><br />
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Similarly, when managing cattle grazing operations, one can
use some industry-based averages about grazing times and non-grazing intervals,
but it would be more beneficial to modify these averages to reflect local
conditions. Data mining provides good prior knowledge, but that prior knowledge
must be updated by local conditions. This means reconciling between prior
knowledge (the averages) on one hand, and site-specific evidence on the other. To
do that, farmers need to explore the history of their farming operations in
pictures, notes, sensor data, lab data and more, all dated and geo-referenced -
and they should be able to explore that data with ease. This is, of course, not
a new idea. What’s missing, however, are the tools that will allow farmers to
do that. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Let’s take a look at a few examples.</div>
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<span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">1. </span><b style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Data at your fingertips</b></div>
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/--t69MoK-Z4M/V6de4K2e2NI/AAAAAAAABUc/x4hr6p2MQ_QazjdTbFqKfBjnEHhRxGiXwCLcB/s1600/final1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="326" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/--t69MoK-Z4M/V6de4K2e2NI/AAAAAAAABUc/x4hr6p2MQ_QazjdTbFqKfBjnEHhRxGiXwCLcB/s640/final1.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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What we have here is an example on how data could
be organized in myObservatory, a web-based information management and analysis
systems. The blue areas are hand-drawn shapes representing
parcels/blocks/paddocks of particular interest. Each of these shapes acts as a
container for all related data. This could include pictures, reports, notes,
sensor data, lab reports, etc. This
system provides seamless connectivity between desktop and smartphones. So, for
example, pictures can be taken using smartphones, and these pictures are
automatically uploaded onto the myObservatory platform and automatically linked
to the coordinate where it was taken. Data could be imported from external data
providers for added insight, or data can be fed in by third parties (e.g. from
partnered labs offering soil analysis lab services). Once data has been loaded
or collected, it may be analyzed with statistical analysis and charting tools,
geospatial analysis tools, or shared with selected stakeholders.<o:p></o:p></div>
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All Data are access-controlled. The project
or site admin can assign users an appropriate level of access, anywhere from
public view to adding data only, all the way to read/write privileges for any
or all data and adding new users. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<o:p> </o:p>2<o:p>. </o:p><b style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Timeline</b></div>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-l_38D-9oH_8/V6dfecDfkaI/AAAAAAAABUg/UVwS4wEVBUAP6rjPP-3dBYGwoT3XDC_PgCLcB/s1600/final2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="324" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-l_38D-9oH_8/V6dfecDfkaI/AAAAAAAABUg/UVwS4wEVBUAP6rjPP-3dBYGwoT3XDC_PgCLcB/s640/final2.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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This example (courtesy Peter Traverse, Innisfree Farms,
and myObservatory) shows time lapse photos showing one of the grazing areas in
the farm. Want to know how long your herd grazed here? And how long it took for
recovery to occur? Here it is, ready and available at your fingertips. Want to
add notes? Want to link these images with lab data or with data from your
groundwater wells or rainfall data? You can do it with a click of a button<b style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> <span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: normal;"> </span></b></div>
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<span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">3. </span><b style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Story Viewer</b></div>
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The third example (courtesy Peter Traverse, Innisfree Farms,
and myObservatory) tracks the movements of the herd. Each of the pictures was taken using a smartphone, which automatically geo-tagged and dated them. Once
within transmission range, the picture is uploaded and stored in the farm’s
database, ready and available for analysis. Notes can be added and auxiliary
files may be attached. You do not need a
full-time photographer to take these pictures. You can have all your staff
taking pictures with their smartphones, and then all these pictures would be
automatically assembled and organized by myObservatory. All these pictures
could be easily accessible and searchable by date and location. <o:p></o:p></div>
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In conclusion, farming is local, and farmers need a platform
that will allow them to collect and explore their data with ease. With Story Viewer, Timeline, and with easy
access to data, you are ready to explore your data and make the decisions most
suitable for your farm. For morre information, visit our website at my-observatory.com <o:p></o:p></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13135004135178156863noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7924850178975487308.post-86741350753766007042016-06-28T14:29:00.001-07:002016-06-28T14:51:50.646-07:00Environmental Sustainability is a Multi-Stakeholder Effort Driven by Common Goals, by Information, and by Analysis. How Do We Make it All Work together? <div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">There is a science
that defines sustainability. At times there may also be a legal framework to define
the effort. To make sustainability happen, both the scientific foundation as
well as the legal framework must be accompanied with a community effort.
Community can be defined in many different ways, but what all definitions have
in common is the need to secure diverse modes of participation, to provide a
flexible organizational structure, and to provide a collaborative data
environment that bring all elements together. Without a community behind it,
any goal is difficult to achieve, despite legal or scientific support. In this
short article I will summarize some of our experiences gained from developing a
collaborative data environment called myObservatory (or in
short, mO; see myobservatory.org), and from dialogues with our partners and users. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> Let’s start with community. Communities could vary in membership. A
community may include a few cattle farmers in Argentina, or it could scale up
all the way to national organizations of citizen scientists, like the ASPEA
organization in Portugal <a href="http://myobservatoryblog.blogspot.com/2016/02/projeto-rios-partner-project-of.html">(as discussed here)</a>, which monitors the health of the national river network with tens of thousands
of kilometers and thousands of volunteers. Community can even be a global
organization that supports sustainable agriculture like Savory Global. Communities both large and small need advanced collaboration tools. The level
of sophistication should not depend on the scale of the institute. This is what
guided our thinking in designing our collaborative data environment.
<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">How do we make communities, small or large, work together? There
may be different factors to consider. Obviously, a compelling vision is needed
in order to attract participation and to maintain enthusiasm. To translate this into action, a
collaborative data environment is needed, one that would allow the community to
translate motivation into tangible products, and to do so, (1) it must provide
the organization with flexibility in defining and accommodating user roles; (2)
it must accommodate multiple and diverse modes of data entry, and (3) it should
be able to maintain the credibility and integrity of the data collected, and
(4) it should allow users to generate meaningful and exciting content. It must
also be easy and pleasant to use, otherwise the tools themselves serve as a
barrier to achieving the goal. Let’s take a look at some of these
elements. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">User Roles. </span></b><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">A collaborative data environment needs
to accommodate a wide range of roles, such as administrators, technicians,
consultants, citizen scientists, analysts, observers, and possibly others. A
user role is not just a title. A user is defined by data access privileges, and
by the options to create content and provide guidelines. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Occasional users, outside of the core group of committed
users, should also be accommodated. We would like to have a core group of professionals
and volunteers, providing support on a regular basis. But we should also
appreciate the occasional visitors who may want to inspect our work or make
occasional contributions. This is
especially true when reports on hazards or special events are welcome and
encouraged. People with smartphones could provide a huge source of actionable
information, especially when immediate action is warranted. Imagine a user
taking a picture of some environmental hazard using a smartphone, which,
geotagged and dated, is then immediately wired to immediately become a part of
the database and a GIS display, and generating some sort of response. This accessibility
empowers communities to take charge over their environment, and could keep the
entire group fired up and motivated. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Collaborative efforts in support of environmental sustainability
operate in a multi-stakeholder environment. This requires careful planning. I
mentioned already the strict user access controls intended, among other things,
to protect privacy of data. Operating of the data environment by a private
entity which is not subject to Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) could be very
important, as many stakeholders may be willing to share data under limiting
conditions that cannot be met by government agencies, thus preventing the fear
of bad publicity from deterring remediation efforts. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We also realized that not all of those who wish to use data as
participants are equally motivated. What we found, however, is that in some cases
users could be enticed to participate and become full-fledged contributors by being
able to benefit from the collaborative data environment in ways that may be indirectly
related to sustainability. Drawing from
our experience in a project focused on sustainable management of a groundwater
basin in California, for example: here the list of stakeholders included state
and local water agencies, as well as private well-owners and volunteers. Private well owners proved to be a challenge,
as they are not required, by California law, to provide data on their wells. However,
we managed to make some progress here by providing benefits that are directly
related to groundwater such as updates and alerts related to regional and local
trends in groundwater levels. Additionally, we provided access to agriculture related
functions that are indirectly related to groundwater (e.g., degree-days needed
for pesticide management, tools for analysis of pumping tests). For this, we
implemented a wide range of analytical and scientific tools, all mounted on a
GIS platform. For example, consider this image which provides a snapshot of groundwater
levels and flow directions at the Sonoma Creek Groundwater aquifer in
California. This map is generated in
real-time from data provided by all the stakeholders. The green dots represent groundwater
state-owned monitoring wells. The blue lines represent groundwater levels and
the red arrows mark flow directions. Looking at consecutive snapshots like
this, one could draw conclusions about trends. Well owners are particularly
worried about the water level falling below critical elevations required by
their pumps. Addressing this and similar concerns could be very useful in
attracting participation. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Multiple Data Entry
Modes. </span></b><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Flexibility in
defining metrics for sustainability requires having multiple modes of data
entry. This could include manual data entry into specially designed forms, file
uploads and sensor feeds. All data should be geo-tagged and dated. Editors
should be allowed to fill in the blanks with any data that is not geo-tagged. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">Smartphones
are particularly useful for connecting with a large number of users in
real-time. In mO, we view the smartphone as a vital component, and to
accommodate it, we created seamless connectivity between smartphones and
desktops. Our smartphone technology allows quick and seamless assimilation of
data. Data transmitted via smartphones includes pictures, notes, and filled-in
forms, and it becomes actionable as soon as it is being transmitted and
displayed, which could take a fraction of a second. For example, in our Natuf
Project in the Middle East, users record information on new environmental hazards
by filling in specially-designated forms and taking notes and pictures. This
information is transmitted and as soon as received it is used to update a
hazard map in real-time. This map is then processed together with a
vulnerability map using a built-in algorithm, producing an updated risk map. This
process is demonstrated in the Figure below. The vulnerability map represents
local conditions (soil, vegetation, water resources, land use, depth to
groundwater, and others). The map at the center represents recorded hazards.
The multicolored icons mark where risk were reported. These icons are
clickable, to reveal all the relevant information. </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">Each icon point contains a description of the pollution hazard and
perhaps even a picture, which can be viewed on top of the risk map to
understand what is causing risk in an area.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The left and center figures
above represent intermediate output maps, generated by interpolation from point
sources of hazard and risk data. These two maps are then processed to produce
the risk map, shown on the right. The risk map updates daily. It is a vital tool for maintaining
the sustainability of the underlying aquifer. This entire process is executed using scientific modules embedded in mO. The complete
user-smartphone-desktop process is shown and discussed <a href="http://myobservatoryblog.blogspot.com/2016/01/myobservatory-mo-for-empowering.html">here</a>. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> <b>Maintaining
Data Integrity. </b>I am not talking here about data quality. This is a
separate issue, which can be addressed in different ways, e.g., by training and
verification. What integrity means is adhering to well-known practices of data
custody. That requires maintaining strict user access controls and maintenance
of a chain of custody. Site
administrators should be given the necessary tools to maintain the integrity of
the data, and required to follow strict data protocols governing data and what
can be done with it.<b><o:p></o:p></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Content and Analytics:
Making Sense of Data. </span></b><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">This is the most rewarding component of the myObservatory collaborative
data platform. Ideally one should just be able to analyze the data as it flows
in, identify trends, generate or receive alerts, communicate with stakeholders,
compare results across regions, identify data needs, and manage volunteers, all
by clicking on an icon (preferably on a map). To make this happen, we
implemented analytical tools that are used universally. We also realize that
different organizations have different needs, and so we have the option to
implement project-specific or even proprietary tools.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Summary</b>. What I presented here is a short summary of an environmental
information management system, tailored for the need of sustainability. It was
developed by a group of engineers, programmers and sustainability experts. It
evolved over many years of experience and user interaction. Give it a try and
let me know what you think so that we could improve our technology. Get in
touch with myObservatory if you need any assistance getting started, or want to
discuss using it as a potential solution to a problem. Or, just post a comment
or a question here!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13135004135178156863noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7924850178975487308.post-47491307081741406402016-05-31T12:42:00.000-07:002016-05-31T12:55:25.883-07:00myObservatory goes to schoolLast week I went and met with eight classes of eighth graders at the Sandwich STEM Academy to introduce them to myObservatory. Later this week and again next week I will be accompanying them on field trips to collect data at two different beaches. Our in-class lesson focused on how to orient yourself with a map and how to interpret photo data.<br />
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-GuTohRCrkYE/V03estPErII/AAAAAAAAALM/UrRIRmDpKHoqiJdcN0WgceUblPoObHPcQCLcB/s1600/Screenshot%2B2016-05-31%2B14.56.33.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="199" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-GuTohRCrkYE/V03estPErII/AAAAAAAAALM/UrRIRmDpKHoqiJdcN0WgceUblPoObHPcQCLcB/s320/Screenshot%2B2016-05-31%2B14.56.33.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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Students were really interested in the map activities. I had them try to locate a landmark on a zoomed in map of our region. I was amazed that more students could not identify their school or the nearby waterway of Scortons Creek. I look forward to using this experience to design a map orientation activity for future students. <br />
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Another myObservatory tool that we used is the newly added "Story Viewer" feature. The story viewer allows you to see a photo on one side and the map location of that photo on the other side. It was especially fun to talk with students about tide using these images. In the example below notice that the map view shows the marsh at low tide. Students observed the empty drainage ditches and sand bars in the creek. And the photo on the left shows the location at high tide where ditches are barely visible. What a fun way to connect ideas!<br />
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The eighth graders were all signed up for a myObservatory account. When we are in the field they will be able to use their own login account to record data from the trip. I am looking forward to spending a few data days at the beach!<br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03627777269685288184noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7924850178975487308.post-36519678085198751152016-05-06T08:21:00.000-07:002016-05-07T10:38:49.711-07:00David Vs. Goliath<div class="MsoNormal">
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<span style="font-size: 18.6667px; line-height: 21.4667px;">In the world of GIS-based data management systems myObservatory is the David. There is a Goliath out there. And they are very good at what they do. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 18.6667px; line-height: 21.4667px;">The other day I was strolling among the booths in a major international conference. I saw Goliath’s booth. There were about 5 sales people there. They were very nice and informative and helpful. But it made me think: who is paying for all this? Obviously, it is the client who pays for this. When you buy Goliath’s product, you pay for a lot of very expensive overhead. We do not have a fancy headquarters. We do not have a network of offices all over the world. We rarely participate in conferences. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 18.6667px; line-height: 21.4667px;">Goliath is extraordinary powerful equipment with a lot of tools in their arsenal. It struck me that many of the tools will only be used by the giants: major corporations, government agencies, etc. We have many of the tools that Goliath has, but not all. The question is, when you purchase from Goliath, do you need to pay for the tools the giants use? For example, when is the last time you used a geostatistical package? In fact, why should you pay for it when there are many geostatistics packages out there that are free (e.g., R has a wonderful geostatistics package). Do you need to pay for the development of expensive, basin-scale hydrological response models that, in all likelihood, you will never use? When you do, will you will need consultants who are already paying for all this or have in-house, proprietary tools?) As an hydrologist, I can assure you, there is no standard, plug-and-play, hydrological model. There is an appropriate time to turn to Goliath, but for a large number of casual GIS users and professionals who work in a specific subject area, Goliath is an overkill. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 18.6667px; line-height: 21.4667px;">So, a few questions to you, our reader:</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 18.6667px; line-height: 21.4667px;">•<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>If you are a professional (teacher, environmentalist, architect, engineer, park ranger, or citizen scientist), and not part of a mega-organization: do you need to pay for Goliath? Desktop users have a variety of free or low-cost tools to choose from for desktop-based data creation, and myObservatory could serve you well for your data sharing, management, and web access needs. myObservatory Mobile could serve you well for in-field data collection.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 18.6667px; line-height: 21.4667px;">•<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>If you are a traveler or an explorer, wishing to document your travel with a nice, very well organized set of GPS-tagged and dated pictures with notes, do you need to pay for Goliath? We could do that for you, for a monthly price of a coffee and doughnut. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 18.6667px; line-height: 21.4667px;">•</span><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="font-size: 18.6667px; line-height: 21.4667px; white-space: pre;"> </span><span style="font-size: 18.6667px; line-height: 21.4667px;">If you wish to visualize your data, see a timeline, or generate charts of your data, do you need Goliath? This is easy to do on myObservatory. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 18.6667px; line-height: 21.4667px;">•<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>If you are a farmer, wanting to document your activities, to archive pictures of your fields so that you can remind yourself how your field looked before and after and over as many years as you have data, do you need to pay for sales offices all over the world? </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 18.6667px; line-height: 21.4667px;">•<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Want to have a seamless mobile-web connectivity? We have it. Why pay for sending sales people to conferences? </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 18.6667px; line-height: 21.4667px;">•<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Need to share data with all your stakeholders with differentiated access privileges? We can do it for you. No need to pay the salary of a CEO and c-suite officers, and of dozens of thought leaders. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 18.6667px; line-height: 21.4667px;">My suggestion: myObservatory is tailored for your world. Pay for the tools you need, at the price you can afford. Really. Check out here: http://www.my-observatory.com/single-project-plans</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 18.6667px; line-height: 21.4667px;">Write to me at yoram.rubin@webh2o.net, and I will convince you we can do all that.. and more. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 18.6667px; line-height: 21.4667px;">And if you managed to read all the way to here: you deserve a shot at our free myObservatory Mobile. Download it and have fun</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 18.6667px; line-height: 21.4667px;">https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/mo-mobile/id1019362592?mt=8</span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13135004135178156863noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7924850178975487308.post-46516896808447207982016-05-03T18:59:00.000-07:002016-05-03T18:59:00.376-07:00Sensor Makers at the FaireThis Saturday I accompanied two students, Cam and Michael, from Sandwich STEM Academy to the Cape Cod Mini Maker Faire at Mashpee High School. It was my first time at the event, now in its third year. I was thoroughly impressed by the number of Makers present and the breadth of their makings. It was great to see our students represent STEM Academy and myObservatory with their Arduino based weather sensors that they are building for the Scortons Creek Project.<br />
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myObservatory purchased the parts for students to build their own sensors. We are using the experience of our first students to create a teaching and learning module on sensors and data collection. I visited STEM Academy four times over the last two months to work with students during engineering class. The two students chosen for this special assignment, Cam and Michael, have thrown themselves into the project whole-heartedly. They work hard during our visits and are interested in how they can help teach other students how to solder and build sensors. They both spent their recent April school vacation soldering and coding to prepare for this Faire. <br />
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Attending Saturday's event was a milestone for the team. The boys brought two built sensors with some minor sketch issues to the Maker Faire. They fixed the original prototype and got it working while they were there. They shared their experience with visitors stopping by their table. They even got to look at code with a fellow Arduino fan. More than anything it was nice to see them blend with all of the other student and adult makers present at the event.<br />
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Over the next few weeks the sensors will be installed out at Scortons Creek where they will start collecting weather data. This data will be uploaded into myObservatory. It will become a part of the shellfish feasibility study that is being done in collaboration with the Sandwich Department of Natural Resources and the STEM Academy. I look forward to sharing myObservatory with the entire 8th grade later in May. Hopefully by then we will have some data collected by sensors built by the students' classmates.<br />
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It is great to watch the process of Michael and Cam's build. Listening to them work together and watching their constructive learning experience is a teachers dream! I feel lucky to have the opportunity to work with such talented and motivated students. I have learned so much from watching them...I almost feel like I could build a sensor myself (*almost*). This is community-based, project-based, inquiry-based learning at its best!<br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03627777269685288184noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7924850178975487308.post-67604727253243482642016-04-25T12:38:00.001-07:002016-04-25T12:38:49.803-07:00Observations of myself: Writer's BlockI have been trying and meaning to blog for the last 20 days...WOW! That really got away from me! For someone with so many thoughts, who regularly manages to post silly photos of her kids and dogs on Facebook, it is amazing to experience writers block. And with each passing day I get farther and farther away from the ideas I meant to blog about. Today is the day to end all that and get back to business.<br />
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It's not that I haven't made any observations. I have. I have been feeling the warmth of spring sunshine on my skin and smelling the first scents of flowering trees and hearing the peals of laughter from two wild boys unrestricted by winter layers. I have been watching the slow march of buds that signals the end of a long a dark winter and the beginning of another summer.<br />
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It's not that I haven't used myObservatory. I have. I collected some great new photo vantage points of Scortons Creek from the middle of the marsh. I worked with students to build Arduino based sensors to install out at Scortons Creek. I contacted several interesting people with interesting projects from all over the country that I met in Nashville. And I continue to collect my own personal data of my yard and my adventures with the aforementioned wild boys. </div>
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So what's my deal?! </div>
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I have been making excuses for 20 days. I am too busy with other work. I want to spend more time with my kids. I hurt my back. My husband had surgery. I need to clean my house.</div>
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-SUbvmmpM2Ys/Vx5v2lb5yiI/AAAAAAAAAJw/hiEVO465CW8-hlGIatuCiH00lc414HbUwCLcB/s1600/IMG_6541.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-SUbvmmpM2Ys/Vx5v2lb5yiI/AAAAAAAAAJw/hiEVO465CW8-hlGIatuCiH00lc414HbUwCLcB/s320/IMG_6541.JPG" width="320" /></a>But the observations of myself that seem most true are just this: It's spring! It's getting too nice to be stuck inside writing on my computer. I needed a break to read a book for fun (yup, that's right I did!) and lay out sunning myself reptilian-style. I have been grinding away the bad weather and cold by working myself harder than ever; I am tired of working. I am not motivated; I am too distracted by the lengthening days and warmer nights. I feel change in the air and could not reconcile what this change means in my own life.</div>
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But now I have come clean. I have admitted to myself that my observations of me are just as important as my observations of the world around me. I'm glad this is over with and I can start writing again! I wanted to feel like coming back to writing was natural and not forced. I needed to give myself a break and let my brain come back around. I did all that. </div>
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Here I am, BEWARE of random data stories and exciting new progress for myObservatory!</div>
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03627777269685288184noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7924850178975487308.post-53492011359945677592016-04-05T08:25:00.001-07:002016-04-05T08:25:53.258-07:00myObservations from Nashville<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-O4vdNDr1YXA/VwPNJhwBytI/AAAAAAAAAIU/bfqAza0bUssQkwD-aokLr_cg_nmyXU9Gg/s1600/IMG_5684.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-O4vdNDr1YXA/VwPNJhwBytI/AAAAAAAAAIU/bfqAza0bUssQkwD-aokLr_cg_nmyXU9Gg/s320/IMG_5684.PNG" width="180" /></a><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-MpCxABvYXLU/VwPCAiCfXDI/AAAAAAAAAHY/oraneYp4TmwOfiZzz4AovedIiWFY-kVrA/s1600/Screenshot%2B2016-04-05%2B09.45.59.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="123" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-MpCxABvYXLU/VwPCAiCfXDI/AAAAAAAAAHY/oraneYp4TmwOfiZzz4AovedIiWFY-kVrA/s200/Screenshot%2B2016-04-05%2B09.45.59.png" width="200" /></a><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-MpCxABvYXLU/VwPCAiCfXDI/AAAAAAAAAHY/oraneYp4TmwOfiZzz4AovedIiWFY-kVrA/s1600/Screenshot%2B2016-04-05%2B09.45.59.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a>The myObservatory mapping and data collection capabilities are great for documenting travel. While traveling to and from Nashville I used the myObservatory app to collect photo data at different locations. Now that I am back home I can view my photo data by location to show my husband and friends the places I've been. Looking at the map view on the desktop version it really hits me how far from home I traveled! It certainly felt like it took a long time to get there and back. It took a whole days travel and a timezone jump to get from Cape Cod, Massachusetts to Nashville, Tennessee. On the way down I drove my car, took a ferry, two flights, and a bus to get to my hotel. On the way back I took a shuttle bus, two flights, a commuter bus, a ride from a friend and drove to get back to my house. <br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-4kQ8Cd2XFv8/VwPNtRutDqI/AAAAAAAAAIo/LsSh0UH5inoWGYibrGkvDaVWBmuviY0AQ/s1600/IMG_5674.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-4kQ8Cd2XFv8/VwPNtRutDqI/AAAAAAAAAIo/LsSh0UH5inoWGYibrGkvDaVWBmuviY0AQ/s200/IMG_5674.JPG" width="150" /></a><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-u-EfsB4esNw/VwPNAUShEiI/AAAAAAAAAIE/xh7UqAd0asIvyEMx52BmreW7TcI8zLRPA/s1600/IMG_5741.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-u-EfsB4esNw/VwPNAUShEiI/AAAAAAAAAIE/xh7UqAd0asIvyEMx52BmreW7TcI8zLRPA/s200/IMG_5741.JPG" width="150" /></a>Some of my favorite data photos from my trip include the views of the Washington monument on the way into Regan International, the sun shining on Ryman Auditorium, my hotel office, and my time spent at the honkey tonk in the District. myObservatory was a great way to organize my travel photos. I will definitely use it again on my next trip!<br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03627777269685288184noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7924850178975487308.post-18202970114492628042016-04-01T16:45:00.000-07:002016-04-01T16:45:34.676-07:00#NSTA16 and all the buzz<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Wow. <br />
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Being surrounded by thousands of like minded science lovers and fellow observers is empowering. I have been trying to take time to process all that I am learning and all that I am sharing with others, but there just aren't enough hours in the day. <br />
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I am so extremely excited about some of the projects that I have made connections with here at #NSTA16. I anticipate lots of great extensions for myObservatory based on the contacts I have made and will continue to pursue. I feel more informed about the current offerings in science education data experiences. Overall it has been an amazing experience.<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-x-1Y9aStCNI/Vv8Hi-p4gBI/AAAAAAAAAHE/iUWqVI6nHykJSAyO42ks1AL5faAI9-bdg/s1600/IMG_5774.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-x-1Y9aStCNI/Vv8Hi-p4gBI/AAAAAAAAAHE/iUWqVI6nHykJSAyO42ks1AL5faAI9-bdg/s200/IMG_5774.JPG" width="150" /></a><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-EkZuXTJNuVc/Vv8HbAy4F_I/AAAAAAAAAG8/1L0erBvBfBoo6-aPtzyVTd_eU1DqE1aqg/s1600/IMG_5717.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-EkZuXTJNuVc/Vv8HbAy4F_I/AAAAAAAAAG8/1L0erBvBfBoo6-aPtzyVTd_eU1DqE1aqg/s200/IMG_5717.JPG" width="200" /></a>But what I haven't been able to do much of is observe. Other than my observations of whose presentation is better or which hotel has the best food, I haven't really been collecting any data. I have never been to Nashville before and thought I would have more time to really explore the area and make observations (see paragraph 1!)<br />
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So here is my last Nashville goal. I will walk the city and record my observations using the myObservatory app. I will experience some of what Nashville has to offer outside of the conference room. Tune back soon for myObservations of Nashville!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03627777269685288184noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7924850178975487308.post-35579419625910490642016-03-18T10:07:00.001-07:002016-03-18T10:07:45.511-07:00Cows behaving badly<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-KEaReAi6Fm4/Vuws0IVOToI/AAAAAAAAAFw/UvRDVeCKvyE9vVk3rJftf8e16TntWBUVw/s1600/IMG_4572.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-KEaReAi6Fm4/Vuws0IVOToI/AAAAAAAAAFw/UvRDVeCKvyE9vVk3rJftf8e16TntWBUVw/s320/IMG_4572.JPG" width="320" /></a>Taking a "vacation" to my father's farm in Virginia I certainly expected to do some work. Life on a farm is work every day, sometimes with projects that were planned but often with unexpected chores that need doing. The start of our visit was all tractor rides and playing in the hay. Then just before we sat down to eat supper one night four cars, including two sheriffs, pulled into the driveway. Word got out as quickly as the cattle. <br />
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Apparently this happens often; cows get out and someone calls the sheriffs department and the sheriff calls the farmer they suspect is missing some animals. But being new to the neighborhood no one had my dad's number so they dropped by instead. After a long southern conversation that included football, food and cattle breeds we went back inside to grab a bite of our own cold supper before heading out. I drew kid duty for the night mission so my husband went with my parents out to walk the fence and try to find the missing beasts. They came back with clarification that the cows had in fact walked right up a gully and under the fence, where the stream had washed out the fence posts. The ladies were nowhere to be found that night.<br />
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When they returned from the reconnaissance mission we spent about an hour discussing strategies and looking at maps of the property. Had I had more time I would have uploaded an elevation map and parcel map to myObservatory desktop. How nice it would have been to know whose yards were possibly being consumed overnight! The plan for the next day was made. Dad was going to buy some electric poly wire, fiberglass stakes, and a solar powered electric fence charger to close in the cows once they were retrieved. Until he returned it was decided that I would stand guard by the gap in the fence to make sure that none of the cows got too far away from their reentry point.<br />
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-V9RqFflQDPc/VuwsfBWY5hI/AAAAAAAAAFs/7e_WV5GqfSsDaBriGDolk2yIKfQUvO7tw/s1600/IMG_4584.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-V9RqFflQDPc/VuwsfBWY5hI/AAAAAAAAAFs/7e_WV5GqfSsDaBriGDolk2yIKfQUvO7tw/s320/IMG_4584.JPG" width="320" /></a>What a morning it was with the fog rolling in and out all around me and the anticipation of seeing the beasts at any moment. I reveled in the solitude of playing sentry. After walking back and forth by the road looking for tracks (of which I only found deer tracks thankfully) I pressed deeper away from the road and into the brush beyond. As I neared the first backyard I looked up from my tracking efforts and saw the black back of one of the escapees. Around her I could see at least three more backs and could hear the contented munching of cows feeding where the grass is greener. Since I was alone and could not see all of them I didn't want to take the chance of spooking them toward the road or away from the fence. I fell back into position in the field and set myself up to be able to see if they left the poor neighbors yard. And I waited for reinforcements.<br />
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Help arrived. My step-mom and I pushed the cows through two different back yards. We waited for dad to come back with the fencing and made sure the gals didn't do any more damage to the neighbors property. The cows must have been anxious to get back to the herd for as soon as dad cut a hole in the fence they went right into the pasture. Fencing projects ensued for the rest of the day to keep them out of the gully. Head counts were completed and all 88 cattle were accounted for. And nothing that was originally on the docket for the day got done. Such is the life of a farmer, and his daughter on vacation.<br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03627777269685288184noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7924850178975487308.post-60440497311575637612016-03-01T12:34:00.002-08:002016-03-01T12:34:48.340-08:00myObservatory is headed to Nashville! #NSTA16I am excited to announce that I will be going to the National Science Teachers Association <a href="http://www.nsta.org/conferences/national.aspx">National Conference in Nashville</a> in one month. I think this will be a great opportunity to show off what myObservatory can do and to find some educators interested in partnering to develop education modules. Over 10,000 K-16 science educators from all over the world participate in this national conference each year. I attended a conference in Boston 8 years ago and am excited to go again. I will be looking at what other education products are offering and talking with teachers about what they want in a teaching and learning tool. But I will also be using our NEW and IMPROVED mobile app to document my journey!<br />
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-0UrLeJ_vzLE/VtXFhiKqtQI/AAAAAAAAAFY/BeEyLazmHV8/s1600/IMG_3748.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-0UrLeJ_vzLE/VtXFhiKqtQI/AAAAAAAAAFY/BeEyLazmHV8/s320/IMG_3748.PNG" width="179" /></a>We are hard at work preparing for this journey...and mobile app testing is number 1! By the end of March (and the start of my conference experience) we will have a new version of the mobile app available in the App Store. We are working to beta test this new app with all of the latest features. I am particularly excited about the map view landing page. Here is a sneak peak. <br />
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I will be traveling from scenic Cape Cod (this is a view of the surrounding area of Cape Cod Community College, where I have my other job!) to historic Nashville. I know very little about Nashville other than some vague notions about the music connections. But instead of going to Nashville to "make it" in country music I am going to Nashville to "make it" in educational product development and marketing. I'm sure someone could write a country song about that. Maybe I'll ask while I'm there.<br />
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If you are a regular follower of this blog you know that I have two small children...who will NOT be coming with me to Nashville. With all the free time I will be plotting my way around Nashville and collecting data about my journey. The mobile app will allow me to organize my trip photos on the map so that I can come back and show the boys all the fun things I saw where I saw them. <br />
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If you want to come along on my journey in real time, follow me on Twitter @KateTCondon <br />
I will also make regular posts to our myObservatory Facebook page. <br />
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Nashville, here we come, with our new app to show the world (or at least the world of science teachers!)<br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03627777269685288184noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7924850178975487308.post-26513637918179432462016-02-24T14:17:00.003-08:002016-02-24T14:17:45.821-08:00Simple functions sometimes have the most value: An interview with Peter Traverse<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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“Sometimes the simple functions have the most value”. If you ask Peter Traverse, a mO power user, what he does he says, "I'm just a farmer.” In talking with him and watching how easily he navigates through the myObservatory environment you quickly realize that he is far more than “just” anything. Peter Traverse is a regenerative agriculture practitioner and entrepreneur. Clients hire him to do agricultural planning for their farms. They rely on his understanding of the complexities of farming paired with his experience in business planning and management. He grew up on a farm in Vermont and integrates that knowledge with modern technology and innovative agricultural practices. He has been working with myObservatory since the beginning and is still involved in product development. For this interview we focused on one question:<br />
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“What features do you use most in myObservatory for agricultural planning?” <br />
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As Peter describes, myObservatory is a powerful platform for experiencing and learning about geospatial data. Here is a typical working stream of how Peter uses mO. First, he navigates to a county GIS website and selects layers to download i.e. parcel data. This parcel data comes as a shapefile with metadata and attributes attached to each parcel polygon. Information in these parcels differs by county but most often includes tax ID number, assessment value, owner name and address, and ALWAYS land area (in acres).<br />
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6ESeBfsQSJc/Vs4kRTc4t0I/AAAAAAAAAE0/YYK---EOBq4/s1600/Screenshot%2B2016-02-23%2B11.21.45.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="147" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6ESeBfsQSJc/Vs4kRTc4t0I/AAAAAAAAAE0/YYK---EOBq4/s200/Screenshot%2B2016-02-23%2B11.21.45.png" width="200" /></a>Peter uses this information to help him create land management plans. Once he downloads the layers from the county he uploads them into myObservatory using the Upload tool. Then he uses Manage myObservatory Data to organize the data layers in the map legend into folders. Other layers he commonly uses for land planning are four foot elevation maps. These maps, created using Lidar (<a href="http://lidar.cr.usgs.gov/">http://lidar.cr.usgs.gov/</a>), have a high level of accuracy. He uses the contour lines on the elevation map to draw out keylines. A keyline is a line segment that follows the contour line from an inflection point in a valley out to the side of a slope. The concept behind keyline plowing is based on the cohesion and adhesion properties of water. By subsurface plowing up and downhill parallel to a keyline the water moves from the valleys to the ridges. This is especially useful in areas that have low precipitation and/or soil types that do not absorb water well. The hot dry summers and red clay of Virginia are a perfect match for keyline plowing. <br />
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Once Peter draws the keyline in myObservatory he then creates a geospatial pdf file to export. This file can be read by a third party app that uses it as a georeferenced base map. With very few steps, Peter is able to take a drawing from myObservatory out into the field and walk or plow the exact keyline that he made. Another feature that Peter uses frequently is the Hand Drawn Shapes tool. He uses this tool to draw line and polygon layers right into myObservatory. This is useful for planning in many ways. It helps provide land area for rotational grazing matrices. It even helps quickly determine how much material to order for fencing projects. Instead of having to go out into the pasture to walk the entire length of the fence Peter is able to use the Measuring tool to gauge the length of fence to be created or repaired. The grazing polygons are also a useful place to store data about that specific place i.e. soil data. The Field Photo Journal function allows Peter to track herd movements, grazing conditions and browse observations and store this data with the field polygon. The power of being able to draw in myObservatory exactly where cattle will be pastured is a compelling reason for any land manager to use myObservatory. <br />
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When I asked Peter what his most important message was for readers he responded as an educator might. “I want people to be able to explore public data, explore their place.” We agree that by providing the public with a means to examine their own data that the possibilities are endless.<br />
If you are a landowner interested in what myObservatory has to offer for you and your land please visit our website and check us out! <a href="http://my-observatory.com/">myObservatory</a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03627777269685288184noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7924850178975487308.post-17096813122154018742016-02-19T08:48:00.000-08:002016-02-19T08:48:58.162-08:00Open Source Based Monitoring of Urban Areas<div style="border-bottom: solid #4F81BD 1.0pt; border: none; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: accent1; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 0in 0in 4.0pt 0in;">
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Robert Schima<sup>1</sup>,
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<sup>1</sup> <span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">UFZ – Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, Department
Monitoring and Exploration Technologies, </span><a href="mailto:robert.schima@ufz.de"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">robert.schima@ufz.de</span></a><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<sup>2</sup> <span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">University of Leipzig, Faculty of Economics and Management, Information
Systems Institute, </span><a href="mailto:tobias.goblirsch@uni-leipzig.de"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">tobias.goblirsch@uni-leipzig.de</span></a><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<sup>3</sup>UFZ - Helmholtz Centre for Environmental
Research, Department of Computational Landscape Ecology, Leipzig, Germany, <span lang="DE"><a href="mailto:christoph.salbach@ufz.de"><span lang="EN-US">christoph.salbach@ufz.de</span></a></span><u><span style="color: blue; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-themecolor: hyperlink;"><o:p></o:p></span></u></div>
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<h1>
<span style="font-size: large;">Motivation</span><o:p></o:p></h1>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The impact of global change,
urbanization and complex interactions between humans and the environment show
different effects on different scales. However, the desire to obtain a better
understanding of ecosystems and process dynamics in nature accentuates the need
for observing these processes in higher temporal and spatial resolutions.
Especially with regard to the process dynamics and heterogeneity of urban
areas, a comprehensive monitoring of these effects remains to be a challenging
issue in the field of environmental research.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Mobile Sensor Integration Platform</span><u><span style="color: blue; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-themecolor: hyperlink;"><o:p></o:p></span></u></h1>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Open source based electronics and
cost-effective sensors are offering a promising approach to explore new
possibilities of mobile data acquisition and innovative strategies and thereby
support a comprehensive ad-hoc monitoring and the capturing of environmental
processes close to real time. </span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: URWPalladioL-Roma;">Accordingly,
our project aims the development of new strategies for mobile data acquisition
and real-time processing of user-specific environmental data, based on a
holistic and integrated process. To this end, the concept of our monitoring
system covers the data collection, data processing and data integration as well
as the data provision within one infrastructure. This ensures a consistent data
stream and a rapid data processing. However, the overarching goal is the
provision of an integrated service instead of lengthy and arduous data
acquisition by hand. Therefore, the system also serves as a data acquisition
assistant and gives guidance during the measurements.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3n0hS_crK48/Vsc_cHAGYaI/AAAAAAAABJE/tS1bUHrLCx4/s1600/idea.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="273" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3n0hS_crK48/Vsc_cHAGYaI/AAAAAAAABJE/tS1bUHrLCx4/s640/idea.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #3d85c6;"><b>Figure <!--[if supportFields]><span
style='mso-ansi-language:EN-US'><span style='mso-element:field-begin'></span><span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>SEQ Figure \* ARABIC <span style='mso-element:
field-separator'></span></span><![endif]-->1</b><!--[if supportFields]><span
style='mso-ansi-language:EN-US'><span style='mso-element:field-end'></span></span><![endif]-->: Basic idea of an holistic monitoring of urban
areas leading into an interactive service oriented data store of gathered
information.<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<h1>
Hands-on Approach<o:p></o:p></h1>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: URWPalladioL-Roma;">In
technical terms, our monitoring system consists of mobile sensor devices, which
can be controlled and managed by a smart phone app (Android). At the moment,
the system is able to acquire temperature and humidity in space (GPS) and time
(real-time clock) as a built in function. In addition, larger system
functionality can be accomplished by adding further sensors for the detection
of e.g. fine dust, methane or dissolved organic compounds. From the IT point of
view, the system includes a smart phone app for initial data processing, data
provision and data visualization. Furthermore, the smart phone app provides an
interface to the powerful engine of myObservatory. Here, the user has full
access to all the data managing and analysis tools provided by myObservatory.
Environmental monitoring and data evaluation have never been more exiting. Feel
free to contact us for more information or additional notes.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-r4nYhgFNWcY/VsdATo_Cj1I/AAAAAAAABJM/fyHcg9bib80/s1600/DSCF5895.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-r4nYhgFNWcY/VsdATo_Cj1I/AAAAAAAABJM/fyHcg9bib80/s320/DSCF5895.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #3d85c6;"><b>Figure <!--[if supportFields]><span style='mso-ansi-language:
EN-US'><span style='mso-element:field-begin'></span><span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>SEQ Figure \* ARABIC <span style='mso-element:
field-separator'></span></span><![endif]-->2</b><!--[if supportFields]><span
style='mso-ansi-language:EN-US'><span style='mso-element:field-end'></span></span><![endif]-->: The whole system is constructed in a modular
way. Little adjustments can be done easily and even under field conditions.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
<h1>
Initial Field Experiments<o:p></o:p></h1>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">In September 2015, an initial city
monitoring based on the mobile monitoring platform was performed by five
independently driving cyclists through the city center of Leipzig (Germany). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_89v8dlfM9Y/VsdB4poCW1I/AAAAAAAABJU/QwibKTobabU/s1600/bike_monitoring.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_89v8dlfM9Y/VsdB4poCW1I/AAAAAAAABJU/QwibKTobabU/s320/bike_monitoring.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #3d85c6;"><b>Figure <!--[if supportFields]><span style='mso-ansi-language:
EN-US'><span style='mso-element:field-begin'></span><span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>SEQ Figure \* ARABIC <span style='mso-element:
field-separator'></span></span><![endif]-->3</b><!--[if supportFields]><span
style='mso-ansi-language:EN-US'><span style='mso-element:field-end'></span></span><![endif]-->: The figure shows the prototype of the sensor
integration platform fixed to a bike rack, ready for an ad-hoc urban
monitoring.</span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">As a result we were able to instantly
show a heat and humidity map of the inner city center as well as an exposure
map for each cyclist. This emphasizes the feasibility and high potential of
open source based monitoring approaches for future investigation in the field
of urban area monitoring, environmental research, citizen science or the
validation of remote sensing data. Below you can see an example of the data
gathered by the mobile sensor integration platform presented and analyzed by
using the tools of myObservatory. Thanks to myObservatory, environmental data
acquisition and evaluation - easy as pie.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-aR7isRkL79U/VsdCv1tBKeI/AAAAAAAABJc/_YFgO2VTbUo/s1600/sampling_points.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="177" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-aR7isRkL79U/VsdCv1tBKeI/AAAAAAAABJc/_YFgO2VTbUo/s320/sampling_points.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #3d85c6;"><b>Figure <!--[if supportFields]><span style='mso-ansi-language:
EN-US'><span style='mso-element:field-begin'></span><span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>SEQ Figure \* ARABIC <span style='mso-element:
field-separator'></span></span><![endif]-->4</b><!--[if supportFields]><span
style='mso-ansi-language:EN-US'><span style='mso-element:field-end'></span></span><![endif]-->: Urban Monitoring by bike. Sampling points of
temperature and humidity measurement based on the mobile sensor integration
platform.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rB1qyuf1alo/VsdC8MPvKbI/AAAAAAAABJg/QL0qvO5jszc/s1600/interpolated.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="177" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rB1qyuf1alo/VsdC8MPvKbI/AAAAAAAABJg/QL0qvO5jszc/s320/interpolated.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #3d85c6;"><b>Figure <!--[if supportFields]><span
style='mso-ansi-language:EN-US'><span style='mso-element:field-begin'></span><span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>SEQ Figure \* ARABIC <span style='mso-element:
field-separator'></span></span><![endif]-->5</b><!--[if supportFields]><span
style='mso-ansi-language:EN-US'><span style='mso-element:field-end'></span></span><![endif]-->: Urban Monitoring by bike. Evaluation of urban
heat conditions based on the mobile sensor integration platform.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">To sum-up:</span><o:p></o:p></h1>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ijT2Pwgcqsw/VsdDPVsuNbI/AAAAAAAABJk/7AFk-rfxNAo/s1600/sensor_platform.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="466" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ijT2Pwgcqsw/VsdDPVsuNbI/AAAAAAAABJk/7AFk-rfxNAo/s640/sensor_platform.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #3d85c6;"><b>Figure <!--[if supportFields]><span style='mso-ansi-language:
EN-US'><span style='mso-element:field-begin'></span><span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>SEQ Figure \* ARABIC <span style='mso-element:
field-separator'></span></span><![endif]-->6</b><!--[if supportFields]><span
style='mso-ansi-language:EN-US'><span style='mso-element:field-end'></span></span><![endif]-->: Overview of the mobile open source based
sensor platform.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13135004135178156863noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7924850178975487308.post-28779894260493798802016-02-10T19:52:00.002-08:002016-02-10T20:13:43.747-08:00Projeto Rios, a partner project of myObservatory<div style="text-align: justify;">
Citizen science is increasingly being recognized as an important new component of environmental monitoring and Projeto Rios (<a href="https://www.blogger.com/www.projectorios.org/" target="blank;">www.projectorios.org</a>) is a project that aims to respond to the lack of an effective involvement of citizens in the problems concerning the deterioration of rivers water bodies ecological status.</div>
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/--yiheNE1Lck/Vrv43iLhTQI/AAAAAAAABIg/HOcefBTRPX8/s1600/Imagem4.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/--yiheNE1Lck/Vrv43iLhTQI/AAAAAAAABIg/HOcefBTRPX8/s320/Imagem4.png" width="276" /></a><br />
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The project results from Projecte Rius, launched in Catalonia by "Associació Habitat for Projecte RIUS Catalunya" in 1997 and, through a protocol established between the Portuguese Association of Environmental Education (<a href="http://aspea.org/v1/index.php" target="blank;">www.aspea.org</a>) and the "Associació Hàbitats for Projecte RIUS Catalunya", was extended to the Portuguese territory in 2006. All interested in being volunteers and actively participate in the national network of <i>Projeto Rios</i> must fill an application form identifying the responsible for the group and the river stretch to adopt. All stakeholders can sign up and participate actively in <i>Projeto Rios</i>: schools, associations, private and public companies, municipalities, scouts groups, third age homes, NGO’s, groups of friends and families.</div>
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Using an experimental scientific method to collect and record environmental data, the groups of <i>Projeto Rios</i> implement an adoption plan of a river stretch of 500 meters that include monitoring activities. Thus, the project pretends to promote a scientific curiosity and an affection for river ecosystems that would lead to a conscious change in the citizens behavior and, consequently, contribute to enrich the knowledge about the river bed and embankments and to eventually support decision making processes with the objective to improve the overall river ecologic status.<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-k0vZw4yQAUg/Vrv_CrQuv1I/AAAAAAAABI8/67zSlOQ4zmo/s1600/Imagem6.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="158" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-k0vZw4yQAUg/Vrv_CrQuv1I/AAAAAAAABI8/67zSlOQ4zmo/s200/Imagem6.png" width="200" /></a>The project provides kits financed by the patrons, which contain files and tools to facilitate the interpretation of fauna, flora and field forms for recording the data of the river ecosystem. These field forms were, so far, available only on paper and did not allow, for that reason, the application of a mechanism to collect and centralize digital data generated by field trips.<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-AtuagfZojmo/Vrv13wEjaTI/AAAAAAAABIE/gWupnRgufzk/s1600/Imagem2.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-AtuagfZojmo/Vrv13wEjaTI/AAAAAAAABIE/gWupnRgufzk/s200/Imagem2.png" width="175" /></a><br />
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The first field visit marks the start of the group activity and, being the first contact with the river stretch, aims to take stock of its main dysfunctions and status, taking into account accessibility and security issues, the monitoring points where, in all future field trips, the monitoring measures will be carried out. During this first approach, the group fills the first field visit form to systematize the knowledge and the needs assessment and thus prepare the subsequent field trips.</div>
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-syI8qpLF3Uk/Vrv1WRxixXI/AAAAAAAABH8/CGMLXY31WDE/s1600/Imagem1.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-syI8qpLF3Uk/Vrv1WRxixXI/AAAAAAAABH8/CGMLXY31WDE/s200/Imagem1.png" width="178" /></a><br />
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After a diagnosis, field visits start to take a much more detailed approach incorporating the analysis of biological, physical-chemical, hydromorphological parameters, biodiversity and data on land use, traditions and cultural and built heritage. Groups should make a minimum of two annual field visits (preferably in spring and autumn).<br />
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The key for a continued citizen involvement is the availability of detailed, relevant and understandable information. Therefore, having myObservatory as a partner, <i>Projeto Rios</i> has managed the developing of the “mO4Rivers” Web Mobile App in order to support a simple and quick data submission process conducting to an easy share of the information and of the knowledge obtained from data analytics processes. The need to develop “mO4Rivers” arises from the difficulties to collect and submit the data and processing it. The centralization of data using the App and myObservatory features will allow the volunteers and managers of the project disseminating the knowledge acquired and to encourage the adoption of more rivers. This will also allow the use of these datasets by researchers, teachers and authorities in an easy, georeferenced and documented way. More about the "mO4Rivers" Web Mobile App in a next post.</div>
Vítorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17785023659117487357noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7924850178975487308.post-9879535057586562472016-01-30T11:01:00.000-08:002016-05-15T07:50:35.118-07:00myObservatory (mO) for Empowering Communities – Part I (Natuf, near Ramallah, Palestinian Authority)<h2>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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Providing tools for communities is an important part of our
vision for mO. Information is power, and
it can be used in useful and creative ways to improve life quality, including
reporting environmental hazards, documenting (and reporting in real-time)
violations of environmental regulations, or monitoring of environmental
resources. In this and in subsequent blogs, I will provide some insights into
projects that tapped into such capabilities. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>The Natuf Experience<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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How did mO get to Natuf? Well, we provided pro-bono support
for a UC Berkeley project, a collaborative effort with Bir-Zeit University. The
project is documented here: <a href="http://www.ce.berkeley.edu/newsletter/977">http://www.ce.berkeley.edu/newsletter/977</a><o:p></o:p></div>
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Jon Sege from UC Berkeley was the prime mover in this
project. He travelled several times to the region, and established a network of
contacts. I traveled there “by proxy”, meaning, looking around through Jon’s
eyes and listening to his stories. To prove my point, here’s a funny story I
heard from him (I cannot vouch for its accuracy). So one day a local branch of
Starbucks was opened in Ramallah, much to the delight of local residents and
ex-pats. People were queuing to get their fill of latte’ and other types of
designer coffees. Then it turned out that this outlet was not an officially-sanctioned
Starbucks, much to the chagrin of the local aficionados.. who decided to
boycott the Starbucks wannabees.. How was this crisis in a cup of coffee resolved?
The coffee outlet changed its name to Stars and Bucks.. and everyone’s happy
again. I hope we have similarly quick resolutions of the other pending issues
in that troubled area.</div>
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OK, back to empowering communities. So there is a detailed
report developed by the joint Bir-Zeit UC Berkeley team. Take a look at it, it
is pretty good (it would be provided upon request, write to me at yoram.rubin at webh2o.net). My favorite part is this figure (see below) that shows how an environmental
hazard is recorded in the field, reported on a mobile app using simple-to-use forms,
and then, with one press on the “Save” button, find its way to the Natuf web
site where it is nicely displayed (geo-tagged, geo-dated, with pictures and notes)<o:p></o:p></div>
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Now, let’s extrapolate a bit. Imagine now dozens of reported
being filed on a given hazard, or a water leak, or a traffic hazard... and a
flag showing how long that hazard has been reported using some sort of a color
code to denote the persistence of the hazard (like green for one day, yellow
for up to one week, and red above that). Now this could translate into some timely
response, right? This approach was not implemented in Natuf, so it is just an idea,
for now. We are waiting for someone to
raise the flag, so to speak (just let us know if you want to give it a try). <o:p></o:p></div>
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<span
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pollution hazards using a smartphone and upload it directly to the site.
The information will be geotagged using coordinates from the smartphone’s
GPS, and will instantly appear on the map in the location where the user
gathered the information. The images above demonstrate the pollution hazard
collection form for the Natuv risk map. While at the pollution site, the
user fills in prescribed data entry fields to collect all necessary information,
and can include notes and pictures taken at the site. The user then submits
these data directly to the map, where the information appears as a
clickable icon.</span><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><span
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ZiXbVbeLc8I/Vq0HDtmszcI/AAAAAAAABHI/wc7H5F7J1qA/s1600/Natuf%2B2.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="552" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ZiXbVbeLc8I/Vq0HDtmszcI/AAAAAAAABHI/wc7H5F7J1qA/s640/Natuf%2B2.PNG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: 11.0pt;">In the field, users can collect information on
pollution hazards using a smartphone and upload it directly to the site. The
information will be geotagged using coordinates from the smartphone’s GPS, and
will instantly appear on the map in the location where the user gathered the
information. The images above demonstrate the pollution hazard collection form
for the Natuv risk map. While at the pollution site, the user fills in
prescribed data entry fields to collect all necessary information, and can
include notes and pictures taken at the site. The user then submits these data
directly to the map, where the information appears as a clickable icon.</span><b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 11pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
</td></tr>
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<br /></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13135004135178156863noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7924850178975487308.post-88875290171933134152016-01-29T14:29:00.000-08:002016-02-03T10:41:35.152-08:00<h2>
Even kids can do it!</h2>
<h3>
An overview of building an atmospheric data logger using Arduino for use with myObservatory</h3>
Recently, it came to my attention that a particularly bright middle school student was interested in sensing the environment and using data loggers. This is a perfect mesh for myObservatory and its capabilities, and indeed we've built Arduino-based data loggers several times in the past. I decided to assemble some basic hardware and write a quick blog post about it, in enough detail that someone could hopefully follow along.<br />
<br />
Some of our past sensors have used SD-card storage and two-row LCD panels, while others have used GSM cellular connections to upload data in realtime. The former has the advantage of long battery life and being feasible to operate on solar power, with the disadvantage of needing to go retrieve your SD card to get your data (and you don't know when the battery has failed). The latter has the great advantage of seeing your data come through in real time, and knowing if there's a problem (due to the sudden lack of a data stream). The disadvantages are two: needing a data plan from a mobile carrier to use it with, and relatively enormous power requirements.<br />
<br />
Thinking about these two approaches, I decided to create a hybrid - merge the idea of an SD card and cellular upload. This would let me record data every 5 minutes and save it to the SD card, then upload via cellular every 12 hours or so, hopefully reducing power requirements. Unfortunately this didn't end up panning out, due to problems with the SIM300 module that I tried to use for cellular connectivity. The final result of this build for the kits I'm sending the student ended up being just SD-card storage, but with an improved user interface leveraging a full-color 1.8" TFT display instead of the original 2-line LCD display.<br />
<br />
So, let's get started! The first step is to assemble all the required equipment:<br />
<br />
<ul><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Eed8NevZq8U/VpwKtLnPgWI/AAAAAAAAAbc/W5f1WRPI-5s/s1600/Assembled%2BEquipment.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Eed8NevZq8U/VpwKtLnPgWI/AAAAAAAAAbc/W5f1WRPI-5s/s320/Assembled%2BEquipment.jpg" width="320" /></a>
<li>Arduino Mega or generic equivalent (Uno is sufficient as well, if you're not doing cellular and TFT together)</li>
<li>Optional: GSM modem shield; I tried Geeetech's SIM900 module in this build, and was unimpressed. The official Arduino GSM shield has worked better for me in the past.</li>
<li>Optional: 2G-capable unlocked SIM card</li>
<li>Adafruit 1.8" 18-bit TFT Shield with MicroSD and Joystick</li>
<li>uxcell Sensitivity Control Temperature Humidity Sensor DHT11</li>
<li>BUD Industries NBF-32018 Plastic ABS Enclosure with Door</li>
<li>Generic 4AA battery holder</li>
<li>DS1307 Real-Time Clock</li>
<li>Battery holder and connector; DC barrel jack connector</li>
<li>Various bits of wire</li>
<li>Soldering iron and solder (and desoldering braid, if you're pessimistic about your soldering skills)</li>
<li>Digital multimeter</li>
</ul>
<br />
I originally selected the Arduino Mega due to it's increased maximum program space of 256k, a requirement for using both the nice TFT display and the cellular modem libraries together. Without the cellular modem, an Arduino Uno (32k program space) is sufficient.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-hP_d8I-gevQ/VpwLLlIe2kI/AAAAAAAAAbo/HKfz3ohdFWs/s1600/Assembled%2BTFT.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-hP_d8I-gevQ/VpwLLlIe2kI/AAAAAAAAAbo/HKfz3ohdFWs/s320/Assembled%2BTFT.jpg" width="320" /></a>Some of the components don't always come entirely "assembled". Frequently, the pins of Arduino shields aren't shipped soldered on, so you just need to break off the desired number from the strip that comes with it, and solder those into place. If you're lazy, you can solder only the pins you need to use, but since you never know what pins might end up getting used by other stacked shields, it's wise to solder them all on - shouldn't be more than a 10 minute job. Remember to use a very hot soldering iron so you can minimize the contact time, and reduce risk of melting anything important. The TFT shield, after soldering on the pins, looks like the image at the left. Be sure to also connect the hidden "Lite" pin to D7, which will enable software control of the TFT backlight so we can turn it off when not in use.<br />
<br />
Next, we can stack the shields onto the Arduino. In the picture shown below, I still have the (faulty?) Geeetech SIM900 module stacked in place. Be sure to align them properly and have them facing the correct direction - look for the pin numbers along the edge of the boards. Next, since we need to be able to tell what time it is when we save our readings, we'll work in an RTC (Real-Time Clock). This is a digital device that communicates over the I2C interface - so it will attach to the SDA and SCL pins. These vary from device to device; on the Arduino Uno, these are A4 and A5 respectively. On Mega, these are digital pins 20 and 21, respectively. These are connected to the RTC breakout via short wire segments that are removable (a theme you'll see throughout my builds). The power lines are connected by soldering to the TFT shield, and the I2C lines connect over to the Mega directly, since the TFT shield doesn't cover all the Mega inputs.<br />
<br />
Next, we need to correct a few pin mapping issues. The Arduino Mega has its SPI interface on pins 50, 51, and 52 instead of the usual 11, 12, and 13 on Uno. So, if you're using an Uno, you can skip this; if using a Mega, we need to connect pins SCK, D1, and D0 to pins 52, 50, and 51 respectively. This is used for digital communication with the SD card portion of the shield; without doing this, the TFT display will work, but not the SD card.<br />
<br />
Lastly, we need to attach a few more wires for the simple atmospheric sensor we'll use in this example. We'll attach two more lines for power - to the "5v" and "GND" - and one for sensor data, on pin 3. The completed assembly looks like these two pictures - again ignore the antenna and GSM card, which was unused in the final mailed-out version.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3KCHyx1IKxM/VpwOhACGkSI/AAAAAAAAAb0/-URACpP88t0/s1600/final.jpg" imageanchor="1"></a><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-TbyiySua0TY/VpwOjXYiWfI/AAAAAAAAAcA/cUpeRUCUQLY/s1600/spi%2Binterface.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-TbyiySua0TY/VpwOjXYiWfI/AAAAAAAAAcA/cUpeRUCUQLY/s320/spi%2Binterface.jpg" width="320" /></a><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3KCHyx1IKxM/VpwOhACGkSI/AAAAAAAAAb0/-URACpP88t0/s320/final.jpg" width="320" /><br />
<br />
Next, we'll prepare the DHT11 atmospheric sensor, connecting it to a standard 3.5mm headphone-style jack, connecting VCC to tip, ground to the base, and data to the middle. We'll also drill a hole in the enclosure to allow the connector to slide through, and solder some wires to the headphone jack connector. Your multimeter is useful to verify what wires will connect to tip, middle, and base of the headphone jack and its connector. These are shown in the pictures below:<br />
<br />
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/--Po5BBn_zCE/VpwO_26H1sI/AAAAAAAAAcM/-lH4E8pzhUI/s1600/boxc%2Bwith%2Bholes.jpg" imageanchor="1"></a><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-XbxpeZleRlg/VpwPCN7KnII/AAAAAAAAAcY/H8NW5oTe9Vc/s1600/air%2Bprobe.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-XbxpeZleRlg/VpwPCN7KnII/AAAAAAAAAcY/H8NW5oTe9Vc/s320/air%2Bprobe.jpg" width="240" /></a><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-r2J1yfAMpD4/VpwPMVDNm6I/AAAAAAAAAck/bcPQi4Ger-Y/s1600/box.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-r2J1yfAMpD4/VpwPMVDNm6I/AAAAAAAAAck/bcPQi4Ger-Y/s320/box.jpg" width="240" /></a><br />
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/--Po5BBn_zCE/VpwO_26H1sI/AAAAAAAAAcM/-lH4E8pzhUI/s1600/boxc%2Bwith%2Bholes.jpg" imageanchor="1"><br /></a>
Finally, we can place the assembled components in the box and connect the wires. (The final version has printed labels instead of sticky notes!) The box size is quite overkill. When ordering the box I neglected to account for centimeters versus inches...but on the plus side, there's plenty of room for documentation, a notebook, a big fat battery, etc. This box is also fully waterproof, and can be screwed to a pole. You'll see I've attached the board to the box via twist ties, and all components are very easily removable using black female wire connectors. I always try to make demonstration or prototype builds easy to change, soldering as little as possible, never using glue, and documenting what wires connect to what with tape labels. This makes tweaking and adjusting much easier.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-uy9F3OEGPaw/VpwQHE7RFTI/AAAAAAAAAcw/dVFrmKs1cpk/s1600/done1.jpg" imageanchor="1"></a><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-DKUDiLQzJcw/VpwQOV1PebI/AAAAAAAAAc8/LPhlnD9IyR4/s1600/done2.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-DKUDiLQzJcw/VpwQOV1PebI/AAAAAAAAAc8/LPhlnD9IyR4/s320/done2.jpg" width="320" /></a><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-uy9F3OEGPaw/VpwQHE7RFTI/AAAAAAAAAcw/dVFrmKs1cpk/s320/done1.jpg" width="320" /><br />
<br />
The next step is to write the Arduino sketch that we'll upload to the board. The original version for this demo factored in the Geeetech cellular shield, but after every conceivable method of trying to communicate with it, I was never able to get the cellular modem to respond to the arduino board, whether I used a Micro, Uno, or Mega, and software or hardware serial, and every baud rate imaginable. The board also failed to connect to AT&T unless I supplied slightly more voltage than the documentation stated was required, which I felt was unsafe. For these reasons, the final version of this build has no GSM modem. In the future I may acquire a few alternate GSM shields to test with. The original Arduino-branded GSM shield works well, but I've found that hard to come by lately.<br />
<br />
The logic for Arduino boards are called "sketches" by tradition, and basically tell the Atmel chip on board what to do. The language is based on C, and most standard C library functions are available for use. In particular there are two things to note when getting started with Arduino programming:<br />
<br />
<ol>
<li>Every sketch must have a "void setup()" and a "void loop()". The setup function will run upon initial power on or reset, and after that the loop function will be run over and over endlessly.</li>
<li>Digital control is performed using "pinMode(/* Pin number */, /* OUTPUT or INPUT */)" to set the "direction" of data flow, and "digitalWrite(/* PIN NUMBER */, /* HIGH or LOW */)" to change the voltage of the data pin. digitalRead(pin_number) will read the current state of a digital pin. Also available are analogRead and analogWrite, which work in the same way, but accept float values instead of HIGH or LOW. The analog read/write functions will only work with analog pins, those preceded by "A".</li>
</ol>
<br />
The sketch for this example can be found <a href="http://www.my-observatory.com/sensors/SD_Mega_LCD.ino" target="_blank">here</a> - and the software used to send the sketch to the Arduino can be found <a href="https://www.arduino.cc/en/Main/Software" target="_blank">here</a>. If you're interested in the cellular version of the sketch for uploading directly to myObservatory, get in touch with me or look at the <a href="http://www.my-observatory.com/sensing_environment" target="_blank">older cellular example</a> for inspiration.<br />
<br />
Power in this version is provided via the barrel jack, which is connected to an AA battery holder. Power can be provided to the barrel jack in any voltage from about 5 to 12 volts, though 7 to 12 is recommended. Power can also be provided via the USB port, though the USB port power must be exactly 5 volts. As such, commonly available "cell phone power bricks" make a great power supply, especially the ones with large fold-out solar cells integrated.<br />
<br />
This example is fairly bare-bones in having only a single atmospheric sensor, but serves as a good starting point for building your own solution. Additional sensors of a wide variety can be connected and used. One advantage of the Mega board over Uno, in addition to the increased program space, is a much greater number of digital and analog inputs, letting you connect a large number of sensors to a single device.<br />
<br />
Have fun, and if you have any questions when building your own sensor devices, get in touch!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04680236311909300760noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7924850178975487308.post-88148033269519334842016-01-26T14:22:00.000-08:002016-01-27T14:24:07.596-08:00First storm<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-56-txPn_okE/VqfHtL7bS1I/AAAAAAAAADo/-usLI_m9ydo/s1600/IMG_2019.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-56-txPn_okE/VqfHtL7bS1I/AAAAAAAAADo/-usLI_m9ydo/s320/IMG_2019.JPG" width="240" /></a>We finally had a significant snow storm! No more whining kids asking, "When will it ever snow?" Now we have three days of sledding and snowball making and snowman destroying in the books! <br />
<br />
We are a storm family. We spend pretty much any daylight hours (and many evening hours as well) outside experiencing the storm. Before the snow started we ran out to the store for some last minute supplies: eggs, bread, and a new battery for the anemometer! Throughout the storm we took wind speed readings from our driveway. Since our house is tucked into the woods we typically observe far lower wind speeds that are reported for our town. In fact, many new channels send reporters to our town beach and broadcast about wind and coastal flooding on the Cape. While watching news coverage the day after the storm we noticed a weather report on national news from Sandwich, MA! <br />
<br />
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-hRCRyGDvMQk/VqfHi3Znq5I/AAAAAAAAADg/rzpNtXTffuw/s1600/IMG_2016.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-hRCRyGDvMQk/VqfHi3Znq5I/AAAAAAAAADg/rzpNtXTffuw/s320/IMG_2016.JPG" width="240" /></a>I used the myObservatory app to record snow fall totals around my yard. I used the freeform sample method to collect my data. The reason I did this was that most of my yard was trampled during the storm by three dogs two boys and an excited storm-loving husband. There were few sections of the yard the morning after where the snow had not been trampled. Using the freeform sampling campaign tool I was able to move around the yard to sections that appeared unspoiled to take depth measurements.<br />
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-POwLobapZ5Q/VqlC4pG4-MI/AAAAAAAAAEI/GcmYziHT3DY/s1600/Screenshot%2B2016-01-27%2B16.54.05.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-POwLobapZ5Q/VqlC4pG4-MI/AAAAAAAAAEI/GcmYziHT3DY/s320/Screenshot%2B2016-01-27%2B16.54.05.png" width="230" /></a><br />
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<span style="color: black;">Nothing is more fun than involving the boys in data collection!
Will had a great time finding untouched spots in the yard and even
practiced reading the measuring stick. In our family, data collection is
a family affair. But it doesn't stop with data collection...we also love
data analysis. A typical evening is my husband and I playing with kids
outside and diagramming spreadsheets on the garage floor with sidewalk chalk
:) <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;">Tune in soon to hear about the data
curation and publishing process and what we can see when we use the
myObservatory desktop version to view our snowfall data!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03627777269685288184noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7924850178975487308.post-5340916094725642912016-01-19T09:14:00.000-08:002016-01-23T09:15:28.268-08:00Ski reportLoon Mountain Ski Resort reports that they have 10 inches of snow at the base and 18 inches of snow at the summit. They also report having gotten 6 inches of new snow in the last 72 hours. But I wondered how much snow they actually have around the resort. Loon makes snow on 99% of their trails. They boast a 2100 foot vertical drop with 61 trails and 12 lifts. Being new to the ski world I hear a lot of talk about conditions and elevation and I wonder how accurate those portrayals are. It seems to me that ski areas may pad their reported data to encourage patrons to make the trip from home and pay the exorbitant lift fees for a chance to fly down snow. Do conditions dictate the number of patrons or is it more driven by the day of the week?<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-15-id-fDuSg/Vp5s5XzXEsI/AAAAAAAAADI/R7U4sAXz24E/s1600/IMG_1912.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-15-id-fDuSg/Vp5s5XzXEsI/AAAAAAAAADI/R7U4sAXz24E/s200/IMG_1912.JPG" width="200" /></a><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-OpLxB-qU1po/Vp5lYAlsuHI/AAAAAAAAACo/OoNOarqNWY8/s1600/Screenshot%2B2016-01-19%2B11.32.55.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-OpLxB-qU1po/Vp5lYAlsuHI/AAAAAAAAACo/OoNOarqNWY8/s1600/Screenshot%2B2016-01-19%2B11.32.55.png" /></a>I used my Dual XGPS150A Universal Bluetooth GPS Receiver paired with my cellphone to improve accuracy of GPS tagged data. This is particularly important in a remote location like a ski resort where some spots are completely out of normal cell phone range. At the different points around the resort I pulled off the main part of the trail and made estimates (based on snow levels in the woods off the trail) of snow depth on trail, at the side of the trail and off the trail. If I ever get the chance for a ski get-a-way again I plan to attach a measurement rod onto a ski pole so that I can get a measurement versus using estimated values. I recorded my estimations in a Data Collection Form with the myObservatory mobile app. I also recorded elevation at each location, GPS tagged observations of atmospheric conditions and GPS tagged photos of trail conditions and general crowdedness.<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-oNep8iWo6VY/Vp5sYKIgfUI/AAAAAAAAAC4/q3bixr2p2IY/s1600/IMG_1890.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-oNep8iWo6VY/Vp5sYKIgfUI/AAAAAAAAAC4/q3bixr2p2IY/s320/IMG_1890.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
Day 1: Martin Luther King weekend Sunday seemed like a peak ski day. We had to park in the "Escape Lot" and take a packed shuttle 2 miles back to the resort! The general conditions were 29 degrees, mostly cloudy, wind 3-5 mph with no snowfall in the last 24 hours. The wait for the Seven Brothers lift was significant and discouraging. Skiers and riders cued up 5 lines wide each line 30-60 people deep. And the ride for the gondola was so long we never even attempted it. We put in our time and made the most of the crowds.<br />
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Times;">Day 2: Martin Luther King Monday was a day East
coast skiers dream about. No lines, practically empty trails, a bit windy
on top but otherwise great cruising weather at 25 degrees. With two-four
fresh inches of powder and full blown snowmaking efforts the resort was open
and ready for the few of us still around. I was able to really enjoy
myself unafraid of barreling over the hoards of patrons from the day before. Gently falling snow; I think I just might love this.</span></div>
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03627777269685288184noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7924850178975487308.post-37385917620984245672016-01-11T17:11:00.000-08:002016-01-11T17:11:01.263-08:00How can we help with the World’s most urgent water problems?<div class="MsoNormal">
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Dr.
Alberto Montanari is the editor of Water Resources Research, the “water”
journal of the American Geophysical Union. In a recent REDIT Forum<strong><span style="background: white;"> </span></strong><strong><span style="background: white; font-weight: normal;">he was asked the following question:<o:p></o:p></span></strong></span></div>
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And here is his response:</div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">In
short, continuous monitoring is a fundamental requirement for addressing water
problems. This reminds me of one of our earliest projects, circa 2007, where we
developed a comprehensive groundwater basin monitoring system for the Sonoma
County Water Agency (SCWA), in California. We named our system SHIP (Sonoma Hydrologic Information
System). SHIP allows SCWA personnel as well as others from the local water
districts, well owners and volunteers to enter groundwater levels into a
shared, web-based platform (check for EIMS here </span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">http://info.webh2o.net/)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">SHIP had
a nice 2-years run, data were collected, shared, plotted, stored, etc. See for
example the map below. It shows the Sonoma Creek Groundwater Basin, the
groundwater level contour map (in blue) and flow directions (in red arrows). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">But there
was a problem.. the water law did not require well owners to post data. And
they were reluctant to post it. Posting data could disclose how much water is
being pumped at a certain area, and could be used as a basis for enforcement of
some kind. The State of California made
a bold move in that direction, when it initiated, in 2009, the California Statewide
Groundwater Elevation Monitoring (CASGEM) program that mandates some
monitoring. Our SHIP is ready to sail and to support this effort in California
and everywhere. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13135004135178156863noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7924850178975487308.post-51191486789084080652016-01-09T13:24:00.001-08:002016-01-09T13:24:50.461-08:00Discover Magazine One month ago today, on December 9th, myObservatory was featured in a Discover blog post. Here is a link to the article.<br />
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<a href="http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/citizen-science-salon/2015/12/09/putting-your-data-to-work-with-myobservatory/#.VpF5SpMrLVq">Putting Your Data to Work with myObservatory</a><br />
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I thought it was a good thing to post here on this blog to show that others are talking about myObservatory also. Over the next couple of weeks I have invited some guests to come and blog here on this site about their own observations. I will also be interviewing some people who use myObservatory and writing blog posts on their behalf. <br />
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And of course if we ever get a measurable snow I will get to test out my sampling campaigns that I set up!<br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03627777269685288184noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7924850178975487308.post-32364088492052259192015-12-29T15:38:00.001-08:002015-12-29T15:38:30.410-08:00First snow of the season with my new GPS<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-J1_cdvNiRko/VoLh_Wu92vI/AAAAAAAAACA/p79CInLjaVw/s1600/IMG_1223.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-J1_cdvNiRko/VoLh_Wu92vI/AAAAAAAAACA/p79CInLjaVw/s320/IMG_1223.JPG" width="240" /></a>Mark the calendar...December 29, 2015 is the first accumulating snow of the 2015-16 winter season here in Sandwich. I estimate from the windshield of my car this morning that we got about 3/4 of an inch of snow...followed by continuous rain that is still pouring down at noon. Most of the snow is gone and what is left is slush. In fact it's been slush since at least 7 am but that didn't stop the boys from running outside as soon as they woke up to go play in it!<br />
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I myself am eager to go out and play in it. I got a present...a new wireless universal GPS receiver! I am excited to go outside and set up a sampling campaign to measure snow fall. This first snow is a race against time. The longer it takes me to set it up the less snow there is left in the yard! But it will be fun is to use these same sampling locations to measure snowfall totals throughout the season. <br />
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Last year we had the biggest and best snow winter that Cape Cod has ever seen (or at least that anyone I talked to has ever seen on the Cape). I tried to write down snow totals and to take lots of pictures of how high the drifts were or how big the snowplow mountain was after each new snow. But basically we have NO DATA for the snowiest winter on record; Boston set its all-time snowiest winter record with 110.6 inches! This year there are mixed predictions. Some say that it will be even snowier than last year due to El Nino. Others say that it will be too warm to see much accumulating snow. Only time (and my diligent sampling of snowfall) will tell. Here is an article from the Boston Globe with other amateur forecasts <a href="https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2015/12/29/could-this-beginning-another-bad-winter/daH0slUWUq1a0pvzFIOm8H/story.html?p1=Article_Recommended_ReadMore">Could this be the beginning of another bad winter?</a> The Globe and I obviously have opposite opinions of what kind of winter is bad or good. For the purposes of this blog remember that MORE snow = BETTER winter!<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-O92VgHT7sgU/VoLklj_DPBI/AAAAAAAAACM/qiBUTNj11cI/s1600/Screenshot%2B2015-12-29%2B14.48.28.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-O92VgHT7sgU/VoLklj_DPBI/AAAAAAAAACM/qiBUTNj11cI/s200/Screenshot%2B2015-12-29%2B14.48.28.png" width="143" /></a>I am waiting for the GPS to charge. While I wait the snow keeps melting sped on by driving rain to the point that there is not much left to measure. But one great part about myObservatory is that I can still see the changes in pictures. Here are some images from noon. <br />
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All that is left is the slush pile of snow that came off the shed roof and a skim of slush on the porch (and a very muddy white dog who is enjoying himself in the downpours!) There are spots of snow/slush in the woods that seem protected from the worst pelting of the rain. And there are giant puddles all over the driveway and yard.<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-NbPLH7W_9lM/VoLkloCN2MI/AAAAAAAAACI/3ZPZikn-oLI/s1600/Screenshot%2B2015-12-29%2B14.52.00.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="175" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-NbPLH7W_9lM/VoLkloCN2MI/AAAAAAAAACI/3ZPZikn-oLI/s200/Screenshot%2B2015-12-29%2B14.52.00.png" width="200" /></a>Since I have some time to wait for my new toy I've been putting some more thought into my sampling campaign. I have decided to do two different sampling campaigns for each snowfall...one will be randomly generated by the sampling campaign feature of myObservatory; the other will consist of specific points that I think will give a good average snowfall for the yard. Over the past three years living in this house I have watched how the snow drifts around the yard; where it seems to lay in heavy or light; where it seems least touched by dogs and children; where it seems averaged by the expanse of the yard around it. This is the information that I will use to decide where my non-random samples will be taken.<br />
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Update: Now it is 3 pm. The GPS has charged! And...there is hardly any snow left in the yard. But I refuse to let this stop my good fun. I set up a new station in the 'Our house' dataset called Snowfall. I moved my photos from earlier today into the new station. I am now using the freeform sampling feature in the myObservatory app to take estimated snow depths and photos of any snow left on the property. In addition to this sampling I will be setting up my regular sampling campaigns so that when the snow flies again I will be ready. Bring it on Cape Cod winter...The Cape Condons are ready!<br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03627777269685288184noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7924850178975487308.post-90522417628154885622015-12-21T11:38:00.000-08:002015-12-21T11:38:23.259-08:00Shell-fishy connectionOne of the projects that I am working on is a collaborative effort with the Sandwich STEM Academy and the Sandwich Department of Natural Resources. One goal of the project is to set up an outdoor classroom space at Scorton's Creek in East Sandwich. The first phase of this project is to collect data with students about water quality. This data will be used in an application to Massachusetts Marine Fisheries Division to petition for shellfish restoration. The end goal is to establish a population of oysters within the Scorton's Creek waterway that can be open to recreational shellfishing. This oyster population will most likely make a huge impact on water quality as well, by the removal of nitrogen from the ecosystem (in biomass consumed by oyster eaters) and the transformation or deposition of nitrogen to a more biologically usable form in fecal pellets. (The relationship between oysters and nitrogen removal is being studied by local scientists and graduate students at UMass Dartmouth.)<br />
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We want to use students to prove that the waterway is suitable for introducing oysters AND that oysters do aid in the removal of nitrogen. myObservatory is poised to help students collect data and to help decision makers and students analyze that data. Stay tuned for many more updates on the Scorton's Creek Project. <br />
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Here is a blog being written by the AmeriCorps volunteer, Amber, who is placed with the Sandwich Department of Natural Resources. I look forward to following her blog throughout this process!<br />
<a href="http://www.americorpscapecod.org/2015/12/14/sounds-shell-fishy-to-me/"><br /></a>
<a href="http://www.americorpscapecod.org/2015/12/14/sounds-shell-fishy-to-me/">Sounds Shell-fishy to Me</a> by Amber RosaKtChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15309421836316978611noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7924850178975487308.post-18988538683612157472015-12-02T14:55:00.000-08:002015-12-02T14:55:11.773-08:00Cape CondonsWhen I first started experimenting with myObservatory I wanted to choose something close to home. So I picked my yard! Over the past year I have been collecting GPS tagged photos with the myObservatory iPhone app. This past early summer we suffered an infestation of caterpillars...three different species over the span of two months. Every day we worked to save our favorite trees by spraying down and squishing caterpillars (an endlessly fun project for the boys). Even with these efforts nearly every leaf on our property was consumed.<br />
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I tracked defoliation and caterpillar populations with photos. These photos were automatically geotagged and available on the desktop myObservatory map view. Here is an example of what the desktop view looks like.<br />
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You can see that each photo is saved by location on the map. When you click on the photo icon the data viewer window pops up and gives the options to open the data in a new window, to add new data or to preview the data. The photo previewed in this screenshot was taken on June 23rd and shows the defoliation of the wisteria wall that borders our yard. <br />
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Below is a photo taken near the same place on May 19th. Aside from the mini athletes playing whiffle ball in the foreground you can see all of the wisteria blossoms and the early foliage. In case you don't have any nearby to watch, wisteria starts blooming in the spring and the leaves come in as the blooms start to fade in color and fall off. My husband has been weaving the vines into a privacy screen for the last three years. Over time the wall has more than tripled in size and the number of flower clusters has increased dramatically.<br />
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Then this year the caterpillars consumed every leaf and blossom from every vine! We assumed that this would be the end of the wisteria. But to our surprise (and relief) it came back. And more than that it bloomed a second time in places. Having myObservatory allows me to quickly catalogue photos of the observations I make while I am making them. <br />
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In writing this blog post I realized that I never took a photo of the "re-foliated" wisteria! So I went back through my photos on my phone and found one from October 3rd. Look at the lush dense leaves! Now I get to add it as a new record in the station Yard for future reference (when I have long forgotten our plight with the caterpillars).<br />
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<br />KtChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15309421836316978611noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7924850178975487308.post-42170439297351270392015-11-30T08:46:00.000-08:002015-11-30T09:25:14.418-08:00Welcome to myObservations!Hello and welcome to my newest adventure. As you can see if you check back through other blogs I have started, I have a blogging theme (without even trying!) Everything that I feel compelled to write centers around my observations of the world around me. Sometimes this is the physical world and the environment I live in. Sometimes my observations are of the people and organizations I work with. This newest blog will combine both my observations of the natural world and my insights and trials in the endeavor of product development and marketing for myObservatory. I am up for the challenges ahead and looking forward to expanding my professional horizons. And to be frank, what is better than working with interesting people and projects, going on field trips, playing with data and sharing my experiences with students? NOTHING!<br />
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I started working with myObservatory almost four years ago. I decided to pilot the use of myObservatory, then called the Innisfree Observatory Web Portal, with middle school students for my master's thesis. This was my first time doing real educational research and my first time working with the online data management system that would give rise to myObservatory as it is today. Through that experience I saw glimpses of the value of using myObservatory in education. <br />
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In the last three years so much has changed with myObservatory including the name. As I discuss myObs with potential partners I always say, "myObservatory is an online database management system." But that hardly describes the power and complexity of the data environment. Through this blog I hope to share some stories of how truly unique and useful myObservatory is for teachers, students and a variety of organizations.<br />
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The last three years have seen a lot of changes in my life as well. We welcomed our second son only two months after I completed my master's degree and 130 page thesis paper. Since then I have been working as a stay-at-home mom of two active and fun-loving boys while doing some tutoring on the side for sanity and gas money. I also "work vicariously" through my husband, a USGS scientist, talking data and drawing spreadsheets on the garage floor. Tutoring led to other opportunities teaching at Cape Cod Community College and meeting some key science and education networkers on the Cape. When I was asked to come back to myObservatory as a consultant for education I jumped at the chance. This would allow me to work from home and work in the field. I can get to know the education players in my community. And most importantly I can be involved in a product I see as valuable and important for education and beyond. <br />
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Now I am working with myObservatory to refine our product for education and to get the word out. I have made partnerships with organizations here on Cape Cod including Waquoit Bay Estuarine Research Reserve, The Lawrence School (Falmouth, MA Grades 7 and 8), Sturgis Charter School, the Sandwich STEM Academy, the Thornton Burgess Society and the Sandwich Department of Natural Resources. We are hoping to expand into other organizations on the Cape and beyond...if only I had 80 more hours a week to work on this!<br />
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This blog, half journal/half product information, will provide a space to share stories and examples. I hope that you will enjoy reading the journey as much as I am enjoying the journey itself.<br />
Welcome to myObservations!<br />
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<br />KtChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15309421836316978611noreply@blogger.com0