Day 4 – You can lead a student to water…

Wow, already day four and I feel like I have learned more in these four days than I have in an entire semester. We had the chance to hear from Professor Becker who gave a lecture on hydrogeology, specifically the local processes on windward Oahu. Although hydrogeology is not my main area of study, I still felt like everything he was saying was relevant and will play a role in my research, regardless of which focus I choose. The bottom line is that all of the systems that make up Oahu work together in harmony. I am looking forward to seeing what kind of data is generated near the coast and how it can work with that from the upper valley and higher elevations in the Ka’a’awa Valley. It is so interesting to think about hydrologic and geologic features and what past events have put Hawaii on the map and how these processes might continue to affect the islands.

Professor Becker really got us thinking about our research questions which we will discuss in more detail tomorrow. There is so much going on just in the Ka’a’awa Valley that it will be difficult to settle on just one thing to study.

And as if we haven’t already learned so many cool software programs, being introduced to eCognition rocked my remote sensing world, providing yet another way to process remotely sensed images. I am pretty stoked about object-based image analysis and the command-based operations of the program. While a little less intuitive to learn, I can already see its potential. It seems like it will offer more detail, control and accuracy to the classification process. I’d like to try it out and see how it compares in accuracy to ERDAS and/or IDRISI.

The beauty that is segmentation

Scrambling to get assignments done has been tough, but the challenge is good for the brain. I just hope I can retain most of what I learned this week. I continue to have trouble believing this is all real, as it just keeps getting better and better. I am waiting for the catch… Dr. Wechsler has assured us that Murphy’s Law will have the last word.

Tomorrow is the final wrap up of labs, software, and packing before 20-or-so of us head to Oahu to put all of our new skills to good use. I definitely want to think about the planning process and how important it is to begin NOW. It is easy to ignore, as the temptation is to delve in and just start doing,  but I have learned all too often that the front end investment pays off in the end. So here’s hoping I can nail down my research question by tomorrow so that my brain can get into serious planning mode.