Day 17 – Measure Twice…

This morning Shelby and I were joined by Dr. Wechsler in the field. We spent the morning finding some of the previously known features and measuring the slope and distance for accuracy using a laser range finder and clinometer. At our first stop, I climbed to the top of a rock wall where it reaches it reaches the base of the cliff. On the way back down the slope, we identified an additional feature that we had previously overlooked. We then continued to follow the rock wall towards the floor of the valley while taking distance and slope measurements along the way. The rock wall is crossed by two recent vehicular paths, which creates disturbance of the feature and potential discrepancy regarding the construction date of the feature.

Rock Wall with recent wire fence

We then went further into the valley to capture better photos for two more features, one of which was the house we encountered during our tour on the first day at the Kualoa Ranch. I took over 200 photos of the house for use in PhotoScan. I am currently working on processing the data to create a 3D model to overlay on the map to provide a ground view of the features that are hidden by canopy cover. Once I finish processing the PhotoScan images, I will work with Shelby to revisit the data dictionary for use with the Trimble GPS.

PhotoScan model of house feature in progress