Ahh…winter is deeply upon us. It’s cold, but the precip has been kind of lacking. No qualms here, in terms of hanging out in town. I have gotten to go running, biking and hiking while staying dry…well if you don’t count the fog and that it’s so cold I don’t sweat much. Speaking of riding bikes in town, winter is a pain in the ass because of the excess road debris from snow removal. All that sand on the shoulder of the roads hides all the glass that shreds your tires, get out there and clean it up county/city.
In terms of work, my class schedule restricts some snow sampling, but it looks like I can get at least one day a week out in the snow...possibly more. It’s been a while since I have picked up a snow tube or a calculator, let alone my snow shoes. On February 11, the PC NASA snow crew along with our think tank of smart guys at Batelle in Richland, WA will be presenting the Dungeness River Management Team with the working watershed model ,(wahoo!!!!) details yet to be discussed.
After talking more with Dwight about researchers’ needs and data resolution, we have decided upon a good scale to use when converting all of the Elwha GIS data into KML files. These files will be posted to the web for researchers to use and quickly examine spatial data. The format will be viewable in Google Earth, so those without expensive software can still see what is out there. On that note, I am using a GIS textbook as pleasure reading, it’s pretty enthralling: Remote Sensing for GIS Managers
Other research work right now is dropping road block after road block on the wildfire GIS hazard assessment. Dwight found an interesting article that might turn a block into a ramp (hopefully we won’t use it like Dukes of Hazzard and wind up in a worse situation). But I have that to go over as well as a BLM article that might give some other insights as to how to refine the study.
Main thing is I need to get off my ass and do some of this stuff.
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Time to start...
It’s been a damn long time since I have posted a blog. So a little update on what I have been up to for starts. After finishing school in June (not just the quarter, but graduating from WWU) I got to stay in Port Angeles for a few months working and playing. At the end of July I started my seasonal roller coaster. I took a working vacation down to Costa Rica with Dwight to aid in GIS research at the La Selva research station. After returning, I had one day to prepare for my next job.
After digging out last year’s work gear, I packed a few bags and got on a plane headed for NorCal to work for the US Forest Service once again under TEAMS Enterprise. My seasonal job last year included painting and counting trees, this year was assumed to be the same. I spent three weeks in Willows, CA marking a timber sale on the Mendocino NF. At the end of that tour of duty, I was assigned to spend three weeks in Wyoming (wahoo!). However, during my time off between tours I was reassigned to Tennessee…
When I arrived in TN, we were doing a job for an Army ammunition plant doing a timber inventory. That job put me in Milan, TN for two three week tours. Just as the job was finishing I started to make plans of how to spend my time off before heading back to school in Port Angeles. Luckily, I was asked to work in Big Bear Lake, CA on the San Bernardino NF. After two days back home I flew south to count twigs. Yes, twigs! We did fuel inventories the forest needed for a NEPA decision concerning a thinning project.
Finally my season with the Forest Service was over and I could take a vacation, for about a month. I traveled to Bellingham, Portland, and moved back to Port Angeles. After the move I spent two weeks in Tahoe with my brother for the holidays.
So now I am back to work with the REU working on the snow surveys and converting Elwha GIS data into more publicly accessible formats. This winter I am also working with Dwight off of a grant we received from FM Global to further refine the wildfire hazard study we conducted last spring…So here goes nothin’.
After digging out last year’s work gear, I packed a few bags and got on a plane headed for NorCal to work for the US Forest Service once again under TEAMS Enterprise. My seasonal job last year included painting and counting trees, this year was assumed to be the same. I spent three weeks in Willows, CA marking a timber sale on the Mendocino NF. At the end of that tour of duty, I was assigned to spend three weeks in Wyoming (wahoo!). However, during my time off between tours I was reassigned to Tennessee…
When I arrived in TN, we were doing a job for an Army ammunition plant doing a timber inventory. That job put me in Milan, TN for two three week tours. Just as the job was finishing I started to make plans of how to spend my time off before heading back to school in Port Angeles. Luckily, I was asked to work in Big Bear Lake, CA on the San Bernardino NF. After two days back home I flew south to count twigs. Yes, twigs! We did fuel inventories the forest needed for a NEPA decision concerning a thinning project.
Finally my season with the Forest Service was over and I could take a vacation, for about a month. I traveled to Bellingham, Portland, and moved back to Port Angeles. After the move I spent two weeks in Tahoe with my brother for the holidays.
So now I am back to work with the REU working on the snow surveys and converting Elwha GIS data into more publicly accessible formats. This winter I am also working with Dwight off of a grant we received from FM Global to further refine the wildfire hazard study we conducted last spring…So here goes nothin’.
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