scholarly journals Deep oceanic submarine fieldwork with undergraduate students: an immersive experience with the Minerve software

Solid Earth ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (12) ◽  
pp. 2789-2802
Author(s):  
Marianne Métois ◽  
Jean-Emmanuel Martelat ◽  
Jérémy Billant ◽  
Muriel Andreani ◽  
Javier Escartín ◽  
...  

Abstract. We present the content and scripting of an active tectonic lab session conceived for third-year undergraduate students studying Earth sciences at Observatoire des Sciences de l'Univers in Lyon. This session is based on a research project conducted on the submarine Roseau active fault in the Lesser Antilles. The fault morphology is particularly interesting to map as this structure in the deep ocean is preserved from weathering. Thus, high-resolution models computed from remotely operated vehicle (ROV) videos provide exceptional educational material to link fault morphology and coseismic displacement. This class includes mapping exercises on geographical information systems and virtual fieldwork to provide basic understanding of active tectonics and active fault morphology in particular. The work has been conducted either in a full remote configuration via 3D online models or in virtual reality (VR) in a dedicated room using the Minerve software. During the VR sessions, students were either alone in the VR environment or participated as a group that included the instructor (physically in the classroom or remotely from another location), which is to our knowledge one of the first attempts of this kind in France. We discuss the efficiency of virtual fieldwork using VR based on feedback from teachers and students. We conclude that VR is a promising tool to learn observational skills in Earth sciences, subject to certain improvements that should be possible in the years to come.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marianne Métois ◽  
Jean-Emmanuel Martelat ◽  
Jérémy Billant ◽  
Muriel Andreani ◽  
Javier Escartin ◽  
...  

Abstract. We present the content and scripting of an active tectonic lab-session conceived for third year undergraduate students studying Earth Sciences at Observatoire des Sciences de l’Univers of Lyon. This session is based on a research project conducted on the submarine Roseau active fault in Lesser Antilles. The fault morphology is particularly interesting to map as this structure in the deep ocean is preserved from weathering. Thus high resolution models computed from Remotely Operated Vehicle videos (ROV) provide exceptional educational material to link fault morphology and coseismic displacement. This5class, composed of mapping exercises on GIS and virtual fieldwork, aims at providing basic understanding of active tectonics,and in particular active fault morphology. The work has been conducted either in a full remote configuration via 3D online models or in virtual reality (VR) in a dedicated room using the Minerve software. During the VR sessions, students were either alone in the virtual environment or participated as a full group, including the teacher (physically in the classroom or remotely, from another location), which is to our knowledge one of the first attempts of this kind in France. We discuss on the efficiency10of virtual fieldwork using VR based on feedback from teachers and students, and we conclude that VR is a promising tool to learn observational skills, subject to certain improvements which should be possible in the years to come.


2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 23-49
Author(s):  
Katrina Scolaro

The purpose of this article is to analyse the technologies used in current pedagogical practices in the Humanities and Social Sciences (HASS) classroom, in particular geography. It is argued that supporting children to be digitally literate is one of the keys to effective learning in the 21st Century. This article is based on potential practical applications of new technologies and ICTs, and linking them to the Australian Curriculum: Geography. As a preservice teacher, how can I best integrate the use of ICTs and use them to responsibility to enhance the learning of my future students? What quality and variety of ICT resources are available to us, as preservice teachers that will encourage creativity and motivate students and cater for all types of learners in the classroom? Fast, interactive and multimodal ICTs can assist teachers and students to explore the exciting ‘big ideas’ in the HASS classroom and with ICTs including Geographical Information Systems (GIS) and Global Positioning Systems all around us, it makes for new and innovative pedagogy.


Geosciences ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (12) ◽  
pp. 516
Author(s):  
Sotirios Verroios ◽  
Vasiliki Zygouri

The Gulf of Corinth is a rapidly opening area with high seismicity associated with extensive building collapses, destruction of cities, and even the deaths of inhabitants. Rapid residential development, especially in the southern part of the Gulf of Corinth, and the construction of crucial technical infrastructures necessitate understanding the activity across crustal-scale faults that host devastating earthquakes. The evolution of landforms affected by fault action is a dominant issue in geological science. In the present study, was selected the 20 km long Xilokastro pure normal fault. In this fault, we apply eight geomorphological indices in footwall catchments that drain perpendicular to its trace. In total, more than 5000 measurements were made in 102 catchments. The determination of geomorphological indices requires the construction of morphological profiles either perpendicular to the faults or perpendicular to the main tributaries of the drainage basins under consideration through the use of the geographical information systems (ArcGIS platform). Τhe application of these indices along catchments draining the Xilokastro fault scarp show high active tectonics. Its high activity is evidenced by the high values of the length-slope index near the fault trace, the low values of the width to height ratio index, the strong asymmetry of the drainage basins, especially in the overlapping zones between its segments, and the elongated shape of the drainage basins. This study supports the idea that the application of a single morphometric index is unable to reflect the distribution of active tectonics across faults, which makes inevitable the systematic comparison of a series of tectonic morphometric indices from which a new combined index emerges (Iat). The Iat classifies the Xilokastro fault in the high degree of activity at a rate of 75% of its length.


Author(s):  
Alejandro Rodríguez-González ◽  
Ángel García-Crespo ◽  
Ricardo Colomo-Palacios ◽  
José Emilio Labra-Gayo ◽  
Juan Miguel Gómez Berbís

The advent of the information age represents both a challenge and an opportunity for medicine. New forms of diagnosis, innovation-oriented supervision and expert location paths are deeply impacting medical sciences as we know it around the word. In this new scenario, semantic technologies can be seen as new and promising tool to support knowledge-based services, and particularly for the health domain, medical diagnosis. This chapter presents MedFinder, a system based on semantic technologies and social Web to improve patient care for medical diagnosis. The main breakthroughs of MedFinder are the follow-up once the diagnosis is performed, by using a medical ontology and formal reasoning together with rules, since it makes possible to locate the most appropriate doctor for a patient using Geographical Information Systems (GIS) and taking into account user preferences given via social Web feedback.


2017 ◽  
Vol 43 (3) ◽  
pp. 1601
Author(s):  
M. M. D. Karageorgiou ◽  
E. Karymbalis ◽  
D.E. Karageorgiou

The aim of this study is to emphasize the role of the Geographical Information Systems (GIS) technology for the collection, organization, analysis, modeling and presentation of data required for the geological and ore-deposits mapping. As a case study area the region of Paranesti in Northern Greece was selected as it is of exceptional geological and uranium mining interest. For the geological and ore deposit mapping of the study area data derived from analogue maps at various scales (topographical and geological) along with detailed field geological observations and measurements were organized in a spatial database with a common geographical coordinate system utilizing GIS technology. This procedure revealed the relation between the geographical distribution of uranium deposits and the geological structure of the area as well as the effect of the active tectonics.


Author(s):  
Verónica Lango-Reynoso ◽  
Karla Teresa González-Figueroa ◽  
Fabiola Lango-Reynoso ◽  
María del Refugio Castañeda-Chávez ◽  
Jesús Montoya-Mendoza

Objective: This article describes and analyzes the main concepts of coastal ecosystems, these as a result of research concerning land-use change assessments in coastal areas. Design/Methodology/Approach: Scientific articles were searched using keywords in English and Spanish. Articles regarding land-use change assessment in coastal areas were selected, discarding those that although being on coastal zones and geographic and soil identification did not use Geographic Information System (GIS). Results: A GIS is a computer-based tool for evaluating the land-use change in coastal areas by quantifying variations. It is analyzed through GIS and its contributions; highlighting its importance and constant monitoring. Limitations of the study/Implications: This research analyzes national and international scientific information, published from 2007 to 2019, regarding the land-use change in coastal areas quantified with the digital GIS tool. Findings/Conclusions: GIS are useful tools in the identification and quantitative evaluation of changes in land-use in coastal ecosystems; which require constant evaluation due to their high dynamism.


2016 ◽  
Vol 78 ◽  
pp. 203-209 ◽  
Author(s):  
K.J. Hutchinson ◽  
D.R. Scobie ◽  
J. Beautrais ◽  
A.D. Mackay ◽  
G.M. Rennie ◽  
...  

To develop a protocol to guide pasture sampling for estimation of paddock pasture mass in hill country, a range of pasture sampling strategies, including random sampling, transects and stratification based on slope and aspect, were evaluated using simulations in a Geographical Information Systems computer environment. The accuracy and efficiency of each strategy was tested by sampling data obtained from intensive field measurements across several farms, regions and seasons. The number of measurements required to obtain an accurate estimate was related to the overall pasture mass and the topographic complexity of a paddock, with more variable paddocks requiring more samples. Random sampling from average slopes provided the best balance between simplicity and reliability. A draft protocol was developed from the simulations, in the form of a decision support tool, where visual determination of the topographic complexity of the paddock, along with the required accuracy, were used to guide the number of measurements recommended. The protocol was field tested and evaluated by groups of users for efficacy and ease of use. This sampling protocol will offer farmers, consultants and researchers an efficient, reliable and simple way to determine pasture mass in New Zealand hill country settings. Keywords: hill country, feed budgeting, protocol pasture mass, slope


2020 ◽  
pp. 78-98
Author(s):  
T. V. Kotova

Proceedings of the International conference (ИнтерКарто. ИнтерГИС, Russia) devoted to geographical information systems for sustainable development of territories have been published annually since 1994. The articles discuss theoretical and methodological aspects of geoinformation support for environmental, economic and social aspects of sustainable de­velop­ment, issues of geoinformatics, cartography, remote sensing of the Earth, problems of environmental sustainability and environmental impact assessment. Over a quarter of a century, the conference proceedings got more than 125 articles related to the use of geoinformation technologies to the study and mapping of vegetation. The review of proceedings gives the concrete examples how to solve problems of vegetation mapping using GIS, it is focused on publications providing some examples of GIS appli­cation to the vegetation studies. The review is organized into thematic sections according the field of application of Geoinformatics: 1.Vegetation, 2. Dynamics, state and ecological functions of vegetation, 3. Biodiversity and its assessment, 4. Plant resources, 5. Monitoring of vegetation. The Vegetation section contains publications on vegetation studies and mapping performed for some regions of Russia — the North of the Far East, the Republic of Sakha (Yaku­tia), the Tyva Republic, Central Siberia, and others. More than half of the articles are devoted to vegetation dynamics, state and ecological functions of vegetation at different hierarchical levels. Some papers present the results of the studies based on new types of information sources (photographs) and visualization methods (animation). The use of geoinformation technologies to study biological diversity was included in the agenda of five conference sessions and later reflected in more than ten publications. They cover the development and creation of GIS, the use of geoinformation technologies for the analysis, assessment and mapping of biodiversity, for its monitoring and conservation. Quite a large number of articles are devoted to the study of forest resources. GIS technologies were used to solve problems of forest management, cartometric analysis of forested areas, determination of taxation indicators, systematization of forest conditions, etc. Examples of geoinformation versatile research for medicinal plant resources are given to assess their quality, resources and productivity in the region, to identify growing areas, including ones to be protected. Most of the published materials concerning to vegetation monitoring mainly relate to forests and forest management.


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