This week’s field activity was a continuation from last week’s activity of creating a navigational map (images 1 and 2). The purpose of this week’s activity was to learn how to navigate using a map and compass. To do this, our professor provided us a series of points to plot on our map (image 3).
Image 1: Navigational
map of landscape terrain created in previous week’s lab
Image 2: Reference
side of the navigation map created in previous week’s lab
Image 3: Sheet
provided to us by our professor with the points coordinate location
Then we had to establish a distance and azimuth from point
to point in the direction we would be navigating. We established our azimuth
using a compass. Azimuth is the angular distance along the horizon to the
location of the object. It is measured from north towards the east along the
horizon (image 4).
Image 4: How azimuth
is determined
To establish our distance on the map we used the 50x50 meter
grid. In the field we used the 100 meter pace count we establish the previous
week.
After all of this was established we headed outside to one
of the three established courses to locate our waypoints. Our team traversed
course 3.
Methods
To begin this activity we plotted the points (image 5) provided
to us by our professor, which correlated with the course our team would be
traversing. We plotted our points using the UTM X and Y coordinates (image 6).
We used these points because our map’s coordinate grid was established in a UTM
projection.
Image 5: Plotting our
points
Image 6: Sheet
provided for us by our professor with UTM X and Y locations of our waypoints
Next, we had to establish a distance and azimuth from one
point to another. Since there was a total of 6 teams and only 3 courses, 2
teams had to traverse the same course at the same time. So, one team worked
from point 1 to point 6, and the other team worked backward from point 1 back
to point 2. Our team worked backwards, so we went from point 1 to 6, then 5, 4,
3, 2 then back to 1 to finish. We established our azimuth using a compass (image
7).
Image 7: Compass used
to establish azimuth
1. First, I drew a line from
point to point in the order we were going to be traveling.
2. Next, I laid my compass on
my map with the center of the turnable housing unit (screw that holds needle in
place) over the point I was starting at. For example, if I was working from
point 1 to point 6, I laid it over point 1.
3. Then, I made sure north, on the
turnable housing unit, was in the direction of north on my map (image 8).
Image 8: Turnable
housing unit’s north in same direction as north on map
5. Then, I read the number that
correlated with the heading arrow; which is the azimuth; and wrote it on my map
next to the line connecting the 2 points.
6. Lastly, all the team members
compared their azimuth to each other’s to make sure we were all within a small
range from one another (about 7◦ or less).
Next, we had to establish our distance from one point to the
other in the order we were traversing. To do this we used the back side of the
sheet of paper that had our point locations on it, and the ruler on the
compass.1. First, we lined the sheet of paper next to the grid on the map and made tick marks on it at every 50 meter increment.
2. Then, we labeled the tick
marks with the corresponding distance from the map’s grid.
3. Next, we laid the paper on the
map with a distance of 0 at the point we starting at to the point we were
traversing to (image 9). For example, if we were measuring distance from point
1 to point 6 we place 0 at point 1 and measure the distance to point 6.
Image 9: Measuring
distance from point we were traversing from to the point we were traversing to
using a piece of paper with 50 meter increments measured on it
5. Again, we compared our
distances to one another to make sure we were all in an appropriate measurement
from each other.
Once all distances and azimuths were established we created
a chart that corresponded the distance and azimuth to appropriate point (image 10).
Image 10: Chart
containing distance and azimuth with corresponding point
Image 11: Poking holes
through the map from the navigation side to the reference side at each point
To start, we shown where to start for the particular course
we were navigating. For course 3 a tree was the starting point (image 12), also
known as point 1.
Image 12: Starting
point for course 1, also point 1 for that course
To get from point 1 to point 6 we referred to the distance
and azimuth chart, we created for our course, and read the distance and azimuth
for point 1 to point 6. Using the compass in the field for azimuth differed
slightly from how we used it inside to establish azimuth on our maps.
1. First,
we made sure the red N for north on the compass’s turnable housing unit was lined
up the heading north arrow (image 13)
Image 13: North
indicator on the turnable housing unit lined up the heading north arrow
3. Next, we turned our entire
bodies with the compass until we got the needle lined up directly with the red
arrow inside the turnable housing unit (image 14).
Image 14: Needle lined
up directly with the red arrow inside the turnable housing unit
After the direction (azimuth) we needed to go was
established we were ready to walk. This is where the pace count from last week
came into play. Knowing how many paces we took in 100 meters made it easy to
pace out since the distance we measured on our maps, using the grid, was in 50
meter increments. Being accurate with our pace counts was very important because
we had 3 courses that were all overlapping one another. It was important to
know how far you were so you didn’t see a point marker that intersected the
marker you were going from to the marker you were going to and automatically assume
it was the point you were looking for. If this happened, the next azimuth would
be inaccurate with the direction you needed to go to get to your next point;
and you would basically be lost for the rest of the navigation.
1. To
be accurate with our pace counts we had one person walk first and stop when
they got to 100 meters (image 15 and 16).
Image 15: First person
walking 100 meters
Image 16: First person
at their 100 meter pace count
2. Next, another group member
walked and see how far their 100 meter pace compared to the first person.
3. If the two were accurate
with one another one of the two would continue to walk.
4. The third person stayed back
at the point we started from to make sure the two pacers stayed in line with
the direction they were supposed to be heading.
5. After one of the walkers
continued to walk a second increment the last person (the direction monitor)
would walk to the pacer who stayed at the 100 meter mark.
6. We continued this trend
until the marker was spotted (image 17 and 18)
Image 17: Looking for
the marker upon approach
Image 18: Markers that
marked the point we were navigating to
Image 19: Holes
punched in navigation sheet to show we had found our point
Discussion
Overall, we found that our distances and azimuths were very
accurate. We found that we barely needed to use our map at all. The one time we
did use our map we found it very helpful because we thought we were a little off
on our azimuth. This happened because it is hard to walk in a straight line
when walking up and down steep ridges with trees and brush in your way. When
you have to walk around things such as these it’s difficult to get back on the
right path, while still maintaining accurate pace counts. Our map designed for
the situation proved very appropriate for depicting the terrain of the landscape.
We were easily able to locate, from both sets of contour lines, the top of the
ridge we were standing on. From this we were able to see we needed to head more
to the left or more to the right while walking down from the ridge to get to
the point we were navigating to. We also found that we never needed to refer to
the reference side of the map, which had the aerial photo on it, to try to
figure out where we were.
From this we learned that generally, we were all pretty
accurate with one another’s pace counts. Again, this was much easier on flat
ground where trees and brush were minimal. One thing I learned is that you need
to be consciences of your pace lengths when walking through snow and brush.
Typically, I find that I’m a fast walker and walk take longer strides than most
people my height. However, in these snowy, brushy, and hilly conditions I found
that my strides were much smaller. I almost needed to count 2 paces as 1 at
some points.
Conclusion
I can definitely say that I learned a lot from this activity.
I am very happy that I had the opportunity to learn these skills. I definitely
think that having us create our own maps made us much more aware of the
importance of appropriate map styles for certain activities. I don’t think
there is anything I would change about my map. The thing I found most useful
about the map was the 2 foot and 5 meter contour lines. The 2 foot contour
lines depicted the terrain very well. The 5 meter contour lines came in very
handy because those were labeled with their elevation, so we were able to
compare them to the 2 foot contours to know if the 2 foot contours were
depicting a valley or ridge feature of the landscape. Having the 2 foot contours labeled with their
elevation would’ve made the map way too busy and confusing. From this, I also
learned the importance of having accurate and detailed data for a map. I don’t
think the 5 meter contours alone would’ve been as good at depicting the
landscape terrain.
Last but not least, we can’t end this discussion without
talking about how important it is to come prepared for the weather. All of the
other outdoor field activities we’ve done this semester haven’t involved too
much movement; more just standing around. So I dressed really, really warm
knowing we would be knee deep in snow for parts of the day. What I found is
that I dressed way to warm for the type of terrain we were traversing. I got
hot immediately and needed to start unlayering. Although I was much more
comfortable after taking off one my sweatshirts, I found it very annoying
having to carry it the whole time (image 20). It was also difficult because it
kept getting caught on brush and twigs.
Image 20: Carrying a
sweatshirt through the entire course was very annoying and difficult
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