Our partner Stephon Thomas from NRCS (Natural Resources Conservation Service) joined us to show Kenn how to map the field to a Google Earth aerial photo using a submeter GPS. The points we mapped will provide the base map onto which we can use GIS to layer all sorts of different data, including water flow channels, planting information, sunlight patterns, and soil sampling data.

From left: Kenn Harris ’23, Stephon Thomas (NRCS), and me on field mapping day.
Stephon and Kenn calculate a steep slope on the south side of the field.
Stephon Thomas (NRCS) and Kenn map impervious surface data for our field base GIS map.
Examining the GPS map points on a google Earth aerial photo.