[Geophysics] MATLAB in geophysics?

[Constantin Cranganu]

Jackie,

For the undergrads: EXCEL seems to be powerful enough to solve even a
2-D steady-state model using FDM and Laplace equation, or Kelvin or
Stefan problem with their error functions, etc. The major drawback of
EXCEL is its primitive graphic capabilities. So, my students are
introduced to TECPLOT 360, Origin, or Surfer for enhancing graphics.

For the grads: I follow what Seth suggested below, i.e., a given problem
can be solved using various programming software (Fortran, C++, Matlab,
Excel, etc.) and the individual results are compared during class hours.


A personal favorite: for solving PDE problems in heat flow, fluid
mechanics, electromagnetics, etc, I found FlexPDE a good tool: modeling,
numerical solution, and graphics. (Look for it at
http://www.pdesolutions.com/)  

Constantin Cranganu
Brooklyn College of the City University of New York
Department of Geology
2900 Bedford Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11210
 
tel. 718-951-5000 ext. 2878
fax 718-951-4753
-----Original Message-----
From: geophysics-bounces at serc.carleton.edu
[mailto:geophysics-bounces at serc.carleton.edu] On Behalf Of Seth Stein
Sent: Saturday, September 08, 2007 3:42 PM
To: Jackie Caplan-Auerbach
Cc: geophysics at serc.carleton.edu
Subject: Re: [Geophysics] MATLAB in geophysics?

Jackie,

You're raising one of the toughest questions (in my view) in teaching 
geophysics: what computational tools make sense. I've thought about this

and discussed it with colleagues both here and elsewhere, and find no 
general agreement.

So far I've confronted this issue mostly at the advanced undergrad/intro

grad level in the courses that go into the Stein & Wysession text 
(Seismology, Tectonophysics, Signal Processing/Inverse Problems). In 
these I assign a fair number of the computer problems from the book, and

give students the choice of how to do them. I encourage them to write 
fortran programs, but point out that all could be done in Matlab and 
most in Excel. At this level I encourage them to learn to program if 
they don't yet, and a lot of them do so. Fortran turns out (no surprise)

much easier for this that C++.

The trickier issue is what to do at a lower level. I'm writing lectures
now for a new data analysis class that's intended to be at a 
sophomore/junior level, with no prerequisites beyond calculus (and one 
could pretty much get by w/o that). It's supposed to be analogous to 
what a lot of physics departments do early in their students' undergrad 
careers. I've been mulling over what to do about computation, and am 
going to try just using Excel. Although kludgy, it does have a fair 
amount of math/stat functions available, and I suspect most students 
have it and so don't need to buy anything. So far I've written lab/demos

for earthquake recurrence and probability, and least square fits to data

(I'll probably use ages on the Hawaiian chain).

If this works, I plan to start using similar problems in my sophomore 
intro geophysics class.

Seth Stein

My approach has been to assign

   Caplan-Auerbach wrote:
> Hi there,
> 
> I'm a geophysicist who was unfortunately unable to attend the NAGT 
> workshop this summer (fieldwork got in the way), so I didn't have the 
> opportunity to ask this question to everyone at that time.  Hopefully 
> it's okay to use this listserv to do so now. 
> 
> I'm very curious whether other geophysics faculty are using MATLAB or 
> other similar software in their undergraduate classes.  I teach at a 
> university that is primary undergraduate, although we have a strong 
> master's program in geology.  Our undergraduate students largely
become 
> licensed geologists or work in industry following graduation, although

> some do go on to graduate school.  Although our strengths have 
> traditionally been in field geology we're working very hard to develop

> our geophysics and engineering geology.  However, there's no question 
> that our students lack confidence and skill in quantitative areas. 
> 
> I'm a user of MATLAB, and have always wanted my students to have some 
> familarity with it.   I know that it can be very helpful to those who
go 
> on to graduate school, and I suspect that at least some will see it in

> industry (although I'm not sure).  It also helps those students who
want 
> to do research with me (graduate or senior thesis), since all of my 
> research is MATLAB based.  However, they really struggle with it, and
I 
> wonder if I'm beating my head against a wall for no reason.  Another 
> member of our faculty is a user of MathCAD, which the students love,
but 
> I'm not aware that it gets much use elsewhere. 
> 
> I'd be very interested in learning what other schools are doing.  Do
you 
> use any software for quantitative analysis?  Excel?  Mathematica?  
> MATLAB?  MatCAD?  Do you introduce it on the undergraduate level?  On 
> the graduate level?  Do you use it in the classroom, or just for 
> research?  Do other departments in your university use this software?

> Does anyone know how widely these software packages are used outside
of 
> academia or research?
> 
> Any thoughts would help enormously.
> 
> Aloha and thanks in advance,
> Jackie
> 


-- 
Seth Stein
William Deering Professor
Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences
1850 Campus Drive
Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208
(847) 491-5265 FAX: (847) 491-8060 E-MAIL: seth at earth.northwestern.edu
http://www.earth.northwestern.edu/people/seth
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