Day 5—Apply Image Analysis Techniques to Investigate Research Questions
The image analysis techniques you have learned in this course lend themselves to the investigation of many different issues in earth and environmental science, including those related to global climate change. These include the effects of prolonged drought and the effects of changes in the thickness and extent of polar sea ice. In particular, the ability to examine these issues over time and space and with an "eyes-in-the-sky" perspective provides new methods of analysis and new potential solutions to environmental problems.
Toady, you work through two environmental science investigations and consider ways in which image analysis techniques can be incorporated into your curriculum and ways in which you can help students use these techniques to ask and answer questions of interest to them.
Day 5 Goals
- Use ImageJ stacks to explore, animate, and investigate time-series data.
- Understand how digital images can be used to analyze change over time and monitor environmental issues such as drought and change in the extent of Arctic sea ice.
- Share your ideas about image analysis techniques you have learned and how you might use them to have your students investigate issues in Earth science and/or environmental science.
Day 5 Tasks
- Use ImageJ to measure changes in the surface area and water level of Lake Mead from 2000 to 2004.
- Use the Wand Tool to select regions of interest to measure.
- Use ImageJ to identify and measure the average November sea ice coverage of Hudson Bay from 1978 to 2007.
- Export ImageJ measurement data to a spreadsheet.
- Graph and interpret the data.
- Carry out your own mini-investigation using the image analysis techniques you have learned.
- Contribute to an online discussion about research questions you and your students can investigate using image analysis techniques.