Agenda & Course Materials

Short Course @GSA: Teaching SfM and GNSS Methods to Undergraduates in the Field

October 7-8, 2022 (8 am Friday-5 pm Saturday)
Boulder, Colorado (GSA 2022 Annual Meeting is in Denver October 9-12)

Before the course

By September 15 complete logistics prep survey (opens in new window)
By October 6 complete teaching prep survey (link coming soon)
Ensure you are "up-to-date" on vaccinations. See COVID19 Policies & Planning. Opens in new window.
See Participant Checklist for software downloading info and other preparation tasks.

During the course

Jump down to: Course Materials | Friday | Saturday | Other Resources

Anticipated agenda only. Subject to change.

Course Materials

The teaching materials associated with this course are drawn from the GETSI Field Teaching Modules and related resources (ex. presentations, student exercises).

Primary materials
- High Precision Positioning with Static and Kinematic GPS/GNSS
- Analyzing High Resolution Topography with TLS and SfM
  - The specific Introduction to SfM exercise was a version modified and simplified from the GETSI Unit 1-SfM during remote teaching - Getting started with Structure from Motion (SfM) photogrammetry (remote field collection)
- Prepared Data Sets, Remote Field Teaching, and Software Manuals - GETSI Field resource page
- Accessing GPS/GNSS Field Equipment and Support - guidance on how to borrow GPS surveying teaching kits
- Course booklet files - SfM-GPS Field Teaching Short Course Booklet Oct 2022 (Acrobat (PDF) 46.7MB Oct7 22)
Other materials
- Processing Coastal Imagery With Agisoft Metashape Professional Edition, Version 1.6—Structure From Motion Workflow Documentation, USGS Open-File Report 2021-1039
- Change detection tools within OpenTopography
- M3C2 plugin - which allows you to surface-normal change (not just, say, vertical change)

Friday October 6 - Introduction to SfM & GPS

Breakfast at the hotel
7:30 am - Meet in Hampton Inn entry way for shuttle to UNAVCO office (or walk to UNAVCO -- see map (Acrobat (PDF) 711kB Sep6 22) for more details
8:00 am - Introduction to the short course [mostly Beth]
Intro to the short course presentation (PowerPoint 2007 (.pptx) 79.7MB Oct7 22)
- Logistics – schedule, course materials/website, paperwork
- Introductions from leaders
- Icebreaker
- GETSI project background and module overview
- Troubleshooting any software issues (MetaShape, Emlid ReachView3 app, Emlid Studio)
9:00 am – Introduction to SfM [Beth]
Introduction to SfM presentation (PowerPoint 2007 (.pptx) 33.7MB Oct7 22)
- Collect SfM photos near the office (handheld and pole, local reference frame)
  - Drawn from Getting started with Structure from Motion (SfM) photogrammetry
  - Shared photo folder

Show main files from this exercise

Prep exercise: SfM preparation exercise (Microsoft Word 2007 (.docx) 1.4MB Aug27 20)
Main student exercise: Introduction to SfM student exercise (Microsoft Word 2007 (.docx) 14.4MB May3 21)
Instructor supporting files
- sample photo set for 3D (sofas) (Zip Archive 36.5MB Aug27 20) - if any of the students are unable to collect a photo set with ground control points OR if their photos fail to align, you can give them this set of pictures to practice on
- GCP calculation template -- private instructor-only file
  - this Excel template provides a quick way to do the calculations needed to convert the distance, azimuth, and inclination measurements into x-y-z coordinates. I prefer to make the students sweat through the trigonometry themselves but if that is not practical with your students or time constraints, this can speed up the process.
- NON PROTECTED excel template - gcp_calc_template.xlsx (Excel 2007 (.xlsx) 10kB Oct7 22)

Break as needed
11:15 am - Introduction to Agisoft MetaShape
12:30 pm - Lunch
1:30 pm - Introduction to GPS/GNSS and survey design considerations [Ben]
- GNSS-SfM Workflow Summary Diagram (Acrobat (PDF) 300kB Sep8 22)
- Intro to GNSS/GPS presentation (PowerPoint 2007 (.pptx) 36.3MB Oct8 22)
- Introduction to kinematic GNSS/GPS (PowerPoint 2007 (.pptx) 33.9MB Oct8 22)
2:30 pm - Field site data collection for georeferenced point cloud [mostly Ben]
- Introduction to Emlids
- Survey design
- Collect GPS/GNSS ground control points
- Deliverables – SfM photos, ground control points (via Emlids), variety of GPS points for more profiles/topography profiles, field notes, reflections on implications for teaching
- TAKE group photo
5:30 pm - Dinner
6:30 pm - Evening session on data downloading and planning for Day 2
- Debrief on the field experience - both technical and pedagogical
- Download data from Emlids; download photos to computers
- Distribute pre-collected data sets
- Run through process of getting PPP solution
- Overview Saturday schedule (including implementation planning)
  - Luggage come here
- Roadcheck survey
7:45 pm Adjourn

Saturday October 8 - Making georeferenced point clouds & teaching implementation

Breakfast at the hotel
7:40 am - Meet in Hampton Inn entry way for shuttle to UNAVCO office (or walk to UNAVCO -- see map (Acrobat (PDF) 711kB Sep6 22) for more details
8:00 am - MetaShape continued [Beth and Ben]
- Make georeferenced SfM point clouds from photos and GCP points taken during Friday afternoon data collection
- If your photos do not work, there are photo sets and GPS locations for GCP in this shared folder
9:45 am - Break
10:00 am - Resources and tools
- OpenTopography: data sets and data tools (45 min) [Chris]
  - OpenTopography presentation (Acrobat (PDF) 74.5MB Oct21 22)
- UAV planning (15 min) [Sam]
  - UNAVCO sUAS Safety Plan general template (Microsoft Word 2007 (.docx) 2MB Oct8 22)
  - UNAVCO sUAS Safety Plan - Chute Canyon example (Microsoft Word 2007 (.docx) 16.2MB Oct8 22)
Other field safety considerations (15 min) [Bruce]
Troubleshooting FIX issues (15 min) [Beth]
Borrowing equipment for teaching - from UNAVCO/GETSI (10 min) [Beth]
Accessing GPS/GNSS Field Equipment and Support
Field teaching case studies (including DEI and accessibility considerations) (20 min) [leaders]
- Case Study of teaching w SfM and GPS at Salmon Falls Landslide presentation (PowerPoint 2007 (.pptx) 28.9MB Oct8 22)
See also Other Resources
12:00 pm - Lunch
1:00 pm - Teaching Implementation Planning
- Introduction to Participant Workspaces and typical considerations for field planning
- Individual work time on teaching implementation plans and what you will share with your breakout group
  - Teaching/geologic setting
  - Learning goals/deliverables from students
  - Methods/tools (GPS? SfM? both?)
  - Questions/challenges/initial ideas of solutions
2:00 pm - Breakout group discussions for sharing teaching plans
- Pick a time keeper and share-out presenter
- Each person shares initial plans - ~5 minutes each
  - Teaching/geologic setting
  - Learning goals/deliverables from students
  - Methods/tools (GPS? SfM? both?)
  - Questions/challenges/initial ideas of solutions
- Breakout out group discussion of questions/challenges/ideas - 20 minutes
- Identify ~3 things your reporter will share with larger group - 10 min
- GROUPS
  - Board room: Amuda, Ben L, Keith, Ƶack S
  - Lakeside room: Alia, Alyssa, Jennifer, John, Peter
  - Room 162: Dorothy, Doug, Karen, Michael
  - Classroom: Dan L, Jordan, Mayala Nsingi, Md Lal Mamud, Megan Brown
  - Lunch room: Amit, Dan M, Ken, Veronica, Zachariah
3:10 pm –Break
3:25 pm - Whole group share-out and discussion
- Share-out - 1 leader share ~3 main thoughts or questions
- Brainstorming solutions to challenges
4:10 pm - Bus and stipend logistics. See also Depart to Denver
4:20 pm - Individual work time to add to implementation plan
4:40 pm - Feedback survey
5:00 pm - Adjourn
- All interested participants can get a ride to the Boulder downtown bus station to catch the express bus (Flatiron Flyer1) to Union Station in downtown Denver, near to the Colorado Convention Center where GSA will be held. See also Depart to Denver.