Michael Holland

 In this week of lab, we learned about how to create and edit maps in ArcGIS Pro Software. Figure 1 and Figure 2 show two maps we created. Figure 1 is a map of Minnesota and its counties with a locator map to show where Minnesota is located on the globe. Figure 2 compares three different types of map projections so you can clearly see the different distortions between each one. We learned that a correct map should include things like a title, locator map, scale, legend, north-up arrow, and credits to the creator of the map. We also learned how to change colors, transparencies, and borders. Figure 1- Minnesota Counties Figure 2- Minnesota Counties with Different Projections

In the lab, we worked with Ground Control Points which allow the data processing to be more accurate by spreading out "anchor points" throughout the area that contains known locations. Below is my notes is how to add GCPs into Pix4D Mapper software.  -Download data from t drive/class data and put it onto the computer's C drive or an external hard drive. -Open the turffarmNov2 Excel CSV file, copy columns A-E and paste it into a new excel file. Save it as Simplified Data, and as a CSV type file.   Figure 1- Simplified Data of GCP coordinates   Figure 2- Showing simplified data location -Open Pix4D, start a new project and put in images from the lawnmower- patterned scan with the Mavic. -Once at the processing screen, hit project -> GPC manager, and import the simplified data file that we just made with the A-E   Figure 3- GCP/MTP manager   Figure 4- GCP manager with imported data -Once you import these GCPs, they will show up as blue crosses on the processing ...

In this lab, our lab groups met at the Boys and Girls Club in Lafayette to conduct a hostage mission. By the time my group was scheduled to arrive, we had moved our operation outside. The purpose of this lab is to test the capabilities of completing search and rescue work with a drone. We had one person flying the drone trying to locate hostages in high visibility vests, and the other partner would follow the drone, being a visual observer. We found this activity to be relatively unsuccessful because it was time-consuming and the visual observation would spot the participants hiding well before the drone could. It was also taking place in a very confined area. By the time my group was conducting the mission, we had started hanging the vests up in the trees and we had to take a picture when we found them. Figure 1 shows an example of finding the vest in the trees. Figure 1- Vest Location