Another Angle

This week I decided to continue my hiatus from DNA extraction and PCR amplification. There is another angle of my research that I have yet to develop. When taking my samples at Squaw peak, I used an app on my phone to locate each sample's location in terms of GPS coordinates. I also sketched a map of the site.

The overall site sketch

A closer image of the area that I believe I will narrow my study down to.

The arrow points to the line that will correspond with the horizontal axis below

I did this not only so I would be able to return to the specific test subjects if needed (and I did need to), but also knowing that I would like to have a detailed map of some sort within my research paper and presentation. This week I developed a system that will allow me to accurately plot the site in three dimensions. It will be easier to explain the system when I can actually show some pictures of the operation. I am pretty confident it will work very well. What good are the three dimensional coordinates without a good mapping system? Well, none really! I spent some time digging around for good ways to map in three dimensions, and I think I've hit the nail on the head.


This is what I've come up with so far. Keep in mind these numbers are purely fictional. I was just trying to see what I could do with this system. The rough estimates of the overall plot size should be fairly accurate, but the topography is not. I am still working on how to plot the individual trees. We'll see what I can come up with!