Geomatics Fieldwork
Newport, Shropshire A canal established by Thomas Telford has largely disappeared since its closure in 1961. With the growth in recreational activities along the remaining waterways, there has been renewed interest in recovering lost canals. Work on this water body is largely land survey and that so far been GPS heighting. With a control network established, there are a few years of field weeks left to do to determine the topography of the land and help establish proposals for the new engineering works. Costs to students include travel to and accommodation & victualling in Shropshire, coming to about £300.
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Cherbourg, Normandy, France The protected anchorage around Cherbourg contains the largest artificial area in Europe and possibly the world. ‘La petite rade’ and ‘la grande rade’ have been surveyed by the local college, Intechmer, but with much field work still to occur. As with the studies local to the University of Plymouth in Plymouth Sound, there is a range of field opportunities such as undertaking geodetic, tidal, tidal stream, sedimentary sampling, side-scan sonar and sub bottom profiling surveys. Processing of these data by digital mapping or in building a Geographical Information System for scientific or cultural studies offer further opportunities. Costs to students include travel to and accommodation & victualling in Cherbourg, coming to about £800.
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Plymouth Sound There is a range of field opportunities such as undertaking geodetic, tidal, tidal stream, sedimentary sampling, side-scan sonar, sub bottom profiling and swathe sounding surveys. Processing of these data by digital mapping or in building a Geographical Information System for scientific or cultural studies offer further opportunities. 3D terrain models and fly-throughs are common outputs from the swathe sounding survey students. Remote Sensing imagery of Plymouth Sound, the seas around the British Isles and further around the world all offer scientific laboratory based activities. There are no costs to students in term time. Some work is included within the timetabled field weeks and the equipment is booked to coincide with these. Project work and work outside of terms has to fit in with the availability of the vessel and other demands on equipment.
Exhibitions and conferences
We encourage visits every two years to the biennial conferences of the Hydrographic Society (2006: Antwerp; 2008: Liverpool) and Oceanology International (Excel Centre, London). Other opportunities arise from year to year.