Terms

General
Lee Fox - Author of Blog
Joseph Hupy - Professor of Class
UWEC - University of Wisconsin Eau Claire
L. E. Phillips Science Hall - The sciences building at UWEC
Campus Mall - A newly developed common area on UWEC's lower camps
Geospatial Certificate - A 12 credit certificate offered by UWEC, with 18 credit emphasis options
ESRI (Environmental Systems Research Institute) - An international corporation and supplier of GIS software.
UAS (Unmanned Aerial System) - refers to everything that goes into capturing aerial imagery with small remotely controlled vehicles. Including the UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle), UAV electronic components (sensors, gps, etc.), controller, and software.
NOAA - National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. A federal agency focused on the condition of the oceans the atmosphere.
Wilson Park - A park in Eau Claire, WI. Study area of Field Activity #4
The Priory - A study area and new location of the Children's Center at UWEC. Land used for UWEC's academic purposes. Study area of Activity #5, Field Activity #10 and Field Activity #11.
The Y6 - Joe Hupy's rotocopter. Seen in equipment day and used for Field Activity #9

Applications
ArcGIS - A suite of GIS software distributed by ESRI.
ArcMap - A geospatial processing program distributed by ESRI as part of ArcGIS.
ArcScene - A 3D geospatial processing program distributed by ESRI as part of ArcGIS. Used in Field Activity #2.
ArcPad - A mobile field mapping and data collection software distributed by ESRI. Used in Activty # 6, Field Activity #7, and Field Activity #11.
Microsoft Excel - A spreadsheet application distributed by Microsoft.

Geospatial
Coordinate System - A system which uses one or more numbers (coordinates) to uniquely identify a position in space.
Geographic Coordinate System - A coordinate system which utilizes latitude and longitude to specify every position on a 3D representation of planet Earth.
Projected Coordinate System - A coordinate system which utilizes numerical scales to specify specific positions on a 2D representation of planet Earth.
Raster Data - Data that is stored as cell values. Each cell has a distinct value that corresponds to certain element. Raster data shows continuous change well and is commonly used for elevation and temperature.
Vector Data - Data that is stored as points, lines, or polygons. Data has discrete boundaries and is commonly used for country boundaries and land parcels.
Shape file - A geospatial vector data format (used in ESRI products) that spatially describes features as points, lines, and polygons.
Interpolation Method - A process in ArcMap and ArcScene in which sample data points are used to create a raster in which values are predicted for adjacent cells based on different parameters. Examples include: IDW(inverse distance weighted), Kriging, Natural Neighbors, Spline, and TIN
see Field Activity #2 for more details.
Azimuth - the angular distance between true north and the direction the observer is facing
Magnetic declination - The angle between magnetic north and true north
Bearing  - a direction, measured in degrees from magnetic north
Geodatabase - a system folder that reads and manages geospatial data, stores all related data in one central location
Domain - the range of acceptable values for a certain element
Field - refers to a column in a table, fields store values for a single attribute
Record - refers to a row in a table, records store all attribute values for a certain feature

Equipment
TruPulse 360/B range finder - Records slope distance and azimuth through use of optics and lasers. Used in Field Activity #4.
Orienteering Compass - Device for navigation in combination with a map. Used in Activity #5 and Field Activity #10.
Juno 3B GPS unit - Device for recording locational data in the field. Used in Field Activity #7 and Field Activity #11.
Topcon Total Station - Piece of surveying equipment used to accurately record x,y, and z data. Used in Field Activity #8.
GMS-2 GPS unit - Device for recording locational data in combination with the Topcon Total Station. Used in Field Activity #8.