 Growing Number of MSU Scientists Turn to GPS
Some people worry about not seeing the forest for the trees. Then there are others who see trees as the windows to the forests, portals to the world's natural history.
Take Lisa Graumlich, for example. An environmental scientist and
director of the Mountain Research Center at Montana State
University-Bozeman,
"We use tree rings to study how forests will respond to climate
change," Graumlich said.
To inspect those rings, Graumlich's tools include everything from
tape measures and hollow bit drills to digital cameras and
remotely sensed images. She, like a growing number of MSU
researchers, also uses the Global Positioning System (GPS).
"It's just created such a new way of working, both technically
and in terms of how we can combine data sets in new and useful
ways," Graumlich commented.
GPS relies on a network of satellites to calculate position,
velocity and time. Since it works anywhere, any time and in any
weather, more MSU scientists are using GPS to gather additional
information. In the process, they are gaining fresh insights into
bears and bison, weeds and trees, penguins and ecosystems.
GPS has also promoted links between natural sciences and social
sciences, creating a new breed of geospatial scientists,
Graumlich added. GPS has become another tool for resource
managers. It's helping scientists track changes that range in
scale from the very small to the entire Greater Yellowstone
ecosystem and letting them use the measurements in more complex
ways than ever before.
"A number of things that came out of space technology have had
useful application for civilians. GPS is one of those," said
Chuck Schwartz, head of the USGS Northern Rocky Mountain Science
Center Interagency Grizzly Bear Study Team based at MSU.
GPS has allowed scientists to collect enough data to discover
patterns in the way bears behave, Schwartz said. GPS has also
helped explain earlier observations about bears.
In the Antarctic, William Fraser said GPS is helping him test
hypotheses that he never could have tested before. As a penguin
researcher, Fraser uses GPS technology to map Adelie penguin
colonies and test ideas about how long-term trends in penguin
populations may be influenced by their position on a particular
landscape.
"The value of GPS is not in saving manpower and money as much as
in presenting entirely new opportunities to examine interactions
between physical and biological processes that affect penguin
populations over a range of space and time scales," Fraser said.
"This will no doubt lead to more interdisciplinary work - it
already has - and it already has challenged some conventional
ideas we have held for some time."
Researchers who took part in an experiment in Madison County said
GPS and related technology could become a powerful tool for
fighting leafy spurge and spotted knapweed if it's affordable and
they can collect information accurately and efficiently. Not only
will it save time and money over field crews, but it will help
them target problem areas.
"Without understanding where these weeds are or where they fit
across the landscape, it's impossible for us to develop a
strategy," explained Roger Sheley, an associate professor at MSU
and noxious weeds specialist for MSU Extension.
So where will GPS go from here?
Richard Aspinall, director of MSU's Geographic Information and
Analysis Center (GIAC), said GPS will be more precise because of
new satellites and technology. The units will also be smaller,
more mobile and more ubiquitous. Not only will they be placed in
vending machines and telephones, but they'll be linked to other
types of computers.
Evelyn Boswell
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