Experiences
Field Camp
Field Trips
The Department of Physics and Geosciences is committed to give students real-world experience implementing their classroom learning. Yearly, students in the Geosciences Program get to experience the field camp, which lets them get their boots on the ground and play the role of geoscientists. It is an enriching activity for students. View some of the recent Field Trips here.
Facilities
Geospatial Technologies Lab
Hardware/software: 25 workstations and the latest geospatial software including ESRI’s ArcGIS, ENVI/IDL, Trimble TerraSync, and Google Earth Pro. The lab is also equipped with state of the art software used in the Oil & Gas industry, including IHS Kingdom Seismic & Geologic Interpretation and IHS Petra Geologic Interpretation software.
Geospatial Research Lab
The geospatial research lab (GSRL) is a campus interdisciplinary research center where faculty/staff/students and members of the local community can take GIS workshops as well as conduct GIS-related research within their specific disciplines. The lab contains 15 workstations with ESRI’s ArcGIS, ENVI/IDL, Trimble TerraSync, Google Earth Pro, a large format HP plotter, as well as an upgraded Panasonic projector.
Recent geospatial lab research projects (involving faculty and students) include:
• GIS Architecture Development – Rancho La Union (historical ranch in South Texas).
• Investigating the effects of recent land use/land cover change on the growth of the urban heat island in San Antonio, Texas (2005-2014).
• Detecting and mapping the urban heat island and microclimate effects for heat mitigation planning in Kingsville, Texas.
• City of Kingsville, Texas historical surveys and GIS mapping of the historical district.
Equipment and other resources
Our Geospatial lab and classroom are equipped with state of the art field instruments and software to conduct research, support teaching, and outreach activities. This includes a spectroradiometer, a Trimble GEOXH handheld differential GPS (with Terrasync and GPS Correct/GPS Analyst software), 30 Trimble Juno GPS receivers, and meteorological instrumentation that can measure location with mobile temperature and relative humidity using a Garmin GPS unit.