Analyzing data - Finding lava flows in Hawaii!

Overall problem: Where are the active lava flows on Kilauea volcano?

Relationship of problem in this lesson to overall problem: Students need to learn how to interpret and analyze remote sensing images to locate active lava flows on Kilauea. 

Estimated time required: 4 class periods

Student outcomes/objectives:

• The students will identify objects in remote sensing images.
• The students will analyze remote sensing images of Kilauea to locate active lava flows. 

Prerequisite skills or knowledge:

• Basic analysis skill 
• Basic internet skills
• Basic presentation and explanation skills

Teacher preparation:

• Print Student Journal / Activity sheets for these activities.
• Secure internet computers and projection equipment.
• Bookmark appropriate websites for students.
• It is highly recommended that teachers review the last lesson, "Collect data," as they prepare this lesson and review the remote sensing tutorial website in order to gain a basic understanding of remote sensing.

Student reflection and assessment: Student reflection activities  |  Assessment  

Education standards supported by this lesson:

National Science Education Standards | Project 2061 Benchmarks

National Standards for School Mathematics | National Technology Standards | National Geography Standards

Cross-curricular connections to support National Education Standards for this lesson:

math | technology | geography

Teacher activities

Student activities

Remind students that the ER-2 was chosen as the aircraft to fly the Kilauea volcano mission. 

Ask students:

• Why do you think the ER-2 was chosen to fly this mission?

Before looking at the actual Kilauea volcano mission data, look at another recent airborne remote sensing mission flown by the ER-2.

Direct students to read the NASA Dryden Flight Center news release from 9/07/2000, which describes the NASA Dryden ER-2's part in supporting the southern African range fire study.

Teacher note: There are also some images related to this news release. You may want to print and distribute these news releases or read them to the class.

In this mission:

• A NASA ER-2 high-altitude research aircraft based at the Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, Calif., participated in an intensive six-week field experiment that began on August 13, 2000 in several Southern African countries. In this research, the main role of ER-2 was to sample the chemistry and measure the thickness of the smoke plumes, map the movements of large plumes, and investigate how smoke and other fine particles affect clouds. 

Prompt students to consider and record responses to the questions on Activity Sheet: ER-2 Mission information (AD-1).

Debrief the activity by identifying the southern African range fire study as an example of using aircraft (such as the ER-2) and remote sensing devices (such as AVIRIS) to collect data to investigate the earth's problems. It is important to point out that in order to be able to solve problems like locating active lava flows on Kilauea, scientists need to interpret the data collected and analyze it based on the their understanding of and questions about the area they are studying.

The students will now learn how to analyze remote sensing data.

Sample student response:

• The ER-2 is the optimal aircraft based on mission purpose, altitude requirements, flight requirements, and cargo requirements (it can hold the AVIRIS).

Student activity:

• Students read the NASA Dryden Flight Center news release.

Student activity:

INFORM students that before they analyze the lava flows at the Kilauea volcano they will briefly review important concepts associated with remote sensing. 

Prompt the students to think about the kinds of images they will be analyzing by showing them examples of visible and infrared images. You may also want to show them other examples of ER-2 mission data.

• rgb visible
• green visible only
• thermal IR
• thermal IR with color table

Ask students to try to identify what is seen in these images?

State that it is important before analyzing data that you know what the target for the data was, and what was captured in the image, e.g., reflected visible, reflected thermal, emitter thermal energy.. 

Provide a brief review of some of the basic concepts of remote sensing, specifically electromagnetic (EM) radiation.

• The first requirement for remote sensing is to have an energy source. In passive remote sensing the target is either reflecting energy from the sun, by energy it emits, or both. In active remote sensing the target is illuminated by an artificial energy source that directs energy at the target and measures the energy the target reflects.

• The energy we refer to is in the form of EM radiation. In terms of wavelength, the EM spectrum ranges from the shorter wavelengths, including gamma and x-rays, to the longer wavelengths, including microwaves and broadcast radio waves. 

• The light that our eyes (our "remote sensors") can detect is visible EM radiation. Visible EM radiation makes up a very small portion of the EM spectrum referred to as the visible spectrum. This is the familiar rainbow often remembered as ROYGBIV (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet).

• Blue, green and red are the primary colors or wavelengths of the visible spectrum. 

• There is also a lot of radiation around us that is invisible to our eyes but can be detected by other remote sensors (such as AVIRIS) and used to our advantage. Often for the purposes of remote sensing the non-visible EM radiation that is detected is infrared EM radiation.  Infrared includes wavelengths from just outside the visible spectrum ("infrared" means below red), to wavelengths that we sense as heat, called thermal infrared.

Teacher resource: 

• See the electromagnetic spectrum for more information.

EXPLORE concepts related to analyzing remote sensing data by participating in activities that make use of visible and non-visible images.

Break students into 4 small teams and have them explore one of the following activities and record their findings on Activity sheet: Watching over our planet from space (AD-2). You can download the entire  Watching Over Our Planet from Space Kit or only the sections you choose.

• #1 : Which is which (3.1): Matching images with a description of features
• # 2 : Find it (3.2): Finding and determining the location of features on an image
• # 3a.: Measure this (3.3.a): Measuring distance
• # 3b: Measure this (3.4 b): Measuring features recognition, determining direction

• Forest fire activity: There are many forest fires in every year. Satellite image can be used to map the type of vegetation, sources of water and areas that are difficult to travel over. In this satellite image, various colors show various areas. Student can identify the color of forest fire by analyzing data image.

• Optional activity: You figure it out (3.9): Students can solve multiple choice question using image reading skills and interpret images using contextual logic. (This activity should be considered optional.) 

Teacher notes: 

• Teaching time for each activity is anywhere from 15-25 minutes.

• It may take a several minutes to download these files. (This file requires Acrobat Reader 4.0 or later. You can download v4.0 for free from: http://www.adobe.com /products/acrobat/readstep2.html).

• Before teaching this activity, it is necessary to consider the time to download the file. You may want to identify the activities that students will complete and download the materials in advance.
• It is highly recommended that you print student activity sheets in advance.
• Answers to activities are provided.

Ask each team to briefly share the results from their investigation with the rest of the class. It may be useful to have them refer during their presentations to Activity sheet: Watching over our planet from space (AD-2).

Debrief the "Watching Over Our Planet from Space" activities by asking each team to briefly describe  the difference between mid-infrared images and visible images and why the colors in mid infrared images are not like visible images? See Activity sheet: Summary (AD-3).

Teacher resources for these activities:

Student activity:

• Students work in groups to complete one of the activities.
• Complete student worksheet Activity sheet: Watching over our planet from space (AD-2)

Student activity:

Students present the results from their investigation with the rest of the class. See Activity sheet: Watching over our planet from space (AD-2)

Student activity:

• Students should consider the questions and complete Activity sheet: Summary (AD-3).

TRY using new knowledge to interpret the remote sensing data gathered over Kilauea.

Show video clips of eruptions of Kilauea in Hawaii and prompt students to describe what lava flows look like when viewed from the ground.

• Movies of Kilauea (Lava flow creation video)

Ask the following questions to help guide students in making a description:

• Describe in detail what you observed in the movie?
• What objects and/or events did you observe? 
• What colors did you see?
• Do you suspect there is EM Radiation present? If so, what types?
• Why would remote sensing be used to find active lava flows instead of just walking around Kilauea looking for them?

Activity Instructions:

• Break students into teams.
• Provide students with the actual NASA Mission data images (visible image, mid- infrared image) sent from the remote sensing device, AVIRIS,  aboard an ER-2. 
• Ask the students to identify which is the visible and which is the IR image. (The visible image is a combination of red, green, and blue to produce a color image. The IR image is only a single band -- it is black, gray, and white..)
• Prompt students to use the Activity sheet: Decision support tool (AD-4) in their journals to help them read the mission data images.
• Direct each team to complete the Activity sheets: Analyzing the KaAMS mission data (AD-5, 5A).

Teacher notes:  

• Presentation options include: color print, overhead  transparencies, or bookmark student website on computers available to students.
• It is important to note that in the "What's Hot, What's Not" lesson, the students determined that nighttime images would be optimal for this mission. The data they will be using here was collected during a daytime mission in which data was being collected for a variety of purposes in addition to locating active lava flows.

Debrief the activity:  How do you know where the active lava flows are on Kilauea? Let students describe the process they went through and critical elements they considered to identify active lava flows using the Activity sheet: Decision support tool (AD-4) 

Remind students to complete the Activity sheet: Reflection page (AD-6) for this lesson in their journals.

Teacher resources:

• Mission remote sensing images with labels:
  • Visible
  • Mid-infrared image
• Kilauea volcano
• Volcano world
• Hawaiian eruptions
• Lava flows

Student activity:

• View the movies of Kilauea eruptions.

Sample student answers:

• I observed hot lava flowing. It almost looked like a river of fire moving between black shorelines.
• Hot lava, smoke, rocks, what looked like black and gray sand.
• Red, orange, yellow, black, gray
• Yes there is EM radiation present: visible and IR. The movie was recorded during the day so the sun must be out. I remember my teacher telling me that UV comes from the sun.
• The lava is too hot to be around and Kilauea is like a big mountain. I wonder how they made this movie since it is so hot.

Student activity:

• View images from remote sensing web sites.  
• Work in teams.
• Identify which is the visible image and which is the IR image.
• Participate in identifying objects in remote sensing data image.
• Students complete Activity sheets: Analyzing the KaAMS mission data (AD-5, 5A).

Sample student responses for the debrief

• The active lava appears as bright spots in the IR image.
• We used the decision making support tool as a guide. We used one image to locate objects and then tried to make sure we were right by using the other image.

Student activity:

• Students complete the Activity sheet: Reflection page (AD-6) for this lesson in their journals.

 Student reflection activities:

• Prompt students to think about the process and elements for identifying objects in remote sensing data image. 
• Prompt students to record how they analyzed the images to investigate the lava flows in Hawaii? What kinds of analysis method did they utilize and why did they selected those methods?

 Assessment:

• Students describe how to identify objects in the remote sensing images that used the ER-2 as a platform.
• Students identify features in both visible and infrared images and provide evidence to support their claims.

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 Ideas for math lesson connections:

• Given the scale of a remote sensing image, students measure the dimensions of a structure, calculate the actual size of the object, and determine distances between objects in the image.

• Students learn appropriate metric prefixes for discussing EM radiation and convert between them. 

National Education Math Standards:

• Number and operations

• Geometry

• Measurement  

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 Ideas for geography lesson connections:

• Students learn how to read topographic maps and practice skills by examining a topographic map of the region surrounding Kilauea.
• Students learn how to read shaded relief maps and practice skills by examining a topographic map of the region surrounding Kilauea.

National Education Geography Standards:

• The World in Spatial Terms (#1) 

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 Ideas for technology lesson connections:

• Students research various applications of remote sensing and show relationships among those applications. 
• Students practice Internet search strategies and learn to use presentation, authoring, and concept mapping applications.

National Education Science Technology Standards:

• Nature of Technology (#3) - Relationships among technologies and the connections between technology and other fields
• Technology and Society (#4) - The cultural, social, economic, and political effects of technology

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Activity sheet: ER-2 Mission information (AD-1)

Read the NASA Dryden Flight Research Center news release on the ER-2 missions over South Africa and answer the following questions.

1. What was the mission of the ER-2? 

• A multidisciplinary research effort aimed at understanding the sustainability of the region's sensitive and pressured ecosystems. The research was looking at the effects of biomass burning, smoke and chemicals from fires on the atmosphere, and the effect of flooding/rainfall on plant life and grass fires in Southern Africa.

2. What data were collected?

• Data were collected on plant life, chemicals and smoke from fires.

3. How were data collected?

• Remote sensing data from both satellites and the ER2

4. What do you think the data could tell the scientists?

• Areas that could be potential fire hazards, effects of fires on wildlife and plant life

5. What could the visible images tell the scientists?  Provide an example of what you might see in visible data from this mission.

• Where the fires were, what the damage was from the fires

6. What could the infrared images tell the scientists? Provide an example of what you might see in infrared data from the mission.

•  Levels of chemicals in the air as a result of the fires.

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Answer key: Visible images web-based activities

3.1 Which is Which ?

     a) 2 b) 7 c) 12 d) 9 e) 8 f) 10 g) 5 h) 10 i) 4 j) 11 k) 3  l) 6  m) 1

Activity sheet: Watching over our planet from space (AD-2) answer key for one of the activities

1. Activity name ______________________

 Find It!

2. Briefly describe the activity you completed:

 In this activity we used number coordinates to find different features in a Landsat satellite image

3. What objects and/or features did you observe in the images in your activity?

 roads, farmland, rivers, vegetation, lakes, islands, ponds

4. Why are these images important? (What did they tell you?)

This image could be used to investigate land use, crop health, and ecological and geographical studies.

5. Do the images contain information from the visible or IR parts of the EM spectrum or both? How do you know which part of the EM spectrum is used in the images?

The image is made from information from parts of the EM spectrum we don't normally see, namely the IR part. False color has been used to show the IR information in colors that we do see.

1. What is the difference between visible and mid-infrared images?

• Visible images show the EM radiation reflected and/or emitted by objects corresponding to wavelengths in the visible spectrum. We can see this type of EM radiation with our eyes. Mid-infrared images show the EM radiation reflected and/or emitted by objects corresponding to wavelengths longer than those in the visible spectrum. They are often associated with heat. We cannot see this form of EM radiation with our eyes.

2. Why are colors in mid-infrared images different from those in visible images?

• Many times false color is used to enhance images and bring out detail. The actual data collected is measured wavelengths of EM radiation and the locations from which they were emitted and/or reflected. Colors are assigned to those measurements using image processing software to help us visualize the measurements. One way to think about it is that we are telling the computer, "Take all the pixels that are showing high temperatures and display them with red. Take all the pixels that are showing low temperatures and display them as violet. Display the pixels with intermediate temperatures with the colors that lie between red and violet."

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    Activity sheet: Analyzing the KaAMS mission data (AD-5) answer key

Group members: ______________________________________________________________

Name : ______________________________________________________________

What did our team find from analyzing images?

   Activity sheet: Student decision support tool (AD-4)

 Where are the active lava flows in these images?

1)Were the images collected during the day or night?

2) Are there light reddish-brown flow shapes in the visible image?

2a) Are there dark gray or black flow shapes in the visible image?

3) Are there any bright spots in the mid-IR image?

4) Do bright spots in mid-IR image correspond to similar bright spots in the visible image?

5) Do bright spots correspond to an area of existing lava flows?

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rev 19-jan-03 dDate -->