Software Tools for Environmental
Field Study
June 2001 — December 2002
Conducting environmental field studies requires the collection of complex data and accurate computations.
Often such complex recording and analysis of data still occurs with paper and pencil. The STEFS project explored ways to use mobile
computing for efficient and inexpensive environmental and geo-positional data gathering through GIS, GPS, sensor, and wireless technology.
To assist these studies, the project created an electronic field notebook application that was capable of
integrating and storing data collection from environmental and GPS sensors, and making computations from the field based on the data.
This information could be easily displayed to field workers on-site and to others through an Internet site. The project provided hands-on
product development experience to undergraduate engineering majors and incorporated programming for Windows CE, the technologies related
to field studies, and actual testing on a trip to New Zealand and Australia. Projects like STEFS offer students a full view of software
development—including conceptualizing, planning, developing, testing, and making the improvements needed to improve their studies out
in the field.
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"STEFS was the first real opportunity for us as students to do cutting-edge research at the
interface of environmental science and mobile computing. We cherished this opportunity enormously and took full advantage of the
resources and momentum to develop a state-of-the-art field data collection system. The system is still innovative today, and I
continue to receive frequent e-mails from folks interested in our STEFS products."
——Enrique R. Vivoni, Graduate Research Assistant, Parsons Laboratory, MIT
Student Participants:
Enrique Vivoni
Daniel D. Sheehan
Kan Liu
Keyuan Xu
Richard Camilli
Rose Liu
Sheila Frankel
Faculty Advisor:
Prof. Dara Entekhabi
Additional Information:
http://icampus.mit.edu/projects/STEFS.shtml
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