Explore McMaster University and Arctic Research on Google Earth

Step 1: Launch Google Earth and Fly to McMaster University

Step 1) Launch Google Earth on your computer and “fly” to McMaster by typing “McMaster University”in the Search box at the top. You will see an overview of the neighborhood of the school. You can zoom

in further to look at the school buildings, sports facilities, and parking lots. Once you zoom in enough,Google Earth will change to Street View and you can look at the school in 3D. Can you recognize anylandmarks like parks, streams, bus stops?

Step 2) Add a “placemark” at your favourite spot on campus by clicking on the yellow pin icon at the topof the screen. A pin shows up on the Google Earth image, and you can move the pin while it has a yellowborder until it sits right at your chosen location. Please name the placemark by typing the name youchoose in the New Placemark window that appears. If you want to edit your placemark, right click andchoose Get Info.

Step 3) Use the navigation tools to navigate around campus. Make sure to note what vegetation you cansee in the images – can you see trees, grass, and wetlands in Cootes Paradise north of campus?LET’S VISIT THE ARCTICLater in this module, you will use meteorological data that was collected by a research team fromBoulder, CO–Andrey Grachev and Ola Persson—who study Arctic weather and climate. They are part of

a pan-Arctic IASOA research network that has weather stations located across the Arctic. Using GoogleEarth, you can “visit” a few of the sites where they collect their data.

Step 4) The first site you will visit is Eureka in Canada. Type in your Google Earth search box, “Eureka,Canada.” Add a placemark that you name, “Eureka” on the building with a Canadian flag on the roof.Now zoom out to see where the placemark (=Eureka) is located relative to McMaster and where inCanada.

Step 5) Explore the settlement. Take screen capture that shows the layout of the settlement.Question A) What type of vegetation do you see around Eureka, Canada? Describe the physical setting(mountains, rivers, ocean) of Eureka, Canada using cardinal directions (N, S, E, W)? What does theinfrastructure of Eureka, Canada look like (roads, buildings)? (3 marks) Include and label the screencapture along with your written explanation.

Question B) What is the elevation above sea level of Eureka, Canada and what are the coordinates ofthe pin you placed? (3 marks)Please make sure your coordinates are in decimal degrees. To make sure

Step 2: Add Placemarks to your Favorite Campus Spots

this is the case, go to the toolbar at the top of the screen, select “Tools”, then “Options…”, under “ShowLat/Long” choose “Decimal Degrees” and hit “Apply”.LAB 1 Due: Monday July 6th at 1:00pmCourse: EnvirSc 1C03 Climate Water and EnvironmentStep 6) Click on the icon with the sun in the top bar above the image. You will see the amount ofdaylight in Eureka at the current time. Move the slider to find out when it gets light in Eureka today. Youcan also play a time slider animation that shows the amount of daylight throughout the year by clickingthe “Show historical images” icon that has a clock with a left pointing green arrow. Thatwill open thetime slider. By clicking on the wrench icon you can choose the time and day but can also just use thetime slider function. Look at when it getslight in Eureka today and when does it get dark?Step 7) Go to http://www.esrl.noaa.gov/psd/iasoa/stations/eureka, then read more details aboutEureka’s observatories. Next, look at some images from the settlement by scrolling down the page to“site map”. Click on the image and find the location of the flux tower on the photograph (marked ingreen). Now go back to Google Earth. Look for the location of the flux tower that you just saw on theIASOA website in Google Earth. You will measure the distance from the NOAA observation tower to thewater directly south.

Select the ruler icon in the menu bar above the image. Choose a sensible unit of measurement. Click the

starting point of the measurement (tower). Click the end point of the measurement (ocean).

Question C) Approximately, how far is the flux tower away from the ocean (make sure to include theunit you used for the measurement)? Hint: look for the tower’s shadow to identify it. (2 marks)Step 8) Now visit the research station Barrow, Alaska using Google Earth. The research station is locatedexactly at 71.3275 N 156.635 W outside the town of Barrow. Copy or type the geographic coordinates inthe Search field to find the exact location of the station. Set a placemark where the station is and choosean appropriate name for your placemark.

Question D) Measure the distance (in a straight line) from the station to the airport in the town ofBarrow (following the instructions about distance measurements under step7). (2 marks)Step 9) Click on the sun icon at the top of the screen to see whether it is light or dark in Barrow (sameprocess as for Step 6). Then go to the website from IASOA about the Barrow station:http://www.esrl.noaa.gov/psd/iasoa/stations/barrow and look at the webcam. Does the webcam showthe same light/darkness as you see in Google Earth? If not, please explore if there is a way to replicatethe webcam light conditions.Step 10) Now visit Ny Ålesund, Svalbard in Norway and set a placemark. In the left hand column got tothe “Layers” tab and make sure the “Photos” box is selected. You can see little image icons around thetown. Click on some of the pictures and see what Ny Ålesund looks like.

Question E)What does the vegetation in Ny Ålesund look like based on the pictures? (1 mark)Step 11) Now visit Tiksi in Russia, another IASOA station. Explore the town using Google Earth and visitthe IASOAwebsite: http://www.esrl.noaa.gov/psd/iasoa/stations/tiksi. Set a “placemark”.Step 12) Determine the distance from each of the four stations (see your placemarks) to the Arctic Circle(66° 33′ 44″N or 66.5622°N).