Evaluating vegetation change in Wolf Creek, YT with multi-temporal LiDAR: Part 1
Posted 5 years ago
In this post, I’ll be giving a summary of my current MSc progress in the McMaster Watershed Hydrology Group. This thesis project has two main components: using LiDAR and other remotely sensed imagery to quantify vegetation change over time in a subarctic research watershed, and comparing how these changes vary over different landscape properties. This […]
Data Wrangling with Python and R, Part 2: LiDAR Validation with Differential GPS
Posted 5 years ago
One major part of my field season this past summer in the Yukon involved validating both of our LiDAR datasets with a differential GPS unit (dGPS for short). Independently quantifying survey accuracy is an essential part of any project involving LiDAR. Without knowing the LiDAR return accuracy in terms of elevation compared to the “true” […]
Data Wrangling with Python and R, Part 1: “Fun” with LiDAR Buffers
Posted 5 years ago
One realization that keeps hitting me throughout my MSc is how many little things need to be dealt with in order to do even basic analysis using real-world data. My supervisor once told me that about 70% of the work that gets done in our lab is what he calls “data wrangling”, which I would […]
Random Forest Classification with R and Collector for ArcGIS
Posted 6 years ago
I’m currently in my 1st year of my M.Sc degree at McMaster University, working in the Watershed Hydrology Group under Dr. Sean Carey. My research focuses on evaluating vegetation change in Wolf Creek, Yukon Territory through fusion of remotely sensed data. My main objective is to use a combination of LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging), […]
Integrating GIS and Field Work in Wolf Creek, Yukon Territory
Posted 6 years ago
I’ve spent the past summer working as a research assistant for my M.Sc supervisor Dr. Sean Carey, before officially starting grad school in September. Through helping out the other grad students in our lab, I’ve learned tons of valuable hydrology-specific GIS skills (which I could write about in a future blog post), but I want […]
ECCE App Challenge 2018 – Helping Hands Toronto
Posted 7 years ago
The Esri Canada App Challenge is a week-long hackathon-type coding competition with the goal of creating a web application to solve problems based on a specific theme, built on Esri technology and using open data. It involves creating an operational app, submitting its source code, creating supporting documentation, and a video sales pitch. This was […]
Automating Suitability Mapping with ArcPy
Posted 7 years ago
For my undergraduate thesis last year, I created maps representing susceptibility to calanchi erosion in the Basilicata region of Italy using 3 different Multicriteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) decision rule techniques. All of these procedures involve several repetitive steps that could have been automated by a Python-based tool, but I didn’t have any experience with programming […]
GIS in Education and Research Conference – an Undergrad’s Perspective
Posted 7 years ago
A few weeks ago on October 11th I was fortunate enough to attend the Esri Canada Education and Research Conference with several of my McMaster GIS colleagues at the beautiful University of Toronto campus. The plenary and opening session featured Dr. Cynthia Brewer of Penn State, creator of the famous ColorBrewer app. The ColorBrewer presentation […]
Sean Leipe – ECCE Student Associate at McMaster
Posted 8 years ago
I’ve just completed my 4th year at McMaster University, majoring in Earth and Environmental Sciences with a minor in GIS. Though I enjoy the core earth sciences I’ve been much more focused on the GIS side since enrolling in an introductory course back in 2nd year, and have taken every available GIS course since! This […]
