Total Eclipse, August 21, 2017
On Monday, Aug. 21, 2017, a total eclipse will cross the entire country, coast-to-coast, for the first time since 1918. Check out when you’ll be able to see the solar eclipse at NASA. NASA is sharing information on safe eclipse viewing with community centers, and citizen science projects are developing. If you can’t watch Monday’s total solar eclipse, don’t worry. Another one will be visible in the U.S. in 2024.
According to NASA, the following materials should never be used to view a solar eclipse:
- sunglasses of any kind
- color film
- medical X-ray film
- smoked glass
- floppy disks
The only way to safely view the Sun – eclipsed or not – is to either project or filter the Sun’s rays. The pinhole projector is a quick DIY project.
You Need:
- a long cardboard box or tube
- scissors
- duct tape
- aluminum foil
- a pin or a thumbtack
- a sharp knife or paper cutter
- a sheet of white paper
What to Do:
- Cut a rectangular hole at the end of the box. You can tape 2 boxes together to make a long box. The longer the box, the larger the projected image.
- Using the scissors, cut out a piece of the aluminum foil slightly larger than the rectangular hole. Make sure the foil is completely flat and not crinkled.
- Tape the foil over the rectangular hole in the box.
- Use the pin to poke a tiny hole in the center of the foil.
- Tape the sheet of paper on the inside of the other end of the box.
- Stand with your back toward the Sun. Place the box over your head with the pinhole towards the Sun. Adjust your position until you see a small projection, a reversed image, of the eclipsed Sun on the paper inside the box.
Using a Tube?
If you are using a long tube or taping 2 tubes together, cut the end of the tubes and tape the foil with a pinhole on 1 end. On the other end, tape a piece of white paper over the end of the tube. This will act as the screen. Close to this end, cut a rectangular hole using the knife. This will be your viewing window.
With your back toward the Sun, point the end with the foil toward the Sun, angling the tube along the Sun’s rays. Look into the tube through the viewing window until you see a reversed image of the eclipsed Sun on the screen.
With over 4 million people living and working in Harris County and nine-eight percent of the population living in urban areas, we rely upon our roadways and drainage ways to keep us moving. Harris County Flood Control District (HCFCD) is charged with devising flood damage reduction plans, implement the plans, and maintaining the infrastructure.
HCFCD was created by the Texas Legislature in 1937 in response to devastating floods in 1929 and 1935. In addition to serving the 1,756 square miles of Harris County, the district includes the 22 primary watersheds that flow within the county boundaries and total over 2,500 miles in length. Presently, street drainage is handled by Harris County but the bayous and channels are handled by HCFCD. HCFCD maintains over 2,500 miles of bayous and creeks and 35,000 right of ways.
The most recent of these storm events, the Memorial Day of 2015, resulted in areas receiving 10 or more inches of rainfall in a six hour period. This was the most significant rainfall event for the Houston area since Tropical Storm Allison in 2001. Between 3,000 and 6,000 homes were damaged and over 7,000 motorists were stranded. HCFCD estimates that over 8,000 homes along Brays Bayou were saved from any flood damage because of the flood damage reduction projects completed in the past 20 years which included detention basins and channel improvements.
Mr. Jim Herrington, PWS was the course instructor. Mr. Herrington, PWS has over 30 years of professional Natural Resources experience, and worked for the Environmental Professional Agency (EPA) for 14 years of his career. Ms. Fretwell, “Found this workshop highly informative, with Mr. Herrington, PWS having a profound amount of knowledge regarding wetland classification and permitting”. Ms. Fretwell further stated, “I can’t wait to continue my wetland education, by attending a second Wetland Permitting Workshop in November of 2017”!
Scientists have been exploring the use of drones in environmental applications for several years. Drones can be used to collect ecological data by aerial surveillance without disturbing sensitive environments or species thus limiting human interaction that can often be damaging to the environment. Drones have also been applied to situations to minimize the risk of human injury such as surveying elevated heights or assessing conditions that may result in physical danger. The usage of drones also provides efficiency in surveying. For example, drones are used to survey pipeline corridors from remote stations saving both time and energy by not using aerial flight to photograph corridors. Drones use a number of imaging techniques including infrared sensing, which can be used to measure vegetation growth and photogrammetry, a remote sensing process that creates an “ortho-mosaic” of the area. This technology has been used in real estate functions such as 
There are two UAS Platform Types of drones: fixed wing and rotary. Fixed wing drones generate lift through wings while rotary drones generate lift by rotating propellers. This allows rotary drones to land and takeoff from the ground while fixed wing drones must be started by throwing into the air. Fixed wings have longer endurance times, are generally faster, and are more efficient for large areas. Rotary drones are more flexible, can hover, fly lower, and are better for inspections/higher resolution pictures. Both drones can be autonomously flown using apps or by defining a set path. Drones are now being researched for use to count livestock, check fence lines and roads, find missing animals, and measure the nutritive value of forage.
SSCI participated in a webinar entitled “Drones on Rangelands–The Basics” presented by the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service ecosystem science and management unit. In the presentation, an example of drone use in range land application was provided. The drones map out the area surveyed and then a computer software is used to search for the shape of the cattle and take out the background aerial image leaving only the cattle, as seen on the right side with the yellow background. The program then counts the number of outlines of cattle.
SSCI was also happy to host 
