kruzzoli's blog

Tokyo is susceptible to flooding even with the smallest amounts of abnormal rain, so any increase could lead to flooding. The average rainfall in Tokyo is shown in Figure 1. Japan has a drier winter than it does summer and has most of its rainfall in September. When the flooding occurred in July, the water levels were already higher on average than they were previously in the year since the summer and fall is wetter than the winter. So the rainfall that occurred in July had a larger impact than it would have had in January when average precipitation is lower. This is because the water tables are more full in July, so excess water does not have as many places to go. However, the flooding was not as detrimental as it might’ve been come September.

The map in Figure 1 had a red circle and dot indicating where the images were taken that are not present in Figure 2, likely because of different technology available. The person who recreated the figure panel may not have had access to an iphone, which was used in creating the marks on Figure 1. The map in Figure 2 is an older version than the map used in Figure 1, indicated by the lack of the Design building. Figure 2 used an older map, result of finding different images when searching for a campus map online. The pond in figure 2 has a black outline which is a result of a different map.

Image B in Figure 1 had the windows on Morrill on the right side of the door where image B in Figure 2 had them on the left and the black spot of cement touched both sides of image B in Figure 2, it is only on the right side of the image in Figure 2. The two people who took these images were likely standing in different areas or had the cameras facing a different angle. A different type of camera could have resulted in these differences. The  

Image C in Figure 1 showed the corner of the glass panel with the ucard in the middle of the picture on the left side. Figure 2 showed the front of the glass panel with the ucard toward the bottom of the picture.The angle at which the person who took the picture was different relative to the building.The ucard was held at a different height. The reflection of the person who took image C in Figure 2 is seen and this finger did not have nail polish. In image C of Figure 1, only the reflection of the arm is seen and there is jade nail polish on the finger. The two people were standing at different angles relative to the building, the person who created Figure 2 was head on where the person who created Figure 1 was on an angle. The difference in nail polish is a result of the two figure panels being created by different people.

The factors listed above resulted in the differences found between Figure 1 and Figure 2, because of these reasons the original figure panel was not recreated identically.

Additionally, flooding as a result of hurricanes has become worse in recent years due to climate change. Sea levels have been rising and Houston sits barely above sea level to begin with, so now there is more water creating larger stormsurge potential than there was 100 years ago (Associated Press). The air and water are also warmer, and warmer water leads to increased evaporation occurring. Increased evaporation leads to a rise in air humidity; the amount of water that sits in the atmosphere. When there is more water in the atmosphere, there is more potential water to be collected by hurricanes and then come down as rain when the hurricane makes landfall. This was a key factor in the massive amounts of flooding that occured in Houston after Hurricane Harvey (Associated Press).

Being a city near the coast, Houston has fallen victim to many hurricanes and most recently was devastated by Hurricane Harvey. Harvey tore through the Gulf of Mexico in and made landfall in late August of 2017. It inflicted $125 billion dollars worth of damage, most taking place in the catastrophic amount of rainfall that took place in downtown Houston, which received upwards of 40 inches of rain in just 4 days (Costliest Tropical Cyclones).

For the map, I googled “umass amherst campus map” on my iphone and clicked on the first link which brought me to a pdf of the campus, in the upper left hand corner it said “UMass Amherst General Location Campus Map September 2018”. I took a screenshot of this and then in my photos I edited this and cropped the image so that it showed only the Integrative Learning Center, the campus pond, the Fine Arts Center, Morrill Science Center and Wilder, University Club, Shade Tree Lab and Clark. I then clicked on the three little dots in a circle on the edit screen and chose the highlighter marker and made it red. I made a circle around Morrill 2 and made a dot near the back entrance where I took the pictures of the spider.

Once I had all the pictures I emailed them to myself and opened them in Inkscape. They all opened individually so I copied and pasted two of the images into one of the inkscapes so that this inkscape had all 3 images. The picture of the campus map was placed in the top left corner right next to the image of the doors to Morrill. Underneath those two I placed the picture of the spider web.

When taking the pictures for the figure panels I used 4 elements as controls. The time of day when the pictures were taken at 9:55 in the morning, the ucard was used for scale, the orientation of the ucard was vertical and backwards, and the location of the images was set. A time was given so that the pictures would have similar lighting. The ucard was used for scale because all students are UMass are issued a ucard, so whoever recreated the figure would have one. The orientation and the direction of the ucard was also a control so that the scale would be the same. The location of the figure panel images was also controlled and Morrill was used because this is a building all students in the class know since this is where class is held. Some variables that I identified that could not be controlled include weather, type of camera, platform used to create figure panel, and distance and angle of the photographer relative to the building. Weather is uncontrollable and different weather could affect the quality of the images. The type of camera is also an uncontrolled variable because a standard camera was not used. This also applies to the platform used to create the figure panel. The exact location of the person taking the images is also a variable because the positions were not marked.  

When taking the pictures for the figure panels there were a few elements that I considered to make controls. I used the back of a ucard as a way to create a scale so that the size of the spider web could be compared to demonstrate size because  all UMass students have a ucard, so whoever was recreating the image could use the same object to scale. The orientation of the ucard was also a control. The location of the images was a control and the time of day in which the picture was taken. The format of the figure panel was a control although the platform used to create the figure panel may not have been because not everyone has access to inkscape, although in this case it seems the person did use the same platform to create the image.

Methods

At 9:50 in the morning I entered Morrill 2 from the front of the building (the side facing the rest of campus). I went up one flight of stairs and walked to the back stairwell and left through that door. I was now facing the area of campus where Frank dining hall is. At 9:55 in the morning, I took a picture of the spider web in the bottom left corner of the glass door. I was standing outside and saw a web in the corner of the glass frame. I squatted like a duck and held the back of my ucard up to the web, at this time there was a little spider.

A figure panel featuring a spider web, the location of the web, and a map of campus that shows the location of both of where both of these images was created and a methods section was written that described how these images were taken and placed together to create a figure panel. This methods section was then given to a different student and class to be followed and a second figure was created based on the methods describing the first figure panel. Once the second figure was constructed and posted, I used it to finish this assignment and analyze and discuss the differences found between the two figures and why they occurred. This assignment was not fully successful because although the figure panels are similar, there were many differences that occurred in each image within the figure panel. This assignment shows the importance of a clear and precise methods section because there can be a lot of room for error when creating something based solely on an only word description. Following someone else’s methods can be difficult because you might not have access to the same materials and other factors such as camera angles and placement can result in different images.

Figure 1 is the original figure panel that I created. The creation of this figure panel was described in the methods in order for someone to recreate. Figure 2 was the replicated figure panel that another student created using the methods. Looking at the format of the two figures, the letters labeling each image are different. In figure 1 they are much larger and easier to see than they are in figure 2. The location of the letters also seems to be higher in the original figure panel than they are in figure 2. Starting with image A in both images, the major difference is the map used. Although both are maps of the campus, figure 2 used an older map than figure 1. In figure 2, the design building is not included because the map is outdated. The map in figure 2 also has a black outline around the campus pond where figure 1 does not have this outline. Figure 2 also lacks the red circle and dot that show the location of where the images were taken that is seen in figure 1. Figure 2 also shows a less zoomed in version of the map. There is space shown above the ILC and below the FAC but these buildings are both slightly cut off in figure 1.  

    Looking at image B in both figures, one major difference is the black patch on the cement. In the original figure panel the black patch is only on the right side of the image but in the replicate the black patch touches both edges of the image. In figure 1, windows on the right side of Morrill can be seen but in figure 2, windows on the left side of Morrill can be seen but not on the right side of the building. The image of Morrill in figure 2 also seems to be taken from a head on view but there is a slight angle in image 1.  

The differences in the map resulted from finding different maps in the online search for a campus map. Because the map in figure 2 lacks the design building, it is most likely that an old campus map was used and that it is outdated. The map is not as accurate of campus as the map in figure 1 because it is old and does not feature the new buildings on campus. The differences in the outlines around the campus pond and the cropping of the map could also relate to the fact that figure 2 used an older version of the campus map. The map in figure 2 also lacks the red circle and dot that show where the images were taken and this could be the result of the person recreating the map not having the same software used to add this to the original map. I used an iphone to edit the image and add these features so the person recreating the image might not have had access to an iphone to recreate these steps.    

The differences in image B are most likely the result of taking the pictures from a different angle or from the person taking the image standing in a slightly different position. The image features the same building and the same doorway but the angle at which the picture was taken resulted in a slight difference in the picture. The image in figure 1 shows more of the right side of the building and the image in figure 2 shows more of the left side of the building, so the position of the person taking the pictures might have been different. The angle at which the phone was held might also account for these differences.

Many of the differences that are seen between the two figures are results of different camera angles, different cameras, different people taking the images, different positioning of the person taking the images as well as different software available. This assignment was relatively successful because the recreated figure panel is pretty similar to the original, most of the differences come from uncontrollable differences such as camera and software used as well as the angle at which pictures were taken. There are however a lot of differences that could have been prevented with a more clear methods section or by the methods being followed more precisely. This assignment really demonstrates the importance of needing a clear and descriptive methods section in order for something to be recreated exactly or accurately.

Acknowledgements

    The figure 2 was recreated by classmate “curbano” who followed my methods and recreated their own figure panel based on my methods. Their work allowed me to analyze the differences and to assess the success of this assignment.