Teaching Computational Geosciences with MATLAB, Part 3: Intro to MATLAB

In a series of blog posts, I will tell you a little about how I teach computational geosciences with MATLAB.  After the work environment is set up and resources are presented with information about MATLAB, I show a very simple example of the typical workflow with MATLAB. The main goal of this is to show beginners how easy it is to get into this huge software.

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Teaching Computational Geosciences with MATLAB, Part 1: Technical Aspects

In a series of blog posts, I will tell you a little about how I teach computational geosciences with MATLAB. There will be content, didactic and technical aspects of teaching. Of course, I will also tell you about my experiences in the development of the MATLAB/LEGO MINDSTORMS Environmental Remote Sensing Lab, which we have just finished in a first version. Continue reading “Teaching Computational Geosciences with MATLAB, Part 1: Technical Aspects”

Completing the MATLAB/LEGO MINDSTORMS Environmental Remote Sensing Lab

Last Friday we completed the MATLAB/LEGO MINDSTORMS Environmental Remote Sensing. The course for undergraduate and graduate students aims to improve their skills to build efficient teams to solve typical problems in earth sciences in acquiring, processing and analyzing typical multispectral, geophysical and geometric data. The practical was a great success, and a lot of fun! Continue reading “Completing the MATLAB/LEGO MINDSTORMS Environmental Remote Sensing Lab”

Stratigraphic Correlation of Multiple Sediment Cores Using MATLAB, Part 2

In geological drilling projects, two or more parallel cores often collected in order to compensate for core losses during drilling by overlapping sequences. Correlation of the core is a time-consuming and complex process that is usually done by very experienced geologists. Yesterday I posted the script for manual correlation of core records based on visual inspection of the record of sediment physical properties. This post explains how to use dynamic time warping for automated correlation of cores. Continue reading “Stratigraphic Correlation of Multiple Sediment Cores Using MATLAB, Part 2”

Stratigraphic Correlation of Multiple Sediment Cores Using MATLAB, Part 1

In geological drilling projects, two or more parallel cores often collected in order to compensate for core losses during drilling by overlapping sequences. Correlation of the core is a time-consuming and complex process that is usually done by very experienced geologists. In the Chew Bahir Drilling Project in Ethiopia, as part of the Hominin Sites and Paleolakes Drilling Projects (HSPDP), two parallel, almost 280 m long cores were collected in late 2014. The two cores are correlated using the Correlator software, which is part of the CoreWall package, but we also make experiments using manual and automated correlation using MATLAB. Here I present a script to perform a visual inspection and correlation of two cores using physical properties of the sediment such as the magnetic susceptibility. Continue reading “Stratigraphic Correlation of Multiple Sediment Cores Using MATLAB, Part 1”

Drawing Pollen Diagrams with MATLAB

The 1st edition of MDRES includes a MATLAB script called multiplot to create diagrams in a design typically used by palynologists and micropaleontologists. Such diagrams to display several pollen or microfossil records use patches together with horizontal lines or bars on axes with the same scales. I modified the script using the new string array and the new text property rotation, both introduced in R2016b, to make the graphics look even more like a pollen diagram. The new script will be included in the 2nd edition of MDRES to be submitted to the publisher before the end of October 2017. Continue reading “Drawing Pollen Diagrams with MATLAB”