SunCalc Lab

Determining the position of the sun and tracking its progress throughout the day can provide valuable information. The following pictures provide insight on how measuring the shadows produced by the sun at different intervals of the day compare with a more capable online software. The plot uses data starting at 9am and ending at 4pm. A stick of roughly 20 inches was used as the reference for the shadows.

For a rough estimate and hand calculations, we can see that the plot does a good job of accurately describing the sun's positioning in the sky throughout the day. Because this experiment was conducted in the winter, we can observe how the sun is lower in the sky than it would be in the summer months.

Tampa Florida Windrose

The following images show the prevailing winds in Tampa Florida during the calendar year of 1992. The windrose plot shows where the winds were blowing to in each season of spring, summer, fall, winter.

Spring

Summer

Fall

Winter

Entire Year

Stetson Parking Lot Rainfall

Estimating the amount of rainfall that can fall onto a parking lot such as this one on Mercer University's campus is an important step for design considerations. Engineers must account for the precipitation in order to adequately drain it effectively. Too much rainwater left standing can render a parking lot useless and even inaccessible. The first step in properly designing the removal of water would of course be knowing how much water to expect in a storm.

Rachel Carson

Rachel Carson was one of the most influential environmental scientists of her era. She is most famous for her book called Silent Spring which brought attention of environmental issues into the public forefront. Although she was the author of many titles, Silent Spring publicized the problems concerned with the use of pesticides. Rachel Carson can be credited with the spurring the national ban of DDT and other pesticides. As one of the first environmental scientists to warn about the use of pesticides, Rachel Carson remains one of the most influential members of the scientific community.

http://www.rachelcarson.org/Biography.aspx#.UtcssvRDu8A