Computational Geosciences
GE 4931 - Spring 2007
Tues-Thurs 5-6:30 pm, Dow 709
http://www.geo.mtu.edu/~mpatrick

 Instructor: Matt Patrick
Dow 203
mpatrick@mtu.edu
487-2045 (better to use email!)
Office hours: Wednesday 10am-12pm, and by appointment

Syllabus as PDF

“…when you can measure what you are speaking about and express it in numbers, you know something about it; but when you cannot express it in numbers, your knowledge is of a meager and unsatisfactory kind; it may be the beginning of knowledge, but you have scarcely in your thoughts advanced to the state of science, whatever the matter may be.”

- Lord Kelvin

Course description

The statement above gives a sense of the chief motivation for this course. The intent is to provide students with practical tools for computational analysis and display of geologic data. Matlab is the primary working environment. The three primary parts of the schedule include 1) an introduction to Excel and Matlab and basic programming, 2) working with sequences of data (i.e. one dimensional), especially time series, and 3) working with spatial data (i.e. two dimensional). Concepts such as interpolation, auto/cross-correlation, frequency analysis, contouring, and kriging are introduced, and basic as well as advanced graphics are taught. The homework assignments will incorporate applications with geological datasets.
Week/Date Topic Reading Classroom exercise Homework  (due following Tues.) Accessory files Code used in class exercises (not commented) Solutions
1: Jan. 16-19 Computation with Excel, 1: basics and review Handout CE 1 HW 1 Stromboli_transect.xls
2: Jan. 22-26 Computation with Excel, 2: goal-seek Handout CE 2, CE 2b HW 2 Amazon2006.txt
3: Jan. 29-Feb. 2 Matlab intro 1: variables, basic math, scripts Gilat, Ch. 1,4 CE 3 HW 3
4: Feb. 5-7 Matlab intro 2: matrices Gilat, Ch. 2-3 CE 4 HW 4
5: Feb. 12-16 Basic visualization: plots, histograms, etc. Gilat, Ch. 5 CE 5 HW 5 Fuego.mat, Arenal.mat, Ice.mat, AmazonFires.mat Feb 13, Feb 15
6: Feb. 19-23 Functions and logical flow Gilat, Ch. 6-7 CE 6 HW 6 SanSalvador.mat, dates.mat Feb 20  HW06solution
7: Feb. 26-Mar. 2 Data I/O: reading and writing datasets Handout CE 7 HW 7 CE: DutchHarbor.txt, DutchHarbor.csv, DutchHarbor.xls, Argentina.jpg, ArgentinaRGB.tif, ArgentinaBW.tif , BasinRange(binary_float32), BasinRange.hdr
HW: Appalachia(binary_float32), Appalachia.html, Appalachia.hdr, Juras.tif, Juras.html, deg2utm.m, utm2deg.m		 HW07solution
8: Mar. 5-9 Regression, curve fitting and interpolation Gilat, Ch. 8; Handout CE 8 HW 8 CE: curvilinear.xls HW: prudhoe.txt, bariumcont.txt HW08_problem1
HW08_problem2
HW08_problem3
Mar 7: 7pm Midterm exam Midterm review
Midterm answers
Spring break: Mar. 12-16
9: Mar. 19-23 1-D data, Time series 1: Auto/cross-correlation, convolution Handout CE 9 HW 9  CE: pageler.txt, arsenal.txt, CE09 HW:
 hw09.mat
10: Mar. 26-30 1-D data, Times series 2: Fourier analysis Handout CE 10 HW 10 cavecreek.txt, strombseis.mat HW10code, report
11: Apr. 2-6 Programming practice Gilat, Ch. 7, 8
HW 11 HW11code
12: Apr. 9-13 2-D data, 1: Visualizing spatial data Gilat, Ch. 9 CE 12 HW 12
14: Apr. 16-20 Final exam study, final project work
14: Apr. 23-27 2-D data, 2: Gridding/kriging and contouring, and trend removal Handout CE 13 HW 13 CE: notredam.txt, leduc.txt, trend.m contvect.m, cotomat.m, dattogr.m, polygen.m; HW: arbuckle.txt, graham.txt
Finals week: Apr. 30-May 4 Final exam: May 1, 12:45, Dow 709 Final review Final exam answers

Required textbook
Gilat, A. 2005. Matlab: An Introduction with Applications, 2nd edition. Wiley and Sons. ISBN 0-471-69420-7.

Attendance
Because the class is taught in a hands-on manner, regular attendance is absolutely necessary.  Please see me beforehand if you know you will miss a class, in order to get materials.  Students will be allowed 2 no-questions-asked absences, after which the final grade will be adversely affected.  

Academic integrity
Discussing the homework problems with your classmates is fine, however, what you submit must be your own work.  Copying solutions or code, in whole or in part, from other students or sources constitutes cheating.  Please familiarize yourself with the academic integrity guidelines in the student handbook; more details can be found in the Academic Integrity Policy. These policies will be strictly enforced, and students who violate university standards of academic integrity are subject to disciplinary sanctions, including failure and suspension from the university.

Homework
Homework is assigned on Tuesday and due by the beginning of class the following Tuesday. Homework is submitted via email, and typically comprises two parts: 1) code/algorithm (.xls or .m files) and 2) report (.pdf).  

The report is a text document, usually written in Microsoft Word or OpenOffice Writer (both of these are on the lab computers), which must be converted to Acrobat PDF format for submission.  In Microsoft Word, go to "Print" and choose "ps2pdf" under printers - you will then get an email directing you to a website with your PDF file.  In OpenOffice Writer, you can do the conversion directly by going to "Export as PDF".  Note that OpenOffice Writer is free (www.openoffice.org), and can read and write Microsoft Word format.  OpenOffice also makes an Excel clone, called Calc.  

Late homework will not be accepted.  

Midterm and final
These exams are meant to test your knowledge of the material independent of any group collaboration.  They will entail completing a number of small programming problems in the lab without reference to outside materials - i.e. no applications other than Matlab may be opened.  

Final project
The final project is required for graduate students only, and is submitted in addition to the final exam.  The final project should be a Matlab based programming project incorporating some aspect of the student's research.

Grading
Undergraduate students
Homework: 60%
Midterm exam: 15%
Final exam: 25%

Graduate students
Homework: 50%
Midterm exam: 10%
Final exam: 20%
Final project: 20%

A: 90-100%, B: 80-89%, C: 70-79%, D: 60-69%, F: 59% or less


Useful Information

Online Matlab resources
 Related books