DEVELOPING UNDERGRADUATE FIELD METHODS CLASS EXERCISES UTILIZING GROUND PENETRATING RADAR: HISTORIC WETHERSFIELD COVE AREA

The purpose of this project is to use the recently acquired Sensors and Software Ground Penetrating System (GPR) SmartCart system in exercises in an undergraduate level field methods class. The exercises developed focus on the Wethersfield Cove area, the site the first Connecticut State Prison and its Burial Grounds, as a field laboratory. The area is 10 km from the CCSU campus and is currently a municipal park with athletic fields. The area was scanned in 10 x 10 m to 60 x 90 m XY grids with a Trimble satellite-connected GPS receiver. The data is processed with EKKO_Project software that provides three dimensional (3D) views of subsurface objects, including razed prison buildings, walls and foundations, etc. The imaged objects can be rotated in various orientations to help identify them. Historical maps of the prison grounds were acquired from the town of Wethersfield and local historians to compare to the acquired GPR data.

A user’s manual was compiled to educate new users how to use the GPR equipment, its features, preparation, operations, data analysis and applications. This enables more users to take advantage of the capabilities of this precise technology for data processing and interpretation. The user-friendly manual will enable students to acquire the skills to apply the GPR technology for various projects at CCSU and on commercial applications for the school and in industry.

Developed exercises focus on two main areas: 1) acquisition, data management, processing, and interpretation of two-dimensional survey lines and 2) acquisition, data management, processing, and interpretation of a 10x10 m grid surveys. The exercises are designed to have students set-up and acquire data within a 3 hour lab period, and process and interpret the data in a second period.

In addition to developing the field exercises the collected data will provide important subsurface information to complement and correlate existing historical evidence with the Wethersfield Historical Society Museum and the Connecticut State Museum in Hartford, CT.