Traditional Navigation

Introduction

This exercise was the outcome of the navigation skills and fieldwork map construction we had previously completed, and now that the weather had improved we were bale to put it all in to use. In groups of three we were to navigate a short course of five points using the maps we constructed, a compass and our pace counts we calculated. We had not previously been given the course points and so had to add them to the map in the field and calculate the bearing and distance of each point in order to get to them.

The Study Area

We were completing a course at the Priory in Eau Claire, this is shown in the aerial image in  figure 1.It is an area primarily of forest with varying reliefs with many steep declines to some small creeks. It is off the I94, and about a 15 minute drive from the UW-Eau Claire main campus.

Figure 1: Aerial Image f the priory where the navigation exercise took place. 

Methods

Before setting off on our route we used the co-ordinate grid on the map to mark on the points we needed to go to, then we used a ruler to draw line between these points. A compass was then used to calculate the bearing between points for us to follow during the course. We also used the string of the compass to measure the distance of the lines on the map and then placed that length against the map's scale to calculate the distance between the two points. Within our group we delegate one person to get the bearing on the compass from the map and ensure that we were following it, one person to go to a directed point along the bearing to see g they could see the marker, and the third person was using their pace count to see measure the distance we had traveled to give us an idea if we should be near the marker or not. Once the person looking for the marker had gone to the assigned place, the other two group members followed to then assign a further point that they could see and to check in the t we were headed on the right path. 

Once we had found our marker we then had to use the puncher attached to the marker so stamp the card we had, matching up to the marker number to prove we had found the points. There was no assigned route, but because we were finding points on a section of a course they pretty much followed an order. As there was so much forest around us we could not really use the technique of relating yourself to physical features to find where you are going, but we could use this in the one cleared are we had to go to, you can see i the North East corner of figure 1. 

Discussion

We managed to find all of our points in good time, some of them were a little closer or rather than we originally thought, due to the fact that when you are walking in dense forest you can't really walk in a straight line, moving us in and off course constantly. I think it is worth noting that when we were first getting our bearings they seemed slightly off, but then we realised that it was due to the fact we had been leaning against the bonnet of a car and so the metal was interfering with the magnet of the compass, this also lead to the person using the compass taking off their jewelry so as not to inter fear with it also. 

One of our point we thought was meant to be right in the middle of the clearing and we couldn't see it and we figured that it should be fairly obvious i such an pen are, so we double checked the co-ordinates with where we had placed it on the map and then realised that one of the co-ordinates had been read wrong, so we changed the point on the map and then took bearings from where we knew we were, as we were right on the edge of the forest and could see the road which made it much easier. 

Conclusion

If you have several people working as part of a team you can navigate your way through an area fairly easily, as long as you are all constantly paying attention and ensuring you are sticking to the right path you set. Double checking that points have been plotted correctly before setting off reduces the likelihood of being off course and making sure that you have reduced the compass's exposure to metal is important. Your pace count can vary depending on the type of terrain you are walking on. Being able to see surrounding physical features can help you figure out your position withing an area and on a map.