Re: [APD] Remote Sensing and Plant Nutrition

["David A. Youngker" <jaafaman at comcast_net>]

> From: "Daniel Larsson"
> Sent: Wed, 22 Mar 2006 09:40:34 +0100
>
> Many thanks...

No problem. Our other debate aside, your project sparked a little interest 
on my part. Especially the link you provided for converting old WEB cameras, 
since I still have a functional Pocket PC Camera lying around. So...

> ...How did you find them (keywords)?...

...I started poking around the Department of Agriculture site first. I knew 
that they were involved in remote monitoring in a "big way", and wanted to 
check out the current status of their efforts for leads. I also did a few 
keyword searches on things like "remote sensors" and "digital imaging" in 
combinations with with words like "plants", "nutrition", etc.

This, of course, will bring you _volumes_ of references from Google.

Scanning through the Google results will glean the closest matches within 
the first 10-15 pages of returns, and from there the real fun begins. Every 
odd once in a while you get a direct hit from Google, otherwise you pick the 
closest thing you can find to what you're looking for, but either way once 
you get to a specific reference you look through the list of citations, 
bibliographies and supporting research for that topic to find closer 
matches. Since most researchers tend to follow up on prior efforts within 
the same disciplines, whether their own or others in their field, pulling 
Google searches on both the authors themselves and the _titles_ of their 
references will most often take you down the more specific path of your 
intended goal.

> ...You even found a reference to an aquatic plant...

The list I provided was not meant to be exhaustive, just merely pointers to 
some of the disciplines involved in the aforementioned monitoring project:

Remote monitoring and sensors
Digitizing the results
Separating and interpreting the results
Refining and applying those efforts and results to the project at hand
The approach of others to similar, related investigations

That way, I can provide something to start off those interested without 
bogging down the disinterested.

> ...I've spent several hours in front of Google and
> Google-Scholar without that much luck....

Overall, I just approach Google in the same way I used to when I went to the 
library. At 51 years of age, it's a pretty safe bet that I've spent a great 
deal more of my time trying to glean information from printed media rather 
than electronic, and the techniques that I once used to minimize time among 
the shelves and stacks seem to transfer well in reducing my "hunt and peck" 
time on the keyboard.

Like the old Yellow Pages commercials, I much prefer to "let my fingers do 
the walking" rather than my legs...


-Y-

David A. Youngker
jaafaman at comcast_net

_______________________________________________
Aquatic-Plants mailing list
Aquatic-Plants at actwin_com
http://www.actwin.com/mailman/listinfo/aquatic-plants