IEEE Seminar - The Colors of Yellowstone
The colors of the thermal pools at Yellowstone National Park inevitably spark visitor curiosity and are sometimes explained incompletely or incorrectly. Such curiosity led my colleagues and me to measure spectra of these colors and build a computer model to better understand them. This talk will show how the wavelength- dependent reflectance of the microbial mats that grow on the rocks beneath the water and optical absorption and scattering in the air and water combine to create the observed colors. The talk will close with some humorous (but important) lessons learned about the difficulties of communicating scientific concepts accurately through the news media. These lessons were learned from widespread news coverage of the journal paper we published about thermal pool colors and subsequent online discussion. The hope is that listeners will leave this talk with a greater understanding of the Yellowstone pool colors and a more careful consideration of what they read.
Date and Time
Location
Hosts
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- Bozeman, Montana
- United States
- Building: Barnard Hall
- Room Number: 108
Speakers
Dr. Joseph Shaw
Biography:
Dr. Joseph Shaw is Director of the Optical Technology Center and Distinguished Professor in the Norm Asbjornson College of Engineering at Montana State University. Dr. Shaw develops optical remote sensing instruments and uses them to solve practical problems ranging from improving aircraft icing predictions to mapping invasive lake trout and algae blooms.