Death of a cryptoforest - 2

I discovered and explored this cryptoforest in June 2010. It was a sandy dune-like area. The middle part was moist and willows grew there enthusiastically. The areas along the fence were drier and here a lot of interesting weeds species grew.

Of course this could not last forever. Just like the other cryptoforest this one was doomed eventually.

Early winter in 2011 the area was cleared. The weeds have been removed and the ground has been leveled. There are signs of electricity and drainage. Nothing spectacular is happening yet but the site is ready for the invasion.

Looking east - with cryptoforest.

Looking east - without cryptoforest.

The dry weedy parts along the fence.

The weeds have been removed - civilization has entered.

A healthy green forest swaying in the wind.

Cleared area on the left - original pavement on the right.
The last remains of the forest in the middle.

Even in a dead cryptoforest people are still building huts.
The urge is irresistible.

Sun and shadow temperature

Temperature measurement - first semi-methodical experiment

Below we're measuring temperature without really knowing what we're doing. * Why read the manuals, why study detailed physics beforehand? Theory is more fun with practical results in your hands; no matter how crappy they are. Start bottom-up and learn by failing. This is just a game of (re-)discovery, nothing is at stake here.

Differences between the sunny and the shadow side of street objects measured with different devices on different dates:

a) Measurements with an infra-red thermometer on 4 february 2012 near noon. Air temperature (digital electronic thermometer) was -4 degrees Celsius. Temperature of snow surface (infra-red thermometer) was -10.4 degrees.  Official measurements by the KNMI: Mean -8.1 Max -3.6 Min -14.2 °C.


b) Measurements with an infra-red thermometer on 11 february 2012 near noon. Air temperature (digital electronic thermometer) was -2.6 degrees Celsius. Official measurements by the KNMI: Mean -7.6 Max -2.8 Min -13.2 °C.
c) Measurements with the thermocouple on 11 february 2012. Air temperature (thermocouple) was +3 +4 degrees Celsius.

* Somehow I cannot avoid using the scientific convention of talking about "we" - "I" feels unnatural in this context.
* And in the meantime I've discovered that I've made serious errors in my measurement method. The infrared thermometer should be used differently.

The results

---

	Plane tree - emissivity 0.98 - sunny side : a) -0.24 b) -2.8 -0.5 +2.2 c) +10 +11
	Plane tree - shadow side : a) -9.7 b) -6.7 -9.1 -9.2 -10.1 c) +8 +9

---

	Brick wall - emissivity 0.93 Sunny side - sun perpendicular to wall a) -3.5 b) +4.0 c) +18
	Brick wall - semi sunny side - sun parallel to wall : a) -5.4 b) -6.8 c) +11
	Brick wall - shadow side : a) -10.5 b) -12.1 c) +6

---

	Painted iron lamppost - sunny side: a) -4.1 b) -3.6 -5.1 c) +8
	Painted iron lamppost - shadow side: a) -5.7 -6.1 b) -7.4 -7.8 c) +7

---

	Enameled steel dustbin - sunny side: a) +1.7 b) -1.8 +0.7 c) +13
	Enameled steel dustbin - shadow side: a) -7.3 b) -8.6 -10.1 c) +11

---

	Concrete street curb - emissivity 0.94 Sunny side - sun perpendicular to surface: a) +0.4 b) -2.1 c) +14
	Concrete street curb - semi sunny side sun parallel to surface : a) -8.7
	Concrete street curb - shadow side a) -10.4 -11.2 b) -12.4 c) +9

---

	Concrete street pylon - sunny side : a) +1.1
	Concrete street pylon - shadow side : a) -7.4 -7.3 -7.2

---

Sources:
Official weather measurements by the KNMI
Introduction to infrared thermometers - it's more complicated than you would think - and I've made serious measurement errors - see the illustration
Infrared Thermometer Emissivity Tables - this does not change the results very much
Emissivity measurements - extremely detailed and interesting
Tree Thermography + tree emissivity

Philosophy = walking with a thermometer

Just taking a winter stroll with a thermometer can be an enlightening experience. Temperature is invisible and  the detailed differences are overlooked. But is the measurement accurate? Does it measure "reality"?

The same applies to just being in the landscape. Do I really see the landscape? Or do I see myself? Are my thoughts inspired by the landscape or are they just coming from the inside? Am I really seeing the outside world or am I just seeing what I expect to see?

+1.7 - What am I measuring? Is this the real temperature or am I measuring the behavior of the measuring device? Is this the "real" reality or is this the subjective impression of the observer? - It will become clear that the room thermometer is unsuitable for outside use. It adapts very slowly to outside temperature. It can take many minutes to cool from 15 to -3 degrees. 

+ 0.6 - Still measuring the thermometer temperature. But - we are *always* measuring the thermometer temperature. That's the way it works. There is no other temperature to be measured.

It would be very nice if this was a real measurement. It would prove that the suburbs are warmer than the open country. But if a difference exists it is probably smaller than this.

- 3.2 - This looks approximately right. From now on the measured temperature will sway around this temperature.

- 2.8 - Why is it warmer here? Is it because there is no wind? Because of the sunshine? Is it the way I'm holding the device? Is it measuring the real outside temperature or is it measuring me? 

- 2.9 - With all the possibility for error, how much does a difference of 0.1 degree really mean? How accurate is this thermometer actually? Am I seeing real differences or is it the inaccuracy of the device?

- 4.4 - This is in the middle of the open country. Here it is really cold. But maybe it is just that I'm shielding the thermometer from the sun and it is exposed to the wind. 

- 1.1 - It is unclear what explains this huge difference. Is it because there is more water around this area? Or is it just the orientation of the device with respect to the sun and wind? I'm walking in a North-West direction. Is that a possible clue?

- 3.9 - It looks like I measure a much lower temperature when I'm walking in a North-East direction than when I'm walking in a North-West direction. This would support the theory that I'm measuring myself.

- 4.2 - It is in this area that we measured one of the lowest temperatures: - 4.7. Maybe it's colder here because I'm in the shadows of the trees? Or has the device cooled sufficiently after leaving the pub where we warmed up? In the pub the device temperature rose to + 15 degrees.

- 4.7 - In this area we measured the lowest temperature overall: -5.7. But I have no photograph of that. Was it the wind blowing from the river? Or a pool of cold air that gathered below the river dyke? Or the wind blowing colder here? Or because we now were walking in a South-East direction? We really felt a difference between the -1 and -5 areas. This is a noticeable difference.

The manual of detection

 I always browse the "sales" section at the back of the American Bookshop in The Hague. That random collection of books often hides little gems. And the books - if carefully selected - are almost too cheap for their value. One of those was The Manual of Detection by Jedediah Berry.

The book had a lot of positive reviews and I too have read it with pleasure. See the references below for more information. But what gripped me most were the opening quotes above the chapters. These come from the "Manual of detection" that every detective receives and that, as is revealed later, was not written by a detective at all. And there's a secret missing chapter that was censored from the official version.

What struck me most was the quote starting chapter 2 - On evidence:

Objects have memory too. The doorknob remembers who turned it, the telephone who answered it. The gun remembers when it was last fired, and by whom. It is for the detective to learn the language of these things, so that he might hear them when they have something to say.

This is something that I notice every day and that fascinates me. Objects indeed have a memory. I have written about that before. But they don't store individual memories but cumulative, statistical memories. The doorknob really remembers - but it remembers the statistical distribution of thousands of hands. And maybe that is more interesting than the memory of an individual hand.

And the floor of the train station remembers the spot where travelers stepped off the staircase. The city has developed a sore from this constant irritation. Lesions like these should be noticed and repaired. Who knows what will seep into this world if this membrane becomes too porous.

There exists a website that lists "entrances to hell". And it is inspiring to see the variety of portals that exist between our world and the mythical underworld. But all entrances are formed by discrete objects: doors, gates, holes, pipes and boxes. But maybe these are less threatening than this "thinning of the membrane". Martin Howse has described these lesions as "buboes on the skin of the city" that can be traced and excavated.

And this brings us to the opening quote of chapter 4 - On clues:

Most everything can be divided into two categories: details and clues. Knowing one from the other is more important than knowing your left shoe from your right.

One of the aims of my weblog is to combine real science and  (sometimes pseudo-scientific) imagination into a coherent structure. A structure that enriches the experience of everyday life so much that it makes travel redundant. Some ideas are "clues" - they add weight to the monster structure and make it even more precarious and this is good. Other ideas are just interesting, but they don't add to the structure. It is really difficult to distinguish between them.

References:
The manual of detection - Strange Horizons reviwew
The manual of detection - Amazon
Jedediah Berry - Weblog

Old news experiment

Last year I found a temporary source of free high quality newspapers. They were a few weeks out of date but for me that was not a problem. Because they were old, they were free from sensationalism. You could skip the unfolding events. Thus they become a great source for long-term opinions and weird factoids. Unfortunately the source has since dried up.

This was the harvest from March 2011. Let's see if I picked anything prophetic then:

Long term trends

• Food shortages are driving food prices up. Prices of wheat, corn, sugar and oils are up. Droughts and floods of biblical proportion. Are they caused by climate change? Did they cause the Middle East uprising? A first taste of the disruption, economic and political, that we'll face in a warming world. (Paul Krugman)
• Financial disruption: PIGS states - Threat of Greece defaulting - 10 year government bonds: 12.8% Greece, 9.5% Ireland, 7.5% Portugal, 5.5% Spain, 3.3% Germany - Euro and EU instability - Shadow banking and systemic instability - Pimco selling US government bonds - Meredith Whitney predicting defaults in US municipal bonds.
• Russia is drowning in it's oil wealth like a mouse that has fallen in a bowl of cream. The profits from natural resources make the economy and society lazy and sluggish. Taxes are lower and so the citizens are not stimulated to scrutinize the actions of government. (Gerald Hosp)
• Marine le Pen is campaigning against Monsanto, against open European borders and against globalization.
• It might look as if civilians are angrier and more ready to protest, but in Germany the protesting crowds have a stable signature. Few Christian Democrats and a lot of Greens. Most were highly educated and most were not protesting for the first time. The numbers of protesters look stable over a 15 year period. But the position of the media has changed, they give more coverage to protests and when they predict further protests, their predictions fuel a self-fulfilling prophecy. (Marie Katharina Wagner).

Factoids

Ties of wealth: 

Bill Gross - Pimco - Mohamed El Erian - Pimco

Richard Oetker - Oetker - Andrea Enria - Bank of Italy.

• Subway has grown bigger than McDonalds.
• Youngest Mexican police chief has disappeared / fled from the town of Praxedis - Flickr is everywhere and has pictures.

What looks like an archaeological excavation is a reconnaissance photograph made by Tornado aircraft of  the German Luftwaffe in Afghanistan. (Adleraugen über Afghanistan, Stadtmuseum Schleswig) 

Sources:

Frankfurter Algemeine Zeitung - 9-10-11 March 2011

International Herald Tribune - 8 February 2011

How to use distant landmarks

How to use distant landmarks

Every walker has noticed distant landmarks. Anything can be used as a distant landmark: church towers are classic triangulation and orientation points but modern wind turbines, windmills, office blocks, microwave relay towers, transmission line towers and even trees can be used as landmarks. The landmarks need not be permanent - even a column of smoke is useful and welcome.

But does every walker know how to use a landmark correctly? How to use it for more than orientation? How to use it for psychogeography?

Horizon - A landmark can be used to mark your horizon. You can see the landmark from afar. You may see it many times during your walks. You may get to know it intimately. But still - you can never see all your landmarks up close.

Some landmarks - even most of them - will stay forever out of reach. You can look at them longingly from the distance but you will never touch them. This could make you sad - but it can also make you happy.

Be happy that at least you could see the landmark from the distance - you might not have seen and known it at all. Be thankful for the horizon and the discoveries it promises - and be thankful for the discoveries it hides.

The other side - Often you see the landmark from one side only. Your daily commute leads you past a prominent landmark but you never have time to explore it. Does it really have another side? Could other people see the other side? What is behind the landmark? What does it hide?
Make a decision now - explore or speculate? Destroy the mystery or leave it intact?
If the landmark is on your horizon you will have to walk far to see the other side. Walking far is good - but there will always be other sides that you wil never get to see. This could make you sad - but it can also make you happy.
Be happy that there are still some mysteries in this modern scientific world. Be thankful for the small revelations and mythologies - be thankful for the monsters in the white spots of your personal map.

Changes - Observe how the landmark changes as you move through space and time. Or how it does not change. Usually you travel faster than the landmark. Usually you change much faster than the landmark. This could make you sad - but it can also make you happy.

Be happy with the islands of stability in this unstable world. Be happy if the landmark will survive you - you share in its eternity. (Church towers are especially useful for this purpose.)

Background - Notice how the landmark stands out from the background. Look, think, analyze. What makes the landmark different from the background? Then notice yourself. Look, think, analyze. Probably you don't stand out against your background - at least not as much as the landmark. This could make you sad - but it can also make you happy.

Be happy with the role of observer - as part of the background you go unnoticed, you can see things that other people overlook. Be thankful that you can save your energy - being a landmark is a tiresome business.

Flatness

Elements of the Dutch landscape - 1

My wife and I are halfway through the "Green heart of Holland" walking book. The walks are 10 - 15 km in length and at our snails pace each takes 3 hours of more. My wife hates it when I take photographs because she wants to walk, not to stand still. But I cannot resist.

Hitland - Capelle aan den IJssel - Towards the river

Gradually patterns emerge and beg to be recorded, documented  and shared. They are not spectacular and the reader may ask: "so what?". But for me there is a big difference between knowing something unconsciously and really becoming aware of it. What was background suddenly becomes foreground.

Zoetermeer

I'm playing a psychogeographic game of "go fish" with myself. I'm making a collection of "elements of the Dutch landscape". Each time I get a set of five I publish it. This means that the most obvious patterns will be published first. This is intentional because the most obvious patterns are sometimes the most invisible patterns (see E.A. Poe: The purloined letter).

The flatness

Schoonhoven

Somehow the flatness seeps into your pores and drains energy from you. The flatness is beautiful and is covered  by vast protestant skies. But it reveals everything at a glance and has no hidden corners and no subconscious. An inhuman Cartesian geometry of pure thought. There are no mysteries here - everything is like it is written, all content must be taken literally, no hidden meanings, "sola scriptura". The huge eye of God sees everything. No country for magicians and occultists.

Hitland - Capelle aan den IJssel - Towards Rotterdam

The landscape is unbounded and the eye finds no rest because lines of sight run to infinity. In hilly country I can breathe more easily. I don't need mountains, small hills are enough for me. But you have to travel far to find any. In the Dutch flatlands there is no visible history - the landscape is medieval but hides its age. Hilly country reveals its age more easily.

The classic poem

Woerden

The most obvious elements of the Dutch landscape have already been listed by Hendrik Marsman (1899-1940) in his famous poem about the Low Countries - in a beautiful translation by Paul Vincent:

Memory of Holland

Thinking of Holland
I see wide-flowing rivers
slowly traversing
infinite plains,
inconceivably
rarefied poplars
like lofty plumes
on the skyline in lanes;
and submerged in the vastness
of unbounded spaces
the farmhouses
strewn over the land,
tree clumps, villages,
truncated towers,
churches and elm trees -
all wondrously planned.
The sky hangs low
and slowly the sun by
mists of all colours
is stifled and greyed
and in all the regions
the voice of the water
with its endless disasters
is feared and obeyed.

I've made a list of landscape elements that I have noticed independent of this beautiful poem and that I will write about.  It's interesting to speculate why I missed the others, because they are very true also:

• Noticed : wide-flowing rivers, infinite plains, poplars in lanes, skyline, submerged farmhouses, vastness of unbounded space, truncated towers, churches.
• Missed : tree clumps, villages, elm trees, low sky, sun stifled by vapors.

And I don't really have a good idea why the landscape is so flat. Is it because it's an alluvial plain? Or is the flatness artificially enhanced by centuries of water management and peat burning? I will have to research that.

Horizon illusion

Woerden - On Google maps

Strangely enough these oppressive "infinite plains" and "vast unbounded spaces" look larger than they are. In the picture above the village of Kamerik is barely visible at the horizon. This is only 4 km distant. But still it looks infinite and unbounded. Not only in a photograph, in real life it also feels endless.

Hazerswoude - On Google maps

The same illusion occurs in Hazerswoude. Here the windmill of Rietveld is visible on the horizon, and possibly the poplars of the Spookverlaat and Galgweg ("Ghost-lock" and "Gallows-road" - I only noticed these names while searching Google maps - there must be some history behind this). The windmill is 1 km away and the poplars 4 km. Again closer than they appear. The same happens when we're walking: we reach distant-looking landmarks earlier than we expect.

Sources:
Many different translations of the Marsman poem
Detailed explanation of one translation of the Marsman poem
E.A. Poe - The Purloined Letter
Explanation of the Ghost-lock name
Map of the area from 1773