[meteorite-list] Some thoughts on find coords

From: Matson, Robert D. <ROBERT.D.MATSON_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Fri, 7 Sep 2012 15:35:00 -0700
Message-ID: <7C640E28081AEE4B952F008D1E913F1706064EDD_at_0461-its-exmb04.us.saic.com>

Hi All,

I would concur with Doug Ross's and Mike Miller's take on the meteorite
coordinate publication problem, and would opine that the least-offending
solution is to embargo coordinates for some period of time to respect
the
efforts of hard-working meteorite hunters while still satisfying the
scientific community. In the (rare) case of a meteorite fall for which
radar data exists, the general search area and trend line are well known

--
at least to those who know how to download and interpret said data, or
have been willing to pay those who do. But even with such information in
hand, there are classical meteorite hunting skills that relatively few
people possess.
With the understanding that there can be significant "clustering" of
meteorites in a fall, I don't know that I would be particularly thrilled
if a tyro was shadowing me in the field based on coordinates of a
fresh find I had made a day or two earlier. Aside from the overall
"fairness" aspect of the situation, it is a guaranteed distraction to
hunting efficiency if you are constantly wondering whether you are
covering ground that someone else has already searched.
But perhaps more to the heart of the matter, there is really no
scientific urgency in making exact find coordinates public when the
radar returns for a fall can span over 20 square kilometers. If
anything, published coordinates can actually be a scientific hindrance,
because the overall search area will not be covered as thoroughly when
people choose to concentrate their efforts on where the latest find
happened to be made.
On a final note, I would like to think that the promise of embargoing
find coordinates for some period of time would be more conducive to
accurate reporting of those coordinates (though still no guarantee).
When people are pressured into reporting coordinates before they
are ready, they will fudge -- even independent of any find location
legal issue. If scientists want to maximize data accuracy and
completeness, they cannot ignore human psychology. Fairness and
proportionate compensation are just as relevant to meteorite hunting
as any other competitive human endeavor.
Good Hunting to All,
Rob

Received on Fri 07 Sep 2012 06:35:00 PM PDT