Niku IIII (2001)

Fieldwork 2001

Fieldwork in 2001 had several objectives, explore the 7 site for evidence of the castaway, exploration of the colonial village, scuba survey the shallow water of the reef face along the west end of the island from the landing channel to the NW tip, and scuba survey the northern end of the lagoon for evidence of any wreckage

lots to fill in here, I think Ric probably has some good text

The Satellite Photo

Leading up to the 2001 expedition, TIGHAR was able to obtain a high resolution satellite photo of Nikumaroro that proved to be an excellent research tool for locating specific areas of the island, particularly the 7 site. Upon examination of the area North of the wreck of the Norwich City, a particularly unusual rusty colored area revealed itself, and became a focus of attention and excitement leading up to the expedition.

http://tighar.org/aw/mediawiki/images/5/51/Nikucolor.jpg

GPS Data and the Start of the NIku GIS Project

NIKU IIII was the the first year during which multiple Expedition Team Members brought with them handheld personal GPS units (was it?) . Many waypoints were logged during the trip and collated after the expedition. The data has been overlaid onto a copy of the 2001 Sat photo by James Thompson of Select GIS Services as you will see below.

http://tighar.org/aw/mediawiki/images/d/d1/GIS_Niku_GPS_Mstr-1.png