Ethics Assignment

Safety Appraisal Memo

To:        SnowMAN 2.0

Date:     11/6/2008

After reviewing the SnowMAN 2.0 our group came up with a couple concerns related to ethics and safety. Our concerns are mainly related to the issue of the effect of the SnowMAN on the environment. Effects such as battery leakage, aesthetics, and location could all have a negative outcome on the environment. Also, the probability of false data transfer is a very important risk to assess. 

Since this project will be running in the wilderness 24 hours per day the effect that it has on the environment is potentially significant. When we observed your website we noticed that there was no information about where you plan to setup the SnowMAN.  You may wish to select locations that will not only meet the data acquisition requirements, but also leave a minimal footprint on the local environment.  The SnowMAN could have an effect if it were on a deer trail or in some kind nesting grounds.  Objects such as safe fences are important to keep out large wildlife as well as exploring humans.  The probability of a bird landing on your device and either harming the bird, the SnowMAN or the data itself needs to be considered.  With the animal life in mind, what is the durability of the battery and how likely is the chance of a leak?  This is a clear safety and ethics situation.

                 Aesthetics is another potential ethics consideration.  Although the devise and its immediate peripherals don't seem to take up much space, the chance arises that people will come across the project.  Would it be possible to try to camouflage the project enough to be unnoticed by animal life, hunters, or people?

                How do you plan to collect and store data? Since this is will most likely be sending information to another location make sure to take into account interference with other types of communications.  Will there be a way to verify the information to make sure that it is correct and unaltered by the environment or animal life?  If false data is used in an application where it could result in severe consequences due to inaccuracy, then there is an ethical and moral obligation to prevent data corruption.

Since this project does not relate to human ethics we tried to focus on the animal life and the effect of your project on the environment.

 RESPONSE MEMO

From: SnowMAN 2.0 Team

Date:   11/4/2008

 Snow Pillows are the current technology for measuring snow depth.  There are a couple problems with this method, one being that they are generally 3m x 3m in order to avoid bridging by the snow.  The SnowMAN 2.0 is much smaller than this which is more appealing to the eye and has less impact on its surroundings.  The Snow Pillows also have to be installed on a flat surface in order to be effective, while the SnowMAN can be deployed on any surface; this allows the deployment team to pick the most environmentally friendly location as possible.  The battery is currently lead acid, and NiCd is being considered; both batteries are meant to run in below freezing weather which will limit the error occurring.  Both contain hazardous materials, but are more stable than other battery technologies. 

                The data is collected by the mote in the brain box and then sent to a PC.  There are six SnowMAN sites in theory right now.   All the sites would talk to the one brain box and then that signal is sent to the PC; the number of sites helps with the accuracy of the measurements.  If one of the sites is drastically different than the rest, then it will be apparent that something has happened to it.  The SnowMAN 2.0 technology is only augmenting the decision making process of the application; it isn’t meant to replace human decisions. 

                 

Katie Gallo          kgallo@uvm.edu
Tom Lanagan     tlanagan@uvm.edu