Water

Robot week: Triaxus reveals Great Lakes sunken ships and data treasures

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Editor’s note: This is the second in a series of stories on how new technology is giving researchers a glimpse of the critical nearshore area of the Great Lakes

One of the Environmental Protection Agency’s newest members uses side-scan sonar to look at the watery depths of Lake Michigan. Fanning its sound waves down to the lake floor, it searches for the returning signals bouncing off the bottom in search of bounty–it found a shipwreck last year. But the Triaxus Towed Undulator does more than treasure hunts. Beneath the water, it glides behind the Lake Guardian, the agency’s research vessel. With its quick data collection, the agency can do in days what would otherwise take a year, said Glenn Warren, team leader for the agency’s environmental monitoring and indicators group in the Great Lakes National Program Office.

Water

Robot week: Exploring below the Great Lakes’ surface

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By Sarah Coefield and Kimberly Hirai
Jan. 26, 2010

Editor’s note: This is the first in a series of stories on how new technology is giving researchers a glimpse of the critical nearshore area of the Great Lakes. Little is known about the currents, fish or bottom of the nearshore area of the Great Lakes. Now, technology is providing researchers a window into what is one of the most productive yet least studied areas of the Lakes. The nearshore stretches from the beach into about 30 feet of water.

Nearshore

NEMO’s new mission: Find toxic algae blooms

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By Mehak Bansil
Nov. 17, 2009
EAST LANSING, Mich. – If it looks like a fish and swims like a fish, then it must be a fish. Unless it’s a pseudo-fish named NEMO, designed to monitor water temperature, oxygen levels, invasive algae populations and pollutants. For example, a robofish will be able to navigate independently and transmit information about the location of toxic algae blooms.

“We chose to fit these fish with sensors for toxic algae blooms, but I think other researchers will use this technology in the future to monitor different aspects of water quality,” said Michigan State University zoology professor Elena Litchman.