This Major Research Instrumentation award to University of Minnesota Duluth provides funds for acquisition of acoustic imaging instrumentation by the Large Lakes Observatory (UMD/LLO), including a side-scan sonar, a swept-frequency (chirp) subbottom profiling system, a towing vehicle and winch system, and associated hardware and software for data acquisition and analysis. These instruments will be managed as a shared-use facility for the U.S. limnological research community, augmenting existing tools for coring and seafloor mapping that are presently maintained by UMD/LLO. It is anticipated that they will be applied to research projects studying limnological processes, paleoclimate studies, studies of benthic habitats, and for identification of appropriate sampling sites in lakes around the world. The broader impacts of the acquisition, in addition to providing a shared-use resource for U.S. researchers and students, including training students in use of cutting edge survey technology on the Great Lakes, as well as application to an array of research topics of significant societal relevance, including climate change, lake circulation, and habitat research on lake biota. This proposal is supported by the Division of Ocean Sciences at NSF. ***
