G22AC00436

Project Title: Enabling the Future of Great Lakes Biological Resource Assessment

Project Period: 9/1/2022 - 8/31/2023

The overarching goal of the proposed USGS-MTU-MTRI collaboration is to research new and experimental biological assessment tools that improve the spatial coverage, accuracy, precision, and usefulness of USGS's Great Lakes Science Program. Three specific technological innovations will be investigated to achieve this goal: underwater and surface autonomy, underwater imaging, and machine learning. These innovations combined will generate new knowledge that is useful to Great Lakes national resource managers. These innovations will enable USGS to collect and process lake-wide surveys of prey fish abundances, answering discrete research questions about the fish, limnology, and ecosystems. Map habitats and develop more efficient technological solutions to persistent sampling problems.

To aid in the accomplishment of this goal, Michigan Tech will work collaboratively with USGS scientists on the following activities:

1. Engineer, coordinate, and deploy robotic technologies to autonomously collect data about fisheries and lake ecosystems.
2. Assist with the delivery of annual survey results for benthic fishes from USGS's AUV imagery.
3. Develop automated solutions for interpretation and processing of biological and physical features in underwater imagery, video, and acoustic data.
4. Advance techniques for large-scale underwater mapping of physical habitat and geomorphology using acoustic technologies.
5. Automate the interpretation of satellite and aerial remote sensing data for physical and biological features of the lake environment.
6. Develop computational technologies, workflows, and software to accelerate data processing, analysis, and delivery to partners.
7. Assist with the production of open-source tools and data that can be easily assimilated by the public and USGS's partners.

The deliverables and outcomes of this project include:

1. Custom software for round goby object identification.
2. Custom software for submerged aquatic vegetation percent cover estimation.
3. Custom software for dreissenid mussel cover and count.
4. Peer-reviewed publications on research results.
5. Multibeam bathymetry, backscatter, and derived products for geographies of interest.
6. Annotated image datasets labeled for fish, algae, and mussels.
7. Publicly released datasets used in analyses and reports on research outcomes.

The intended beneficiaries of this work include USGS stakeholders, including natural resource and land managers in the Great Lakes. Michigan Technological University (MTU) and Michigan Tech Research Institute (MTRI) have been assisting the USGS in the primary responsibility of assisting natural resource and land managers by providing them with sound biological information and assistance in applying the information to their needs.

Michigan Technological University

15.808 - U.S. Geological Survey Research and Data Collection

USGS Office of Acquisitions and Grants [DOI - USGS]

Michigan United States

State-Wide

Cooperative Agreement for CESU-affiliated Partner with Great Lakes Northern Forests Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit (G22AS00391)

Amendment Since initial award the total obligations have increased 186% from $474,094 to $1,356,822.