As part of a new course being taught by Dr. Derek Sawyer, 11 SES graduate students participated in a weekend field trip (Sep. 15-17th, 2017) to collect a multibeam sonar dataset off South Bass Island in Lake Erie.
The course is a graduate level seminar on the theory and application of multibeam sonar systems capable of generating high-resolution maps and backscatter intensity of bed topography and morphology in lakes, rivers, and marine environments. In addition to a traditional seminar format with weekly readings and discussions, the highlight of the seminar is the weekend field trip to Lake Erie in the early part of the semester to acquire data which will be processed throughout the rest of the semester. The class will also leverage the newly released and extensive multibeam data acquired in the search for missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 in the Indian 
Ocean.
The weather and lake conditions were ideal for the weekend field trip. The class camped at South Bass Island State Park and utilized Ohio State’s Stone Laboratory’s Biolab vessel throughout the day on Saturday. The class spent 8 hours in the area offshore South Bass and Gibraltar Islands and acquired detailed data over rock reef structures, a large lakebed hole, and a shipwreck. The class will process the data throughout the remainder of the semester. The class thanks the School of Earth Sciences for financial support and Captain Arthur Wolf, Justin Chaffin, and Matt Thomas of Stone Lab for helping make the field trip a success.
