Online Community Coastal Fish Observing System

Development of an inexpensive in situ sonar platform is described, using a relatively low-cost acoustic transducer and custom software, that can be deployed throughout the lake or a region of interest, using buoys or fixed moorings. Ultimately, the product of this project will be a system that has many potential applications, including tracking aquatic fauna over large areas, and quantitative and qualitative analysis of aquatic populations. This project builds upon and continues existing work, in which scientists and staff at the Great Lakes WATER Institute have successfully deployed prototype arrays of digital wireless buoys on Lake Michigan over two field seasons in 2006 and 2007.