The Great Lakes Research Center (GLRC) offers a unique set of marine assets with direct access to Lake Superior. Both surface and sub-surface assets are available for use by university faculty, staff and students, as well as collaborative partners, on a shared basis. Four surface vessels and four sub-surface vehicles along with a variety of specialized equipment and trained operators make the marine assets facility at the GLRC an ideal base of operations for research on, under, or related to, the Great Lakes, coastal ocean and freshwater environments winter or summer.
See below for equipment available for use or download our one-page list of assets here.
Please e-mail glrcmarineassets-l@mtu.edu to arrange for equipment use or questions.
Water and Bottom Sampling
- Water - Niskin, Van Dorn, Go-flo
- Bottom - PONAR, full, mini, box corer
- Plankton - Plankton nets (various mesh sizes)
Basic Shop Tools
Drop Cameras/Mountable Cameras
- Marcum fish cams, color and black and white 70’ cords (2)
- GoPro and Contour sport cams (5)
- Ocean Presence Deep Water Video Camera - See "Arrange for Technical Staff Operation."
Generators
- Kubota GL7000 Diesel Engine Generator – 120/240V single phase, 7000W, diesel power generator, type of power receptacles listed here.
- Honda HP3500 – 120/240V, 5.5HP, power receptacles: 120V/15A, 120V/30A, 240V/20A
- Honda EU2000i (2) – 120V, small, portable gas generator.
Sontek Castaway CTD (Conductivity, Temperature and Depth)
- Free fall CTD for identifying thermocline, measuring sound speed velocity quickly and easily
- GPS and Bluetooth enabled for geotagging and quick data access
Seabird CTD (Conductivity, Temperature and Depth)
- Cage mounted, 500ft of data cable spooled onto Agassiz winch (slip ring), can live stream or log internally.
Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROVs)
- Outland 1000 ROVs (2)– (2) 500’ tethers, (1) 1000’ tether. Two color cameras, manipulator arm with interchangeable cutters/grabbers, Tritech single beam micron sonar. Operates off 120 V AC power.
Acoustic Doppler Current Meter
- Nortek Vector Velocimeter - Designed for measurements of rapid small scale changes in 3D velocity, used for turbulence, boundary layer measurements, surf zone measurements, and measurements in very low flow area.
Acoustic Doppler Current Profilers (ADCPs)
- Nortek Aquadopp – This profiler is a complete system and includes all parts required for a self-contained deployment with internal batteries and a data logger.
- Nortek AWAC ADCP - Measures waves as well as currents, has been used to measure ice flow velocity.
Hydrophone, Sonotronics
Exo Sonde
- Multi-parameter water quality sondes (2). Click here for equipment brochure.
Seabird IOP/AOP + CTD
- Full Seabird CTD plus biological, inherent, and apparent optical properties, and backscatter.
Sat Atlantic Optical Profilers (2)
EdgeTech Tow Fish - Advanced Bottom Mapping Sonar
- 4125 Side Scan Sonar – Portable, dual frequency (400/900 kHz) sonar towfish that displays real-time sonar imaging to a display onboard. Operates off 115/230 VAC.
IVER-3 - Fully Autonomous Under Water Vehicle (AUV)
- OceanServer Autonomous Underwater Vehicle. Dual frequency (600/1600 kHz) sidescan sonar with coincident swath bathymetry. Handheld remote control, DVL/ADCP for advanced navigation, onboard speed of sound sensor, 8-10 hours operating time. Requires pre-mission planning by trained operator.
- IVER-3 use fee for the 2018 field season is $70 per hour.
USBL (Ultra-short Baseline) Subsea Positioning System
- Sonardyne Scout USBL - Extremely accurate subsea positioning device that relays position of underwater system to a shipboard graphical interface. Typically used to easily and quickly operate remote underwater vehicles.
Ocean Presence Deep Water Video Camera
- 1080p, full 360 deg. pan tilt zoom for live streaming over a network.
- Light bar.
- Fully programmable with tours, lighting schedules, and remote control by web users.
Vehicles
- GMC Sierra 2500HD Truck– 6’ bed covered bed, capable of towing ~9500lbs. Charged on time & consumables basis. Operated by trained GLRC staff only.
- Polaris quad ATV.
- 22’ center console, open deck platform, single 150HP four-stroke outboard engine. Charged on time & consumables basis. Operated by trained GLRC staff only.
- 24’ enclosed vessel with small work deck and fully finished cabin. Single 300 HP inboard/outboard engine.
- Operated by trained GLRC staff only.
- Cost for internal (MTU) users is $90/hour. Preparation and clean-up time is also charged. Reserve by using this link.
- Off-campus requests can be arranged by calling Mike Abbott at 906-487-3165 or emailing glrcmarineassets-l@mtu.edu
- 36’ Research Vessel with twin 200 HP diesel engines. Has large work deck with two lifting davits, 120V AC power, as well as an enclosed cabin. Operated by Coast Guard licensed captain.
- Cost for internal (MTU) users is $125/hour. Preparation and clean-up time is also charged. Reserve by using this link.
- Off-campus requests can be arranged by calling Mike Abbott at 906-487-3165 or emailing glrcmarineassets-l@mtu.edu
- Available to travel and support multidisciplinary research
- Data acquisition and analysis
- Proposal development and planning
- Technical Staff Profiles