Deploying High-frequency Radar in the Straits of Mackinac

High-frequency radar towers, like the pilot tower shown here near Fort Michilimackinac in Mackinac City, Michigan, create maps of an entire area rather than providing only a single point of data. (Photo © Nathan Shaiyen and courtesy Michigan Tech University)

By Kelley Christensen, Michigan Tech Science and Technology Publications Writer
Posted June 10, 2019, on Michigan Tech News
Reprinted here in part with permission

As Great Lakes water levels rise to record heights, remotely monitoring currents and waves grows in importance.

The currents of the Straits of Mackinac are known for their volatility; they have for millennia pushed the birch bark canoes of Native Americans and voyageurs alike off course and forced lake freighters aground.

The currents are also part of the complex lake system that links Lake Michigan to Lake Huron. Monitoring currents and waves in the Straits -- and throughout the Great Lakes -- is of great interest to scientists, municipal managers, the shipping industry, environmentalists and government agencies.

In late May, Lorelle Meadows, dean of the Pavlis Honors College at Michigan Technological University and oceanographer by training, and Guy Meadows, director of Michigan Tech's Great Lakes Research Center, conducted the first test of a high-frequency radar system specifically tuned for use in the Great Lakes. 

Inset photo: Lorelle Meadows and Guy Meadows received a grant from the Great Lakes Observing System (GLOS) to bring a pilot high-frequency radar project to Michigan. (Photo © Nathan Shaiyen and courtesy Michigan Tech University)

Great Lakes Geometry

High-frequency radar is a shore-based remote sensing system used to measure currents offshore by sending a low-power electromagnetic pulse over the water. The electromagnetic wave interacts with marine surface waves, which scatter the radar signal. By measuring the magnetic pulse bounces from marine waves back to the radar tower, researchers are able to map the speed and direction of the underlying currents. ... Click here to read the rest of this article and see a video about this research on the Michigan Tech News.

Michigan Tech News: Michigan Tech researchers receive two Great Lakes restoration grants

By Jennifer Donovan, Michigan Tech Director of Public Relations

Posted on Michigan Tech News May 21, 2013

Reprinted in part with permission

Undergraduate Faith Lambert samples Hills Creek water upstream of the main stamp sands restoration site. Located northwest of Calumet and Ahmeek, Hills Creek eventually drains into Lake Superior. (Photo courtesy Michigan Technological University)

HOUGHTON -- Two Great Lakes restoration research projects by Michigan Technological University researchers are among 12 selected for funding, the University of Michigan Water Center announced today. Fifty-four research teams from universities near the Great Lakes and beyond submitted proposals for nearly $570,000 total funding.

"Michigan Tech should be very proud of its Great Lakes researchers," said Guy Meadows, director of the Great Lakes Research Center (GLRC) at Michigan Tech. "These grants are a recognition of their outstanding abilities, and their work will produce critically needed data to improve our restoration efforts on the Great Lakes."

A team led by Amy Marcarelli, assistant professor of biological sciences who also works with the GLRC, received $50,000 to study the impact of remediation of stamp sands along Hills Creek, northwest of Calumet and Ahmeek on the Keweenaw Peninsula. David Dean, assistant research scientist at the Michigan Tech Research Institute (MTRI) in Ann Arbor, heads another Michigan Tech team that received a $50,000 Water Center grant to develop a geospatial database to inform response plans for dealing with oil or chemical spills in the Great Lakes.

Marcarelli’s co-investigator is Casey Huckins, associate professor of biological sciences who also works with the GLRC. Dean’s co-investigators are Colin Brooks and Arthur Endsley, both research scientists at MTRI in Ann Arbor.... Click here to read the rest of this article on Michigan Tech News.

Michigan Tech to dedicate new solar energy research center Sept. 28

By Marcia Goodrich, senior writer

HOUGHTON -- The Keweenaw Research Center (KRC) will dedicate Michigan Technological University’s first facility devoted to solar energy research at 9 a.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 28.

The Michigan Tech Solar Photovoltaic Research Facility includes an array of solar panels and an advanced energy-monitoring system at KRC’s Engineering Design Building, near the Houghton County Memorial Airport. The two-kilowatt system will generate enough energy to charge all of the electric snowmobiles competing in the SAE Clean Snowmobile Challenge, held at KRC every March.

But this photovoltaic system isn’t just about saving money on the electric bill.

"The new facility will be used primarily to advance solar-energy research and education," said KRC Director Jay Meldrum....

Click here to read the rest of this article by Marcia Goodrich on the Michigan Tech News.