Vegetation mapping

The Skaneateles Lake Milfoil Project

Milfoil Surveys

In order to monitor milfoil populations in the lake we have been testing a very sophisticated vegetation mapping program developed by ciBioBase.  It allows you to combine two important technologies; geographic information systems and global positioning system technology along with dual beam sonar to map the lakes vegetation.  We have been working with this for the last two years as a method to determine the extent of milfoil in the lake and to prioritize our work for the following year.  We survey the lake at the end of the summer to identify the major patches left in the lake and then use that information to help us establish our work schedule for the following year.

The milfoil mapping survey is maintained on the ciBioBase servers.  These files allow you to see the actual path that the boat traversed while doing the mapping and the view underwater as it traversed the area.  The runs are limited to about 2-3 hours due to data storage constraints.  The survey work thus requires multiple surveys and generally takes about 2 weeks to cover the entire lake.

To view a survey select a trip from the left navigation menu.

Enjoy your trip!!