Autonomous Exploration and Digital Documentation of Great Lakes Shipwrecks: A Multi-Platform Survey Framework for Maritime Heritage

Abstract

The preservation of submerged cultural heritage depends on the ability to locate, document, and monitor sites before they are degraded or lost. Although the North American Great Lakes contain thousands of exceptionally well-preserved shipwrecks, their large geographic extent and diverse operating environments present significant challenges for efficient archeological survey. This study presents a multi-platform autonomous survey framework developed and implemented during 2021–2022 field campaigns in Lake Michigan and Lake Ontario. The framework integrates autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs), autonomous surface vehicles (ASVs), crewed vessels, side-scan sonar, multibeam bathymetry, magnetometry, optical imaging, and field-based data review within a hierarchical workflow comprising wide-area assessment (WAA) reconnaissance, high-resolution geophysical (HRG) mapping, adaptive mission refinement, and visual confirmation. The surveys produced 19.72 km2 of geophysical coverage, including side-scan sonar mosaics, bathymetric surfaces, magnetic anomaly maps, and optical imagery that supported archeological interpretation. A case study from Lake Ontario demonstrates the framework’s effectiveness through the confirmation of a previously undocumented wooden shipwreck using complementary acoustic, magnetic, and visual datasets. Beyond the individual discoveries, the results demonstrate how integrated autonomous systems improve survey efficiency, support adaptive decision-making, and provide scalable methods for digital documentation, baseline site characterization, long-term monitoring, and preservation of submerged cultural heritage in freshwater and marine environments.