Bathymetric Lidar Mapping Utah's Great Salt Lake

The Great Salt Lake, one of the West’s most threatened lakes, is undergoing detailed bathymetric mapping using advanced lidar technology. This project, a collaboration between the Utah Geological Survey, Aero-Graphics, and Dewberry, aims to improve understanding of the lake's changing physical landscape. The mapping is particularly challenging due to the lake's shallow, murky waters and shifting shorelines. The findings will be presented at Geo Week 2027, a key geospatial conference scheduled for February 23-25, 2027, in Salt Lake City. [S3, S4] The bathymetric lidar technology used in this project measures underwater topography using laser pulses transmitted from an airborne platform. Green-wavelength bathymetric lidar is being employed to penetrate the water and provide detailed measurements. The project covers approximately 400 square miles of the lake's southern arm and selected wetland areas. Preliminary findings include microbialite formations, desiccation-related polygons, and previously unidentified geological features. These observations offer new opportunities to investigate the lake's geological and ecological characteristics. [S3, S4] The Great Salt Lake presents a unique surveying environment, combining shallow water, high salinity, fluctuating shorelines, and geological features that have not always been adequately represented in existing elevation datasets. The project's technical challenges and scientific findings will feature in a Geo Week 2027 keynote. The ability to examine such features in greater detail is one of the principal advantages of high-resolution bathymetric surveying, providing researchers with a more detailed representation of submerged terrain. [S3, S4] The Geo Week 2027 conference, taking place February 23-25, 2027, at the Salt Palace Convention Center in Salt Lake City, will feature a keynote presentation on the Great Salt Lake project. The event will explore how data, maps, and advanced technologies can deepen our understanding of the world and inform solutions for complex challenges. The conference will also offer sessions on AI-enhanced workflows, accessible reality capture, scan to BIM, subsurface mapping, resilient infrastructure, and more. [S3, S5] Sources: [S3] https://lidarnews.com/great-salt-lake-lidar-geo-week-2027-keynote/ [S4] https://highways.today/2026/10/09/bathymetric-lidar-great-salt-lake/ [S5] https://lidarmag.com/2026/10/14/geo-week-2027-conference-program-and-speaker-roster-announced/