Information technology and regions of Russia: 3D map of Baikal Lake is being created

Close to the end is a three-year expedition to Lake Baikal, the main result of which should be the creation of a three-dimensional map of the lake’s bottom.

The creation of maps is led by scientists of Limnology Institute under the Russian Academy of Sciences – a scientific institution performing interdisciplinary research complex research of the Lake Baikal and other water bodies in Siberia. The project of creation of a three-dimensional map of the bottom of the largest lake in the world was launched in 2009 jointly with the Belgian specialist who helped explore the southern and middle parts of the basin. Then the work continued with participation of Irkutsk and Moscow specialists.

Special equipment installed on the ship, scan the submarine topography of the deepest lake on the planet. Scientists tell us that the ship is moving slowly and in a straight line so that a multi-beam sonar managed to fix the exact position of all depressions, protrusions and other features of the underwater topography of the lake, and these data are important not only to create three-dimensional map. For example, earlier, during the study, dozens of new geological structures have been identified.

Virtual map of Lake Baikal with the updated data will be ready this fall.