The Lake Ashtabula Project was done under contract with the US Corps of Engineers, St. Paul District. The scope of the project included an aerial survey using color slides and infrared photography to determine if visual location of archaeological sites could be done using a non-obtrusive survey method such as photography. It was believed that this method would not only take far less crew hours than traditional on-the-ground inspection, but that the results might yield greater clarity in determining the location of human occupation.

The results of the Lake Ashtabula survey was mixed. Areas of the periphery of the lake did exhibit some potential areas of human occupation but photographs alone could not identify the exact nature of such occupations. Thus, a stratified sampling of ground surface reconnaissance was established based upon the results of the photography survey.

Richard Strachan Loading the Helicopter for the Aerial Survey of Lake Ashtabula Shoreline, North Dakota, 1976

Helicopter Used for the Aerial Survey of the Lake Ashtabula Shoreline, North Dakota, 1976

Aerial Infrared Survey of Lake Ashtabula, North Dakota. Richard Strachan and Kathleen Roetzel. U. S. Army Corp of Engineers, St. Paul District, 1976.