This is how Canadian scientists measure the health of fresh water without leaving their desks!

Here at the world’s freshwater laboratory, our researchers would traditionally have to grab some waders or jump in a boat and physically take samples of the lake water at different spots and depths of the lake—come rain, shine, or even snow and ice!

 

Using these methods, we have built one of the biggest and most important environmental datasets in the world. And now we are diving into new technologies to find innovative ways to help us understand our fresh water.

 

This is where instruments we call “in-situ” sensors come in.

 

In one of our 58 freshwater lakes, we have launched a solar-powered platform with a series of sensors to float on the lake.

 

Those sensors frequently collect data about the state of the lake—such as how much chlorophyll is in the water, or what the temperature is—and that bounces off a satellite to our computers, laptops and cell phones where we can track and analyse the data without ever leaving our desks.

 

This short video explains all…