Lifesaving tech installed at Canada's deepest lake by Wilfrid Laurier researchers

A group of researchers from Wilfrid Laurier University is working with a Dene First Nation in the Northwest Territories on a system of remote sensors so that people can know how thick the ice is before they go out.

At more than 600 metres, the Northwest Territories' Great Slave Lake is Canada's deepest lake.

It also serves as a vital lifeline for many living in the arctic region that surrounds the lake. Especially during the colder months where traveling across the lake is essential for the survival of communities like Łutsël K'é, that can only be accessed by air, boat or ice.

But as the climate continues to warm, it's gotten harder to predict when the ice will freeze.

"In the last 10 years it's taking longer and longer for our big lake to freeze, and we use that lake quite extensively in the winter months," said Iris Catholique, in a news release from Wiflrid Laurier University. Catholique manages Thaidene Nëné National Park Reserve, homeland of the Łutsël K'é Dene First Nation.

"Waiting longer and longer for the lake to freeze impedes our ability to access our traditional hunting grounds and provide for our people." added Catholique.

At times it has had tragic consequences: in 2019 three snowmobilers went missing. It's believed they died after falling through the ice on Great Slave Lake.

The growing uncertainty surrounding the safety of the ice prompted Catholique and her colleagues to reach out to WLU associate professor and Canada Research Chair in Remote Sensing of Environmental Change, Homa Kheyrollah Pour.

"The ice is a big part of the community of transportation as well as hunting in their traditional way of living. It's a huge, huge part of their culture." said Kheyrollah Pour told CBC News.

She and her team have been studying cold region water systems and their responses to climate change by installing sensors on lakes in order to collect real-time measurements of ice thickness, snow depth, as well as air and water temperatures.

Similar sensors have been installed around other lakes in the Arctic.

The research is part of the territorial government's Cumulative Impact Monitoring Program, which collects information from the environment to guide decision-making. 

The sensors, called Snow and Ice Mass Balance Apparatus or SIMBAS, are small inexpensive devices that were installed in two locations on Great Slave Lake at the beginning of the year. 

Every 15 minutes, the sensors collect data detailing the thickness of ice, snow accumulation and water temperature which is then used to let the community know whether or not it's safe to travel across the lake.