November 10 , 2010 John Payne, Slope Tundra Lakes: Experimental Technology for Analyzing Water Quality and Bathymetry , North Slope Science Initiative

North Slope Tundra Lakes: Experimental Technology for Analyzing Water Quality and Bathymetry

John F. Payne (presenter), Director, North Slope Science Initiative
Robert Shuchman, Co-Director, Michigan Tech Research Institute
Guy Meadows, Director, University of Michigan, Marine Hydrodynamics Laboratory

Data collection continues to challenge industry and agencies responsible for land and water management on the North Slope. The North Slope is a very large and remote geographic area, and logistics for data collection are expensive and require extensive planning. For these reasons, establishment of baseline parameters for the detection of change in the future has been challenging.

Changing climate has affected the lakes on the North Slope. Lakes have shrunk in both area and volume, and salt water intrusion of the lakes near the coast has altered the chemistry and water quality. Modification such as these results in habitat changes for the fish, waterfowl, and other wildlife that utilize these lakes. Presently, we do not know what, and the extent to which, changes are occurring in the North Slope lakes.

Previous studies have resulted in some data collection on North Slope lakes, but the number of lakes sampled is low and costs related to the traditional methods of water sampling and bathymetry on the North Slope are expansive, running from a low of $10,000 to over $25,000 per lake. With thousands of lakes, many of them large, costs for extensive sampling on the North Slope may be prohibitive using traditional methods.

In partnership with Michigan Tech Research Institute (MTRI) and the University of Michigan Marine Hydrodynamic Laboratory, the North Slope Science Initiative (NSSI) has supported the development of an efficient and accurate remote sensing technology to collect water quality and bathymetry parameters across the North Slope. The program has been ongoing with the first field demonstration in July 2006. The first generation device was so promising that deployment of a second generation device, a compact autonomous bathymetry boat 'BathyBoat' that can be pre-programmed to return to its deployment location, was deployed in August and September 2008. Improvements in sensor design, with additional deployments in 2009 and 2010, has now lead to even greater efficiency, including the use of unmanned aerial vehicles to collect data from lakes.

With the current configuration, up to 14 water quality parameters plus bathymetry are transmitted to a ground station to provide information in near real-time (no additional expensive laboratory analysis is needed). This reduces the cost per water body by roughly 10-fold to between $1,000 and $2,000, and greatly expands the number of locations that can be sampled in the brief sampling season on the North Slope.