A two-person team is looking to help Northern communities by providing research on fluctuating ice levels.

Homa Kheyrollah Pour and Arash Rafat, an assistant professor of geography and environmental studies and a master of science student, respectively, at Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, Ont., have been out on at least two lakes SA国际影视传媒� Ryan Lake and Landing Lake SA国际影视传媒� setting up machines called Snow and Ice Mass Balance Apparatus (or SIMBAs) that are able to determine a variety of details about the ice.

SA国际影视传媒淯ltimately, what we can measure through is ice thickness, how much snow is on top of the ice, as well as water temperature and air temperature,SA国际影视传媒� said Rafat.

The locations chosen for the SIMBAs were based on the shape and depths of the lakes.

SA国际影视传媒淎s well, there is a weather station setup actually on the way,SA国际影视传媒� Rafat said. SA国际影视传媒淲eSA国际影视传媒檙e working with the collaborator who runs the station. That kind of gives us (an) overall broader picture of whatSA国际影视传媒檚 happening over the lake in terms of climate.SA国际影视传媒�

The SIMBAs use multiple sensors to take measurements and distribute the information.

SA国际影视传媒淓very 15 minutes, we can take a reading of the temperatures throughout the whole three-metre-long chain,SA国际影视传媒� said Rafat.

An additional benefit of the SIMBAs is that they send data remotely, which prevents the teams from having to stay out in frigid temperatures.

Despite the team only being in the research stage of their current project, they can already see that the ice season is getting shorter due to increased air temperatures.

SA国际影视传媒淏esides that, itSA国际影视传媒檚 not only the the duration, but also the variability,SA国际影视传媒� said Kheyrollah Pour. SA国际影视传媒淟ike you have a super cold night, and then two days after you have a very warm day.

SA国际影视传媒淪o we are trying to understand whatSA国际影视传媒檚 happening actually within the ice if we have this huge variability of temperature,SA国际影视传媒� she said.

The duo hope to use the data to begin the community engagement stage of their work, and move past what they deem to be SA国际影视传媒榬esearch mode.SA国际影视传媒�

This includes taking gathered information to help support travel across the ice roads with regards to whether conditions are safe for commercial and leisure travellers.

Pour and Rafat have been collaborating with Aurora College and the Government of the Northwest Territories, for which they said theySA国际影视传媒檙e thankful. The collaborations help their research project attain funding distributed by the NWT Cumulative Impact Monitoring Program.