{"id":19995,"date":"2020-07-31T14:14:46","date_gmt":"2020-07-31T19:14:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cf.iisd.net\/ela\/?p=19995"},"modified":"2023-09-25T14:00:30","modified_gmt":"2023-09-25T19:00:30","slug":"collecting-data-from-the-field-while-working-from-home","status":"publish","type":"blog","link":"https:\/\/www.iisd.org\/ela\/blog\/collecting-data-from-the-field-while-working-from-home\/","title":{"rendered":"This Is How We Can Collect Data from the Field While Working from Home"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n

It’s no secret that this year has posed many new challenges to conducting field research.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

At IISD Experimental Lakes Area (IISD-ELA), we have adapted our 2020 summer season<\/a>\u00a0to\u00a0allow only a small team of researchers to work on site\u00a0for one week every month to maintain our 52-year dataset. (For reference, in a typical year, we would have over 60 people on site all season long, collecting data on many of our 58 lakes,\u00a0conducting whole-ecosystem research,\u00a0participating in field courses, or visiting the facilities\u00a0for tours.)<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

In the spirit of making our monitoring more adaptive<\/a>, we are adopting new technology practices to collect information about these lakes when we cannot be on site.\u00a0Limited access is not something unique to this year\u00a0nor to IISD-ELA,\u00a0but is a regular challenge for waterways with remote access.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

No matter the challenge, we still need to know what is happening in the water to make informed management decisions.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

We were recently able to install a sensor and telemetry platform on Lake 227 at IISD-ELA to frequently collect data that is sent directly back to researchers in Winnipeg through the cloud every hour.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Come join us, Geoffrey Gunn<\/a> and Madeline Stanley<\/a>, as we take you\u00a0out onto Lake 227 to install the sensor platform.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\r\n
https:\/\/youtu.be\/synd00rX9LU<\/div>\r\n<\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n
\r\n\r\n\r\n

In preparation to head out to the IISD-ELA we had to self-isolate for two weeks. Over those two weeks we met virtually to plan our deployment and installation and began to make a pile of gear for our trip.\u00a0<\/em>\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

I (Geoff) had already done one round of isolation, so the second was no surprise. I mostly camped out in the basement. It was made harder because Manitoba had just started to reopen, and I had to turn down patios and keep myself occupied indoors.\u00a0I like to lay\u00a0out all the tools and necessities before going into the field.\u00a0Working in remote environments means you need to pack everything with you.\u00a0<\/em>\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\"\"<\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

For this trip, I brought essential field tools: a screwdriver, a couple of adjustable wrenches, a multi-tool, and\u00a0an electrical multimeter (to troubleshoot broken cable wires). I also packed some things I always take to the field: zip ties, electrical tape and\u00a0a notebook. Almost any monitoring platform can be secured with enough zip ties and tape!\u00a0To capture the photos and videos you see below, I packed our DJI Mavic2Enterprise drone (for aerial shots) and a GoPro Hero7.<\/em><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

See how many of these you can spot in the image below.<\/em><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\"\"<\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n
\r\n\r\n\r\n

It was great driving out to\u00a0the site. On the way, we stopped in a small town called Pinawa to pick up the sensor from our collaborators at Aquatic Life Ltd.<\/a>\u00a0With the dock keeping us at a safe distance, Steven Simpson showed us one of their\u00a0new installations\u00a0on the Winnipeg River, and we started to appreciate what our sensor\u00a0would\u00a0look like in action.<\/em>\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\"\"<\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n
\r\n\r\n\r\n

Once we got out to the site, we were among just a few people at a facility that is usually teeming with researchers. We got ourselves set up and organized our gear for deployment. <\/em><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\r\n
https:\/\/youtu.be\/T-KdoL5P0qw<\/div>\r\n
The road to IISD Experimental Lakes Area usually takes 45 minutes to drive down, but it’s worth it in the end.<\/figcaption>\r\n<\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

We\u2019re lucky to be part of a great team at IISD-ELA; our colleague Lee Hrenchuk<\/a> left us a nice pile of everything we needed\u2014including some lovely nylon rope\u2014from her sampling expedition the week before.<\/em><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\"\"<\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n
\r\n\r\n\r\n

To get to Lake 227, you have to drive down the road with all of your gear, pack the boat, boat across Roddy Lake, unpack gear and portage over to Lake 305, pack the boat and drive across Lake 305, unpack gear and transport across a longer portage to Lake 227! Needless to say, before departing, we triple checked that we had all our gear required for deployment<\/em>!<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\r\n
https:\/\/youtu.be\/4fMzudDZdvo<\/div>\r\n<\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
\"\"<\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n
\r\n\r\n\r\n

Once we finally arrived at the lake, we set up our platform and all our equipment on a small clearing beside the lake. On the floating platform,<\/strong> we installed<\/em>:<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n