Scientists to study Great Lakes climate change with underwater robots

LANSING — As climate change increasingly shapes the Great Lakes region’s ecology and economy, scientists plan to use underwater robots to gather previously inaccessible data they say will help communities adapt.

The Ann Arbor-based Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory, part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), has been awarded $1.9 million through the federal Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

It’s one of three NOAA labs that received $6.7 million for ocean and Great Lakes observing systems, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce, which includes the agency. 

Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said the funding “will help NOAA improve and expand climate and weather services so that communities are better prepared to tackle the impacts of climate change.”

A portion of the funding will allow the Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory and its partners to deploy autonomous underwater vessels to monitor more of the Great Lakes ecosystem for more of the year than earlier technology allowed. 

The money will also augment long-term tracking of water temperatures by increasing the number of moored heat sensors in the lakes, the agency said.

Together the technologies will allow scientists to gather data when the lakes are frozen over, according to NOAA. 

That’s crucial for adapting to climate-driven changes in the lakes because their temperature influences the growth of toxic algae blooms, the health of fisheries and even local precipitation patterns, said Craig Stow, a scientist at the lab and one of the project’s lead researchers.

“Water temperature affects everything,” Stow said. 

The new project will grow the network of sensors that the lab has used to monitor Great Lakes water temperatures for three decades.