On the last day of November, Carol Warden and Paul Schramm, research specialists for the North Temperate Lakes Long-Term Ecological Research project (NTL-LTER), headed out to the deepest part of Trout Lake to deploy a string of temperature sensors that will record real-time measurements of water temperatures all winter long – even under the ice once the lake freezes over.
NTL-LTER has been consistently recording data on eleven Wisconsin lakes – seven up in Vilas County (or the Northwoods) and foru down in Dane – since the 1980’s. LTER researchers record everything from ice-on and ice-off dates, to fish population estimates, to water quality and, yes, temperature. As you can see in the video below, Carol and Paul had to content with a mix of wintry weather. And, first, they had to deal with the fact that the boat had frozen to its trailer!