NASA ready for takeoff in Yellowknife

What do microwaves, permafrost and an old military plane have in common?

They're all part of a NASA project titled the Arctic-Boreal Vulnerability Experiment, or ABoVE for short. The project maps the landscape in the Northwest Territories to see the changes year-to-year such as melting permafrost and regrowth after wildfire.

The goal is to seek a better understanding of the vulnerability and resilience of ecosystems in the North.

"I think we've seen that, what people here know first hand, is that that change is happening very quickly and we're seeing much larger changes than we would have expected based on some of the large Earth system models that are used to forecast climate change," Charles "Chip" Miller, a project lead with the ABoVE project, told CBC.

Charles 'Chip' Miller stands in front of the retired military plane the Gulfstream G-III that NASA now uses for landscape research in the N.W.T. (Jenna Dulewich/CBC)

As per tradition, the team let delegates from Indigenous governments and NGOs jump in the plane for a four-hour flight to learn more about the ABoVE project.

Tanisha Beaverho from Behchokǫ̀ was part of the flight as a representative for the Tłı̨chǫ government.

"It's my first time and it's good to see in-person scientists and climate change researchers do their job," Beaverho told CBC after the flight.

The 21-year-old said it was interesting to learn how the team collected data.

Tanisha Beaverho from Behchokǫ̀ was able to take part in a NASA flight in Yellowknife. (Jenna Dulewich/CBC)

The project uses synthetic aperture radar with radio waves, similar to what is used in a microwave. The radio waves that are sent down to the surface, then reflected back, NASA researchers explained, from there based on the signal strength and duration and the team can characterize the surface of the Earth.

Sean Erasmus was another delegate on the flight as part of the Yellowknives Dene First Nation (YKDFN).

"They needed someone to go on and I just happened to be available to go in it and it was fun — it was pretty cool," Erasmus said.

Highlights from the trip included seeing a lake that looked like a helicopter, and taking flight in a retired military plane.

The flight is part of the Arctic-Boreal Vulnerability Experiment mapping landscape changes in the North. (Jenna Dulewich/CBC)

"It was a pretty smooth ride … it's kind of like first class," he said.

The plane used for the project is the Gulfstream G-III, also known as a C-20.

The plane still holds a handful of seats, research equipment that includes a large viewing monitor, and a mini kitchenette in the back with cupboards, counter space and a microwave for snacks.

First-class amenities aside, Erasmus said looking at the changed landscape was an interesting experience, especially seeing the burned areas surrounding Yellowknife from last year's wildfires.

"I couldn't believe it. There was like a lot of fires — we were completely surrounded," Erasmus said.

A changing landscape

Mapping the landscape changes from the wildfires is also part of the project.

Last year, more than 4.1 million hectares of land burned across the N.W.T. This year so far, more than 1.2 million hectares have burned, according to N.W.T. Fire's website.

"That's a natural part of the ecosystem here in the North and is to be expected, but I don't think we're expecting the magnitude, the frequency and the intensity of the fires that we observed," Miller said.

An aerial view of the wildfire threatening the Yellowknife area from Aug. 17, 2023. (N.W.T. Fire)

But even with the wildfires, researchers said some of the biggest changes they are seeing in the territory exist in the farther north with melting permafrost.

In an Arctic report card released earlier this year, it highlighted the Arctic had a near-record melt in 2023.

Project winding down on Earth, gearing up for space

The timeline for ABoVE was eight to 10 years, Miller said, but the project is starting to wind down as the technology used on the plane will soon be used on a new satellite.

"This [project] in many ways was a precursor of what we'll be able to do from space with the satellite going forward into the future," Miller said.

Miller has been part of the project since it started flying in the territory in 2017. He said he is hopeful the NASA plane makes one more trip to Yellowknife.

"We're going to look at all the data that have been acquired and try to now put this all in perspective and what we've learned over the past decade," Miller said.

The satellite with the same technology is expected to launch into space next year.