Grants and Contributions

This project aims to develop a comprehensive mapping and predictive approach for Canada's kelp beds using satellite remote sensing technologies, addressing critical gaps in understanding scale-dependent processes affecting these ecologically and economically significant marine habitats. Through a multidisciplinary team and training program, the project will fulfill specific research objectives, including the creation of learning modules, community engagement, development of detection models using deep learning, and advanced visualization tools, ultimately enhancing Canada's marine research capabilities and competitiveness on the global stage.

This project, conducted in collaboration with First Nations groups and other organizations, aims to develop a framework utilizing satellite imagery to monitor canopy-forming kelp forests in British Columbia, crucial for maintaining marine ecosystems and supporting culturally significant species. By creating software and providing training courses for First Nations communities, the project seeks to empower local stakeholders in monitoring and managing their marine territories more effectively, aligning with Canada's marine protection targets and strategies.

This project aims to address the rapid disappearance of grasslands, particularly due to woody plant encroachment (WPE), which has become the second most significant cause of grassland loss after land conversion to cropping. By leveraging advanced technology and diverse satellite imagery, the project seeks to develop methods to accurately estimate woody plant cover, detect WPE at an early stage, investigate driving factors, identify vulnerable regions, and assess the economic and environmental benefits of WPE detection on Canadian grasslands, ultimately providing a comprehensive understanding and methodologies for WPE detection and its impacts.

This project aims to create detailed 3D models of Canada's vast forests using satellite data and computer algorithms, improving the coverage of fine-detailed data across large areas. This innovative approach will aid in forest monitoring, wildfire mapping, and climate change impact assessment, offering a valuable tool accessible through an open data sharing portal for researchers and the public.

This project aims to leverage satellite Earth Observation data to advance forest carbon quantification, addressing the urgent need for accurate information on carbon sequestration and fostering expertise in climate change mitigation. By improving understanding of carbon dynamics, developing AI methods for carbon estimation, and assessing forest management impacts, the project aims to elevate the application readiness level of developed methods and contribute to informed decision-making, benefiting both the environment and Canadian communities while raising awareness of EO and climate science through outreach activities.

Following the JWST ERS and Cycle 2 GO Announcement of Opportunity published on July 6, 2023, the CSA is providing funding via a Grant Agreement to the university to conduct their research using the JWST data.

The amount of cooler gas in the center of galaxy clusters is about 10 percent of the amount expected from simple cooling. The central radio source associated with the bright central galaxy has been identified as the origin of the heating. This project uses JWST observations combined with previous multi-observatory, multiwavelength observations to investigate how the central radio source is able to re-heat the gas called the intracluster medium, or ICM.

Many upcoming missions plan to land on the Moon in the coming years. The scientific goals of these missions can be enhanced by remote sensing data of the sites, taken by instruments in lunar orbit. The Mini-RF instrument on the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter has been collecting radar data of the Moon since 2009. This project will provide new interpretations of lunar landing sites using this unique data set. This research is relevant to CSA research priorities, and provides opportunities for Canadian trainees to learn skills needed for space mission operations and data analysis.

Following the JWST ERS and Cycle 2 GO Announcement of Opportunity published on July 6, 2023, the CSA is providing funding via a Grant Agreement to the university to conduct their research using the JWST data.

This project aims to use two imaging cameras on JWST to uncover a large population of star clusters in their early infancy in a nearby galaxy¿ M64 also known as the “Evil Eye Galaxy”. The rare proximity to this galaxy means JWST can discern individual star clusters and surrounding regions containing ionized gas, as well as detect the filamentary gas structures that underlie and possibly fuel the cluster-forming sites. This program will provide the last missing piece for a synthesized study of star clusters, gas filaments, and HII regions in a unique, close-by galaxy.

Following the JWST ERS and Cycle 2 GO Announcement of Opportunity published on July 6, 2023, the CSA is providing funding via a Grant Agreement to the university to conduct their research using the JWST data.

This project will study an externally illuminated proplyd using NIRSpec and MIRI in order to determine the effects of a FUV-dominant environment on protoplanetary disk evolution and planet formation. The observations will spatially resolve the disk, neutral cocoon, and ionization front, providing key line and PAHs diagnostics to trace the physical conditions chemical composition and abundances under the effect of external FUV radiation.

The biggest mysteries in physics are the accelerated expansion of the Universe caused by dark energy, and dark matter, which forms the structure in the Universe, including our own Milky Way galaxy. Despite accounting for most of the matter-energy content of the Universe, their properties are only poorly known. The Euclid space mission will measure their properties by using the distortion of shapes of distant galaxies by gravitating matter, known as gravitational lensing. This proposal is to study the expected gravitational lensing effect around galaxies using simulations and measure it in the first release of Euclid data.