Grants and Contributions

This project aims to study and understand the evolution of soil moisture in the root zone and the phenology of vegetation in agricultural areas by combining SAR data with a hydro-agricultural model (SWAT). The project also has a goal of HQP training in compact polarimetry, data assimilation and hydro-agronomic modeling.

The Experimental Albertan Satellite #2 (Ex-Alta 2) will expand an open-source platform to include accessible, open-source satellite software, electronic, and mechanical designs to increase Canadian and world access to space. The CubeSat will test an imaging instrument designed to collect information for predicting, tracking, and monitoring the impact of wildfire on vegetation and land. It will also fly a flux-gate magnometer, an instrument designed to monitor and better understand the effects of space weather on our communications systems.

The CubeSat will be developed in collaboration with Aurora College, Yukon College, the University of Calgary, the University of Saskatchewan, York University, the University of Oslo in Norway, von Karman Institute for Fluid Dynamics in Belgium and the University of Iowa in the USA.

Concordia's CHIRad-Sat will test an imaging instrument to collect data on dust measurements and will study the effect of climate change in the Kluane Lake region. The CubeSat will also evaluate the viability of a new electronic component that shows better resistance to the harsh conditions of space and that could improve the cost-effectiveness and performance of future CubeSat computers.

CHIRad-Sat will be developed in collaboration with the Institut Polytechnique de Grenoble (France), the University of Montreal and Let's Talk Science. Industrial participation such as Quebec-based MDA, MPB Communications, Ontarian-based Mission Control Space Services, Kalray S.A. (France), Spectrum Aerospace Group (Germany), will additionally collaborate with Concordia University.

AuroraSat will promote and share Indigenous culture across Canada through northern images, a project that will take northern art to space, where pictures of various pieces will be taken with Earth in the background. The CubeSat will also promote and share Indigenous culture across Canada through northern voices; engage amateur radio across the country with stories and messages in Indigenous languages. It will additionally be promoted through games by creating a globally interactive game for amateur radio operators. Special recordings played only in certain geographic zones will require global cooperation in order to decode a whole message. Messages and content will be developed on the subjects of northern Indigenous history and language.

The Aurora Research Institute of Aurora College will be collaborating with Yukon College, the University of Alberta, Nunavut Artic College, University of Alberta North and the Canadian Geospatial Data Infrastructure to create their CubeSat.

For example, students could learn about instrumentation, signal processing and data analysis methods while completing an activity to map earth's magnetic forces using GPS and magnetometer data from a satellite built by their peers.