Grants and Contributions

The Mackenzie River Basin (MRB) in Canada’s North is one of the most important river systems in North America with competing needs of humans, ecosystems and industry. Climate change has altered temperature and precipitation patterns in the region, and is expected to intensify in the coming decades. Scientists rely on computer models of the water cycle to make predictions that can help society to adapt to this change. This proposal uses satellite measurements of the atmosphere and land surface to help improve these models, to make more accurate predictions of water availability for society and industry in the MRB.

At high Canadian latitudes, warming is increasing which is having significant impacts on permafrost stability, disturbance regimes, and vegetation. Despite advancements in carbon observation efforts they remain sparse. This proposal will validate a new modelling framework (CAN-TG) focused on northern Canada ecosystems to predict carbon accumulation and flux. The model is remote sensing focused and will be calibrated and validated using observations from CSA supported missions. The project will advance CSA priorities by providing estimates of carbon flux for national reporting, increase use of data acquired with CSA support and increase the number of scientists with PhDs in Canada.

SMOS and SMAP missions have shown the unprecedented capability of L-Band radiometry to monitor central variables related to the energy, water and carbon cycles. However, despite the unique capacity of L-Band radiometry, no missions are planned to continue L-band observations. A team of twelve scientists, are proposing a new L-band radiometry mission (FRESCH). They propose to improve approaches using L-Band radiometry in Canadian northern regions using drone and ground-based L-Band radiometers. The work will be crucial to the preparison of the FRESCH proposal and will ensure that the Canadian community will be well placed to participate into the scientic studies of FRESCH.

The locations of zooplankton-food for Right Whales can be linked to ocean fronts which can therefore be a predictor for their habitat. The reserachers propose to detect these fronts from sea surface temperature patterns, which can be obtained from satellite observations. Their focus is the Gulf of St. Lawrence, which is recognized as a whale feeding area. Using probability distribution functions of frontal activity and whale sightings, they will develop probability maps for Right Whale aggregation patterns. They will also correlate these results with satellite-derived indices of dominant currents, like the Gaspé Current, which provides the zooplankton-food for the whales.

This project aims at discovering new knowledge about the contribution of large-scale ultra-low frequency (ULF) waves to energy, momentum, and mass transfer in near-Earth’s space. This objective will be achieved by utilizing the advanced diagnostic capabilities of Borealis, a digital SuperDARN radar system designed in Canada with world-leading space weather radar engineering, providing unmatched temporal resolution and spatial coverage.

Freshwater ice thickness and snow water equivalent provide a proxy for monitoring climate, however both are difficult to derive from conventional satellite observations. This project utilizes data from the Surface Water Ocean Topography Mission during the Fast Sampling (daily) and Science Data Collection (11 day repeat) phases to retrieve ice thickness and SWE for Kluane (Yukon) and Teshekpuk (Alaska) Lakes. Two sensors are utilized: 1) Ku-band altimeter, which has been shown to retrieve ice thickness from waveforms, and 2) Ka-band interferometric syntheric aperture radar that has demonstrated capability for snow retrievals, but has not been tested for snow on ice.

This project will use a comprehensive data set collected on at scales relevant to SWOT and Sentinel missions to understand ocean mixing and coastal currents in the Northeast Pacific. There is considerable variability in the region that is poorly resolved in older generation altimetry products, and most in situ observations. The reserachers will use high resolution shipboard surveys, underwater glider surveys, mooring measurements, and targeted float releases to groundtruth and enhance the data returned from the new generation of altimeters. The results will be used to test and improve operational and research ocean simulations, with applications to fish stocks and weather prediction.

The long-term objective of this project is to develop a low-cost wide field-of-view (FOV) optical system for debris detection from a nanosatellite. The project will aim to develop a more compact camera capable of real-time image processing for space surveillance in challenging lighting conditions. The project objectives are to design an advanced star field simulator to accurately represent challenging imaging environment, to develop an algorithm using neural network for star and RSO detection in non-ideal light conditions, and to design a real-time adaptive camera control in response to changes in illumination conditions.

This project is intended to validate a portable technology based on surface plasmon resonance and passively pumped microfluidic techniques for disease screening in mobile clinics, remote regions and in space. We will also train a generation of scientists capable of meeting the challenges of remote site health care. The research proposed in this project will lead to multiple benefits for Canada, including the availability of disease detection technology that works in remote communities, the strengthening of Canada's position as a leader in the development of space technologies, and the contribution to the development of commercial activities in this sector in Canada.

The Canadian Atmospheric Laser Absorption Spectroscopy Experiment Test-bed (CALASET) aims to build a suite of instruments to verify measurements from Earth observing satellites. Ensuring that these space-based instruments are performing well is critical for producing reliable environmental data for Canadians. The CALASET-NXT project goals are two-fold: Develop new technologies for studying the changing atmosphere and providing a validation and verification capability for current and future satellite missions, and provide concept-to-flight education and training for the students who will become the scientists and engineers needed for future satellite missions.