Canadian Radar Satellite Mission for Monitoring Snow Water Equivalent
Speaker(s)
Description
This presentation focuses on the scientific activities related to the development of the satellite mission.
Summary
Snow is currently the only component of the water cycle that does not have a dedicated satellite mission. Environment and Climate Change Canada and the Canadian Space Agency are currently developing a radar satellite mission that will allow for the measurement of snow water equivalent on a national scale, on a weekly basis. The concept involves a dual-frequency synthetic aperture radar sensor (13.25 and 17.5 GHz) with dual polarization (VV and VH) that will image Canada’s landmass every 5 to 7 days.
This presentation will focus on the scientific activities related to the development of the satellite mission.
Speaker
Benoit Montpetit is a research scientist with the Climate Research Division at Environment and Climate Change Canada. He is also an adjunct professor at the Universities of Sherbrooke and Waterloo. He is currently working on the development of algorithms for detecting snow water equivalent using microwave satellite imagery. Benoit earned a PhD in remote sensing physics from the University of Sherbrooke in 2015. He has 10 years of experience at Environment and Climate Change Canada, having held various positions within the Canadian Ice Service and the Wildlife and Landscape Science Directorate before assuming his current role.
