Industry Minister James Moore announces important support for advanced manufacturing in Quebec
QUEBEC CITY, QUEBEC--(Marketwired - Dec. 1, 2014) - Industry Canada
Industry Minister James Moore today visited the National Optics Institute (INO) in Québec City where he announced a new partnership between the Canadian Space Agency and INO to improve forecasting of severe weather events. The Government of Canada will invest $650,000 to support the development of new technology that will monitor how ice clouds contribute to severe weather in Canada. It's the first such project of its kind and one that has the potential to be marketed around the world. This important funding will allow scientists to conduct essential experiments to better understand why and how winter storms occur.
The Minister also participated in a discussion with representatives of some of Quebec's most successful manufacturing companies to learn more about opportunities for growth in the province. He emphasized the Government's ongoing work to ensure that Quebec manufacturers have the right economic conditions in place to ensure their continued success-both within Canada and in new markets around the world.
Quick facts
Quotes
"Quebec's aerospace and space industries should be celebrated as two of the most innovation-driven sectors of Canada's economy. Today's investment to develop critical weather forecasting technology will only strengthen Quebec's contribution to Canada's space industry. To ensure that Quebec manufacturers remain strong, our government has kept taxes low, reduced red tape, and promoted trade abroad and skills training at home-all of which are necessary conditions to create jobs and grow our economy."
- James Moore, Industry Minister
"INO welcomes this opportunity to collaborate once again with the Canadian Space Agency, contributing the unique know-how of our company. We are committed to further advancing thermal sensor technology, and we are thrilled to work on this project."
- Jean-Yves Roy, President and CEO, INO
Associated link
Follow us on Twitter: @industrycanada
Backgrounder
Government of Canada invests in cutting-edge severe weather forecasting technology
The Government of Canada, through the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), is awarding a contract of $650,000 to the National Optics Institute (INO) to further develop and test a new thermal imaging sensor (far infrared radiometer [FIRR]) that requires no cooling and is compact enough to fly on a very small satellite. This will be the first of its kind and may eventually open new commercial opportunities for Canadian industry.
This instrument will detect ice clouds forming at high latitudes that contribute to the cold, dry air masses feeding mid-latitude winter storms. Satellite measurements of these clouds and their impacts on atmospheric cooling will improve our ability to forecast severe weather events like unusual winter storms.
The FIRR incorporates new detector technology for extended thermal sensing. It will be tested in an airborne campaign in the Canadian Arctic in spring 2015 and in a ground-based campaign at Eureka in winter 2015/16.
These campaigns involve collaboration between government departments and university scientists across Canada, with funding from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) for Climate Change and Atmospheric Research. Scientists will test the technology and evaluate the data in preparation for future space missions. Analysis of the FIRR data from the airborne and ground-based campaigns will leverage resources from several major university research projects supported by NSERC.
The airborne campaign scheduled for spring 2015 in the Canadian Arctic will be supported by NSERC, Environment Canada, the CSA and the Alfred Wegener Institute's Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research.
Demonstration of this new technology, and the scientific measurements that it enables, is a step towards an eventual space-borne instrument of this type. This technology is envisioned for one of the previously announced micro-satellite candidate missions: Thin Ice Clouds in the Far InfraRed Experiment.
Contact Information: