A Saskatchewan Government agency will spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to investigate high-altitude aerosols as part of a NASA-initiated project to address climate change.Innovation Saskatchewan is investing $600,000 over three years through the Innovation and Science Fund (ISF) for a project supporting the HAWC (High-altitude Aerosol, Water vapor, and Cloud) satellite mission. HAWC is the Canadian Space Agency's contribution to the Atmosphere Observing System (AOS) mission led by NASA slated to launch in 2031. ISF matches federal innovation funding dollars for projects from Saskatchewan universities, colleges and research institutes.The program funding will help HAWC advance Canadian space science through the development of advanced technological space instruments. Co-led by a team of talented USask researchers, HAWC will deliver critical measurements to support extreme weather prediction, climate modelling and disaster monitoring. Further, it provides new data for scientists to better analyze, interpret and understand factors contributing to climate change.The province says the initiative is a sign of the world-class research and scholarly work taking place at the University of Saskatchewan (USask), and benefits the economy by developing a "mission-critical" national data centre in Saskatchewan, providing advanced training and employment opportunities and creating intellectual property and local investment opportunities.Minister Responsible for Innovation Saskatchewan Jeremy Harrison said the sky is no longer the limit."The HAWC mission represents a monumental opportunity for Saskatchewan in expanding its expertise in cutting-edge space and satellite research and development and elevate the province's reputation as a leader in aerospace technology," Harrison said."The economic, advanced training and employment opportunities created through this project will provide a tremendous benefit to Saskatchewan people."The HAWC science team is a Canada-wide group of researchers comprising USask as the lead institution of a 14-university consortium, along with the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), Environment and Climate Change Canada and the National Research Council Canada. Project leaders Dr. Adam Bourassa and Dr. Doug Degenstein are from USask's College of Engineering and Engineering Physics.The HAWC mission consists of three cutting-edge climate science satellite instruments, of which two are designed by USask: ALI (Aerosol Limb Imager), a satellite imager for aerosol profiling, and SHOW (Spatial Heterodyne Observations of Water), a satellite imager for water vapor. USask President Peter Stoicheff said his university is helping preserve the weather worldwide."The HAWC project highlights the contribution that USask is making in combating climate change on a global scale," Stoicheff said. "We are grateful to Innovation Saskatchewan for contributing to a project that will no doubt advance research and innovation in this province, train highly qualified personnel and create new employment opportunities in the field of climate science." Innovation Saskatchewan has provided over $18 million in ISF funding for innovative projects at Saskatchewan institutions since 2018-19.According to the HAWC website, "Common aerosols include smoke particles from fires, sea salt, dust, fine sand, air pollution, volcanic ash and pollen. Aerosols can be produced by natural events, like forest fires and volcanic eruptions. Humans also produce them through vehicle emissions, industrial processes and power plants that burn fossil fuels."Clouds and aerosols interact with light from the Sun and heat from Earth. This means that changing aerosols and clouds can either warm or cool the Earth depending on their types and locations. Improving our observations of aerosols and clouds is essential to a better understanding of the atmosphere and better predictions of climate change and extreme weather events."Supported by the CSA, the following concept technologies have been designed and developed by Canadian universities:ALI (Aerosol Limb Imager) will observe mid-to high-altitude aerosol particles. It will allow scientists to understand aerosol sizes and densities, and their effects on clouds, reflected sunlight, and climate change.SHOW (Spatial Heterodyne Observations of Water) will measure water vapour in the upper reaches of the lower atmosphere. A powerful greenhouse gas, water vapour affects clouds and aerosols, and drives heating and cooling of the atmosphere.TICFIRE (Thin Ice Cloud in Far InfraRed Emissions) will observe water vapour and ice cloud properties. It will also measure the energy that the atmosphere radiates to space, providing better information on how the atmosphere cools. TICFIRE will provide the ability to monitor this "far infrared" radiation from space, which up until now has not been possible.
