Expressions of Intent for International Polar Year 2007-2008 Activities

Expression of Interest Details

PROPOSAL INFORMATION

RADARSAT Polar Science Gateway  (RSAT PSG)

Outline
The RSAT PSG is a sub-proposal to GIIPSY (Id 91), for which it serves as the RADARSAT information node. It aims to provide a single integrated source of RADARSAT-1 and 2 data and products for scientific research conducted in the context of IPY. The project will also develop unique content for the gateway based on RADARSAT time series data and interferometric analysis of ice movement. The main outputs of the RSAT PSG are: • Radar imagery from RADARSAT-1 and 2 for polar science: Canadian Space Agency • Third RADARSAT-1 Antarctic Mapping Mission: Canadian Space Agency • Polar snapshot mosaics (time series): Canadian Ice Service • Ocean and land ice and cryosphere products and derived geophysical parameters: Meteorological Research Division, Environment Canada and Canadian Space Agency • Provision of portal infrastructure and services: private sector partner • User requirements document for the RSAT PSG based on consultation process The activity provides a clear means to support research into changes happening in the Arctic and Antarctic regions. It will enable systematic production of high-level climate-related Arctic sea ice parameters from the available RADARSAT-1 data records and a unique database of uninterrupted snapshots for the duration of IPY and the associated data products. The data collected as well as the data of previous campaigns will be processed into time-sequence maps of climate-related ice parameters and features, namely leads, polynyas, ridges, thin and multiyear ice types. This will constitute an important contribution to the questions of the sensitivity of the Arctic to climate change. In the Antarctic, the production of a third data set based on RADARSAT-1 data allows important tracking of change over time. In addition, collecting parallel RADARSAT-1 and 2 data sets will allow better correlation of the respective sets for future comparisons beyond IPY. New RADARSAT-1 products are contingent on RADARSAT-1 extended operations funding being approved.

What significant advance(s) in relation to the IPY themes and targets can be anticipated from this project?
Access to RADARSAT-1 and 2 data have been identified in many IPY proposals as critical components to success. These data provide a comprehensive snapshot of current status. Due to the existing RADARSAT archive, new data can provide a comprehensive overview of change to polar regions over wide areas. RADARSAT data is also an important component of programs dedicated to human issues and the unique vantage point of local peoples. The gateway has direct contact with these groups through its partner, Polar View. The RSAT PSG offers an integrated means of ensuring data and EO-derived information products are easily and readily available in a timely manner to the international scientific community. This will optimize exploitation of available polar observations. These data can make dramatic contributions to analysing the current state and changes in the polar regions by, for example, allowing a third Antarctic Mapping Mission, and acquiring simultaneous RADARSAT-1 and 2 data acquisition to better make use of future RADARSAT-1 and 2 data comparisons. If successful, the project establishes an uninterrupted radar data set over polar regions from 1996 forward into the future. Securing a partnership with Polar View will ensure lessons learned and infrastructure developed can extend as a legacy beyond the IPY period. The RSAT PSG will transfer past data acquisitions into a form useable by the IPY community. Whereas all the data acquired under the Antarctic mapping missions were processed, geocoded, orthorectified, mosaicked and generated into map products, the equally large amount of data acquired over the Arctic remains in large part archived raw data, with the exception of the low-level products created for the purpose of daily marine chartering and associated ice atlas compilations. The data sets acquired in the framework of the above mentioned Arctic Basin coverage are a uniform and highly time-constrained collection that could be processed near real-time to generate seasonally homogenized inter-annual snapshots to observe the state of the Arctic over time. If funding can be made available to continue the RADARSAT-1 operations as a dedicated mission, the data processing of the IPY acquisitions as well as of the earlier campaigns would result probably in the finest benchmark ever for climate change studies from the vintage point of the planet’s northern polar regions by means of derived products and geophysical parameters. Similar results are expected for the Antarctic region. In addition, advanced information products based on SAR interferometry will be developed. The technique of SAR interferometry can provide measurements of velocities of ice shelves and their contributing glaciers and ice streams on both fine detail and on large scale. Along with ice shelf thickness derived from satellite altimeter data and hydrostatic equilibrium models, it enables the estimation of ice fluxes. Also, changes in ice thickness can be inferred by an InSAR-based monitoring of the grounding line position. These measurements are important in assessing ice mass balance and in understanding the flow dynamics of ice sheets. This information is also important for planning and maintaining Antarctic research stations. Furthermore, changes detected in InSAR- derived coherence maps serve as an indicator of ground ice melting, resulting in large areas of unstable ice-cored terrain. A recent advancement in InSAR technology is the "Permanent Scatterer (PS)" technique, which is well suited to measure present and historical ground movements with millimetre accuracy, and as such can be used for pipeline and road monitoring in the Arctic environment. This has directly an impact on human societies, as well as many science activities relating to global warming. The InSAR method can also be used to estimate the snow-water-equivalent (SWE), which is an important parameter for water resource management (e.g. flooding) and hydrology. IPY has targeted integrated EO observations to support science through polar gateways. The RSAT PSG, as an integral component of GIIPSY, is an essential component to support the achievement of science objectives of the international IPY community.

What international collaboration is involved in this project?
The RSAT PSG aims to provide an international platform for the optimization of data acquisition and dissemination in the context of the GIIPSY system (Id 91). In addition, the gateway will ensure easy and efficient access to data and information products for the IPY community who have identified RADARSAT products as critical information. The following proposals list RADARSAT data and derived-products as being critical to their success: • 52/ Monitoring of Antarctic sea ice thickness by buoys and remote sensing /UK • 112/ Amundsen Sea Embayment Plan /USA • 129 / CANADA #139:Enhanced Northern Environmental Observations for IPY/ Canada • 197 / Snapshots From Space /USA • 226 / Ice Dynamics and Bed Characteristics of the Amundsen Sea Sector of West Antarctica /USA • 249 / Collaborative Research into Antarctic Calving and tabular iceberg processes /USA • 359 / Mass Balance and Ice Dynamics of Antarctic Peninsula Glaciers for IPY2007-2008. /USA • 487 / Alaska Sea Ice Observatory /USA • 526 / Canada #31: Northern Regional impacts and Sensitivity to Climate Change/ Canada • 590 / Tidal Influences on Polar Processes (TIPP): Fieldwork, Theory, and Modeling /USA • 623 / Canada #71: Mapping and change detection of Northern landscapes using multi-temporal Earth/ Canada • 634/CANADA #62: Evaluation of thermal energy exchange potential, stability and carving stone resources of active salt structures in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, Nunavut /Canada • 644 / CANADA #98: Variability and Change in the Canadian Cryosphere /Canada • 650 / CANADA #185: Canadian Antarctic Research Program /Canada • 907 / A Novel Approach to Radar Analysis of the Cryosphere./ Norway • 951 / Mass Balance of the Greenland Ice Sheet from InSAR in 2007-2008. /USA • 990/CANADA #254: Impacts of Surface Fluxes on Arctic Climate /Canada Through the contributions of Polar View, the team is further extended to include polar experts from Canada, Finland, France, Germany, Norway, Sweden United Kingdom, Iceland, Denmark, Italy, Russia and the United States.

FIELD ACTIVITY DETAILS

Geographical location(s) for the proposed field activities:
Field work takes place under related proposals that will access the RSAT PSG and rely on its data and products to further science objectives under IPY. All of the Arctic and Antarctic polar region field work can be supported by the RADARSAT-1 and 2 missions.

Approximate timeframe(s) for proposed field activities:
Arctic: 2007-2009            
Antarctic: 2007-2009            

Significant facilities will be required for this project:
Satellites and satellite TT&C, reception and processing, gateway infrastructure. This project becomes a central node for RADARSAT-1 and 2 access for the IPY community and their follow-on legacy activities. It forms part of a coordinated EO data acquisition plan defined under GIIPSY.

Will the project leave a legacy of infrastructure?
The project is focused on improving data management but includes science components and will leave as a legacy the RSAT PSG. In particular, the project creates an on-going portal for polar access managed in close coordination with related user activities through the ESA/European Commission-sponsored Polar View consortium or similar private sector service provider. This activity will enhance the use of information rich archives collected by RADARSAT over polar regions by providing an efficient point of entry for data accessibility. The RSAT PSG will provide optimum use of data storage in a manner that boosts research productivity, reliability, and efficiency, required by large national and international projects. It will support collaborative research and product distribution within Canada and internationally, within academic institutions, and industry and provides public access to remote sensing data and polar information products.

How is it envisaged that the required logistic support will be secured?
National agency
Commercial operator
Own support
Other sources of support

The proposal is submitted by the CSA, Canada’s national space agency, which will contribute offsets under its RADARSAT-2 data agreement, and existing but currently unfunded RADARSAT-1 operations facilities. Support for the concept has been secured in principle from Canada’s Inter-departmental Committee on GEO.

Has the project been "endorsed" at a national or international level?
Yes-Support for the concept has been secured in principle from Canada’s inter-departmental Committee on GEO, as well as from the Canadian Space Agency and the Canadian Ice Service; the proposal has been integrated into the GIIPSY proposal (Id:91), as a critical component of polar observations. Further endorsement form the International IPY Committee is being sought.

PROJECT MANAGEMENT AND STRUCTURE

Is the project a short-term expansion (over the IPY 2007-2008 timeframe) of an existing plan, programme or initiative or is it a new autonomous proposal?
Yes

Both. The project would a)extend RADARSAT-1 operations beyond current end date of late 2006; b)enable access to data and products from the commercial RADARSAT-2 mission for science community; and c)create a new Science Portal for Ice and the Cryosphere that examines polar regions using time series data from 1996 forward, including interferometric analysis.

How will the project be organised and managed?
The project will be managed jointly by the Canadian Space Agency and the Canadian Ice Service (Environment Canada), in consultation with the Polar View consortium and with ESA, the lead organization for the GIIPSY proposal, of which RSAT PSG is an integral part. The Portal itself will be managed by a private sector partner, with oversight provided by the Canadian Space Agency and Canadian Ice Service.

What are the initial plans of the project for addressing the education, outreach and communication issues outlined in the Framework document?
The Canadian Space Agency will provide support for outreach and communications, including: • Profiling IPY accomplishments that use RADARSAT-1 and 2 data • Promoting use of the RSAT PSG by science users, and related services by local aboriginal communities • Promoting awareness of space programs and IPY in the north amongst local communities • Promoting the third RADARSAT Antarctic Mapping Mission and the resulting science (the first mission was profiled in National Geographic)

What are the initial plans of the project to address data management issues (as outlined in the Framework document?
The proposal is focused on data management. It aims to maximize existing links with user communities involved in both Arctic and Antarctic research. The involvement of existing user communities and a clear plan to make data and products available as they are derived ensures early access to newly collected data and a clear strategy to progressively provide time series and mosaic information. Using a multi-tier data, product and service approach, the diverse needs of the science community can be met.

How is it proposed to fund the project?
Initial funding from the project will come from the Canadian Space Agency and the Canadian National Committee of IPY, which has already identified $150 million in funding to be allocated amongst proposals.

Is there additional information you wish to provide?
It is anticipated that this initiative will generate benefits in the industry and academic sectors and should be sustained beyond the IPY funding period by Polar View. Polar View is a consortium from Canada and Europe being funded from the Global Monitoring of Environment and Security Service Element (GSE). It is a joint initiative of the European Space Agency (ESA) and the European Commission. The goal for Polar View is to be a global leader in provision of polar EO services and products for environmental monitoring for the polar regions by building a cohesive international network that meets the following objectives: - engage a wide spectrum of end users; - provide a suite of desirable EO-related services and products to governmental users; - provide additional EO-related services and products to industrial users; - interface in a mutually beneficial way with the cryospheric science and climate change community.

PROPOSER DETAILS

Mr Paul Briand
Canadian Space Agency
6767, route de l’Aeroport
Longueuil, Qc
J3Y 8Y9
Canada

Tel: 450 926-6737
Mobile: no
Fax: no
Email:

Other project members and their affiliation