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Inuvik satellite station unveiled
Katie May
Northern News Services
Published Thursday, August 12, 2010
INUVIK - Scientists from around the world have their eyes on Inuvik now that the town is home to Canada's first Arctic satellite station.
The first of several planned Inuvik satellite dishes was unveiled Aug. 10 at Environment Canada's weather station site just outside of town for about 50 dignitaries, including representatives of the federal government, its partners, PrioraNet Canada Inc. and the German and Swedish space agencies, as well as local politicians and members of the public.
NWT Premier Floyd Roland laughs with Inuvialuit Regional Corporation Chair Nellie Cournoyea as they watch Inuvik's new satellite dish circle around toward the sky. - Katie May/NNSL photos
The satellite station's antenna circles quickly, reading data from satellites in space and transmitting back a variety of images and information with little delay.
Douglas Bancroft, director general of the Canada Centre for Remote Sensing with the Department of Natural Resources Canada, said this information will be used by all levels of government as well as commercial and international organizations for tasks such as developing mapping systems, monitoring the environment and improving security.
"This will provide some highly accurate mapping capability as well as being able to monitor critical Northern infrastructure in the years ahead - things like permafrost change, ice conditions," and forest fire detection, Bancroft said. "It fits into the entire (federal) Northern Strategy," he added.
Construction of the satellite station took about a year and a half, and now a second satellite dish is being built a few metres away, overlooking the town from its hilltop location. The dish alone weighs close to 14,000 pounds. Two similar satellite stations exist in northern Norway and in Sweden, and Inuvik was chosen as the third site because of the town's proximity to the North Pole, on the other side of the world.
The antennae at the satellite station track fast-moving satellites as they move over the Earth from the North Pole to the South Pole, Bancroft said.
"As the Earth turns, they go over different parts of the Earth a day, but one place they tend to go back to on each orbit - which is about anywhere from 12 to 15 times a day - is the North or South Pole. So the closer you are to the North Pole, there's a geographic advantage in that you see the satellites more and more frequently."
Natural Resources Canada is now working with Aurora College on research opportunities to figure out how Northerners can use the information collected by the satellites, Bancroft said.
"If you build a pipeline or a highway in the future, how do you keep an eye on it?" he said. "The North is vast, and information from satellites is an opportunity to look at large amounts of the landscape all at once."
At the unveiling on Tuesday, Inuvialuit Regional Corporation Chair Nellie Cournoyea said she was looking forward to seeing the many uses of satellite technology, suggesting its development might help Northerners work safely with oil and gas companies on offshore drilling in the Beaufort Sea.
"We very much welcome modern technology in our region," she said. "This is just one of the facilities that can aid us in finding out what's happening in our region and in being in touch with the world."
Most of the construction work on the station went to local contractors, said Inuvik Mayor Denny Rodgers. That work contributed to the town's economy, not to mention the travel and tourism revenue associated with the dignitaries' arrival, he said.
"It's another great opportunity to showcase our town," Rodgers said, adding he supports the expansion of the site. "There's a potential for a few more (satellite dishes) so that will be exciting."
The German Aerospace Centre currently has antennae on site, receiving signals to collect mapping information.
"Now we have other countries already knocking on our door saying, 'if you have this facility, could we add something to it as well?' So this is just the beginning," Bancroft said. "If you build it, they will come."
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