The Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) announced New Opportunities funding for research at York University in a field that is expected to revolutionize the study of earth, oceans and atmosphere.
“This new initiative at York will promote wide-ranging scientific collaboration and ensure that Canadians benefit from the revolutionary developments in this field,” said Professor Spiros Pagiatakis, who will establish the Space Geodesy Laboratory at York for the Study of the Solid Earth, Oceans and Atmosphere, the first of its kind in Canada.
Geodesy, the science concerned with the mathematical study of the size and shape of the earth and its gravity field, is crucial to understanding changing geophysical activity, climate change and weather patterns on the planet, including ocean circulation, glacial isostatic adjustment, tectonic plate shifts and volcanoes.
Among the expected benefits of the gravity field research are greater accuracy achieved by satellite positioning systems such as Global Positioning System (GPS), used in search and rescue and in the management of such vital economic sectors as agriculture, forestry, transportation and resource exploration. Collaboration with atmospheric scientists at York and elsewhere in Canada and abroad will advance knowledge of climate change and weather prediction methods using LEO mission data. Knowledge gained from the measurement and studies of the Earth’s gravity field can be directly applied to the study of our solar system and the planet Mars.
For further details, check the Media Relations news release: http://www.yorku.ca/ycom/release/archive/101802-3.htm.