Pardon the pun, but Canada is practically overflowing with freshwater.
And, believe it or not, that abundance causes problems for water researchers.
“Canada is blessed with more freshwater than anywhere else in the world, but there’s no way you can put sensors in to monitor everything,” said Al Pietroniro, executive director of National Hydrological Services, an adjunct professor with the University of Saskatchewan and member of the Centre for Hydrology. “It’s too big.”
Pardon the pun, but Canada is practically overflowing with freshwater.
And, believe it or not, that abundance causes problems for water researchers.
“Canada is blessed with more freshwater than anywhere else in the world, but there’s no way you can put sensors in to monitor everything,” said Al Pietroniro, executive director of National Hydrological Services, an adjunct professor with the University of Saskatchewan and member of the Centre for Hydrology. “It’s too big.”
It’s this exact issue that SWOT (Surface Water and Ocean Topography) is aimed at solving. The term refers to a satellite scheduled to launch in 2021 by the National Aeronautics and Space Agency (NASA). SWOT will be capable of measuring surface elevations of any water body large enough for its sensors to collect data on, including the vast majority of Canada’s seemingly infinite northern lakes and rivers.
Continue reading at University of Saskatchewan.
Photo via University of Saskatchewan.
