Media Releases and Opportunities

Researchers from Dalhousie University will gather data beamed to them from space to help scientists improve their understanding of climate change, sea level rise, coastal flooding and other pressing environmental issues.

A satellite launched last week from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California will send data back to earth as part of the Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) satellite mission, which was developed by NASA and France's space agency, with contributions from the Canadian and UK space agencies.

SWOT will be the first satellite mission to observe nearly all of the planet’s surface water at high spatial resolution, measuring water levels in lakes, rivers, reservoirs and the ocean. That will allow scientists to track the movement of water around the world and provide a high-resolution picture of ocean circulation and currents.

Dr. William Perrie, an adjunct professor in Oceanography, and Engineering Math and Internetworking at Dal and a senior research scientist at the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, will use the information to improve the accuracy of computer models that predict the movement of water and how that affects coastal communities, weather, climate and ecosystems. 

Dr. Perrie is available to discuss this research and how it could be applied to other scientific pursuits, like protecting North Atlantic right whales by using ocean current data to identify areas where the endangered animals might congregate.

Please read more about the research in Dal News.

                                                                                -30-

Media contact:

Alison Auld
Senior Research Reporter
Communications, Marketing and Creative Services
Dalhousie University
Cell: 1-902-220-0491
Email: alison.auld@dal.ca