Introduction

Space Science

The Space Science research activities of faculty members in Earth and Atmospheric Science largely focus on studies of the optical aeronomy, dynamics and chemistry of the upper atmosphere and the near Earth space environment. Optical aeronomy is a discipline that deals with the effects of light on the atmosphere and the generation of light by the atmosphere. This light can manifest itself as the phenomena known as the airglow and the aurora (i.e., the Northern Lights). Our interest in these phenomena is both fundamental and applied and much of the research activity is directed towards developing remote sensing techniques that exploit the airglow and aurora to measure temperatures, winds and the chemical composition of the atmosphere using observations made from the ground, rockets and particularly satellite platforms.

Members of the Department are actively involved in a number of international space science projects such as the Canadian OSIRIS instrument on the Swedish / Canadian / French / Finnish Odin Satellite. Much of the analysis of observations made by OSIRIS, launched on Odin in Feb 2001, is carried out at York. See www.osiris.yorku.ca for more information on the ODIN Satellite. York Scientists are also involved in the Atmospheric Chemistry Experiment (ACE) now flying on Canada’s first Sci Sat-1 mission and the design of the SWIFT instrument planned for launch in 2013. Strong links exist with the Canadian Space Agency. Two of our faculty are members of the Science Team for the NASA/CSA Phoenix mission in Mars, which landed on Mars May 2008 and will transmit data during the Northern Martian summer. They are heavily involved in instrument design testing, modelling and project planning, and are also involved in data analysis and interpretation (see http://phoenix.lpl.arizona.edu).

Space Engineering

Space Engineering is based on the framework of applied mathematics, physics and astronomy and computer science to perform system design, fabrication, and integration of satellite communication systems, remote sensing technology and scientific payloads; design and management of complex hardware and data systems.

Space Engineering is a rapidly emerging field that has links to many other disciplines including Geomatics Engineering, Computer Engineering and Space Science, all of which are offered at York University. Space Engineering is concerned with the development of space technology that will increase our knowledge of the solid Earth, oceans and atmosphere and evolution of our planetary system and universe. Probing the Earth and its atmosphere from space provides an efficient, cost-effective and rapid approach to discovering natural resources, understanding the climate system and ocean circulation.

Space Engineering in combination with Geomatics Engineering and Computer Engineering enables the development of new technologies and applications that accelerate economic growth and improve the standard of living. Spaceborne sensors provide useful, and in many cases real-time data that have a wide variety of applications in weather prediction, in resource exploration, environmental management, navigation, health and safety, and many others.

Areas of study may include, satellite missions, space stations and deep space probes, propulsion systems, space exploration and communication, space vehicles and orbit determination, sensors, data acquisition, evaluation, processing and analysis. These studies have strong laboratory components that are connected to international projects which aim to explore and exploit our solar system. York University is currently involved in a number of satellite missions dedicated to studies of the atmosphere from space.

These missions in the past have included the Canadian OSIRIS instrument (the Optical Spectrograph and IR Imager System) on Sweden's Odin Satellite. OSIRIS has been making very high resolution measurements of ozone in the stratosphere since its launch in February 2001. Researchers at York are also working on their next generation satellite instrument called SWIFT (the Stratospheric Wind Interferometer For Transport Studies). SWIFT, planned for launch in 2009, will measure both winds and ozone densities in the stratosphere from about 20 to 45 kilometers above the Earth's surface. An instrument called ARGO will share the same satellite as SWIFT and this is also led by researchers at York. ARGO is for Atmospheric Research by GPS occultation. It applies the basic principals of Geomatics for atmospheric measurements.

York faculty are leading a project involving a laser radar (lidar) and meteorological measurements on board the Phoenix Mars Lander, which landed on Mars, May 2008.