MSC Monitoring Renewal Project CMOS 2012 Montreal, Quebec Thursday, May 31 Martin Elie on behalf of Dave Wartman
Presentation Overview Context Monitoring Renewal Components Conclusions Q & A Page 2
Context Environment Canada (EC) provides Canadians with the information they need to make informed decisions to protect their health, safety, security and economic prosperity in the face of changing weather and climate conditions Industries that are directly affected by weather conditions account for >30% of the annual Gross Domestic Product The success of the Canadian weather forecast and warning system depends on a sophisticated monitoring infrastructure to collect information on current weather and to detect/track hazardous conditions with enough geographical coverage to represent conditions across of Canada Page 3
Context Environment Canada (EC) operates a number of weather/climate monitoring networks that are an essential component of Canada s core weather forecasting and warning mandate The integrity of EC s weather enterprise is at risk: Current weather and climate networks are aging, experiencing more frequent outages, and at increasing risk of failure The ability to warn Canadians of severe weather affecting their lives and property depends on early detection On September 22, 2011, EC received, through a Treasury Board Submission, funding over five years to renew and ensure the sustained integrity of its critical weather and climate monitoring infrastructure Page 4
Monitoring Renewal Components 1. Radar Upgrade & Stabilization 2. Upper Air Stabilization 3. Surface Weather & Climate Stabilization and Modernization 4. Sustaining the Canadian Lightning Detection Network Page 5
Component # 1 The Canadian Radar Network - Context Weather radar is the principal tool used by forecasters to detect and monitor severe thunderstorms > public safety & economic well being EC currently owns and operates a network of 28 Doppler Weather Radars across Canada The current network is a composite of different types of radars of various generations (e.g. 10-35 years old) Aging infrastructure is beyond expected lifespan and at increasing risk of outages/failure Recent outages have occurred during height of summer severe thunderstorm/tornado season when early detection is critical Page 6
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Component #1 - The Canadian Radar Network Renewal Activities 10 year project, funding for first 5 years secured Stabilize radars for the entire network 5 year plan Existing radars have a number of aging sub-systems (e.g. electro-mechanical, motion controllers, RF components, etc.) Upgrade radars at 10 locations to dual-polarization technology RFI for industry solutions was issued early in 2012 McGill Radar Replacement Formalization of relationship between EC and McGill University Radar Replacement Prototype Making preliminary plans for the replacement of the oldest radars in years 5-10 Page 8
The Canadian Radar Network Expected Benefits Implementation of newer dual-polarization technology is expected to enable forecasters to: Better detect tornadoes Better distinguish between rain, snow, hail and freezing rain Improved accuracy and geographic precision of weather watches and warnings Reduced risk to the health, safety and economic prosperity of Canadians Page 9
Component # 2 - The Canadian Upper Air Radiosonde Network EC operates a network of 31 upper air radiosonde stations, located across the country > launch radiosondes 2/day Essential input to NWP models, weather forecasts/warnings, and aviation safety Renewal funding will support the replacement of obsolete Loran-C tracking technology with new GPS radiosonde equipment Ensuring sustained longer-term real-time monitoring of the upper atmosphere Page 10
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Component # 3 The Surface Weather and Climate Networks - Context EC operates surface weather and climate observation networks which provide: Real-time weather observations that are critical for the MSC s weather forecast and warning program The foundation for Canada s high-quality, long-term climate record Risks Network infrastructure is aging and at increasing risk of failure/outages Not being properly Life-cycle managed Dependence on partner operators for data required to meet mandated responsibilities Page 12
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Component # 3 The Surface Weather and Climate Networks Renewal Activities The MSC will focus on approximately 550 core sites that are key for climate and severe weather purposes A systematic and opportunistic phased approach towards modernizing and sustaining these networks is being employed: Existing equipment will be replaced and upgraded New stations will be installed 10 year project, with funding for first 5 years secured Funds received through the TB submission will supplement existing resources and enable the modernization of approximately 80 stations during the initial 5 year period Page 14
Component # 4 The Canadian Lightning Detection Network - Context On average 10 people die/year due to lightning strikes and more than 100 are injured The Canadian Lightning Detection Network (CLDN) is composed of 84 sensors distributed across Canada The CLDN detects and precisely locates strikes providing forecasters with data that is critical in the detection and monitoring of severe weather Sustainable funding will ensure that EC can continue to exploit lightning data to its fullest in the detection and forecasting of severe weather Page 15
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Component # 4 The Canadian Lightning Detection Network Renewal Activities Funding through this renewal initiative will be used to: Facilitate the maintenance and upgrading of the CLDN sensor and communications infrastructure Improve the lightning information utility and availability on EC s Weather Office web-site Which will lead to: A sustainable and accessible source of lightning data for Canadians to help inform decisions to protect their lives and property Ensuring that meteorologists will have information on the development of severe weather in order to issue timely and accurate warnings, particularly for those outside the coverage of weather radar Page 17
Conclusions Significant project with complex interdependencies Employing a PRINCE 2 project management methodology The activities within the Monitoring Renewal Project will ensure continued reliability, sustainability and relevance of the core federal weather and environmental services through investment in weather monitoring This investment ensures that Canadians will continue to have access to world class national weather information, forecasts and warnings Environment Canada is committed to continually improving the quality of our weather observations, forecasts and warnings to help meet the expected increases in the occurrence and severity of severe weather and climate events Page 18
Thank-You! Questions? For additional information please contact Dave Wartman Dave.Wartman@ec.gc.ca Monitoring Renewal Project Executive Director Atmospheric Monitoring Division Weather and Environmental Monitoring Meteorological Service of Canada or Alexander Zucconi Alexander.Zucconi@ec.gc.ca Monitoring Renewal Project Manager Atmospheric Monitoring Division Weather and Environmental Monitoring Meteorological Service of Canada Page 19