Grant: Discovery Grants Program - Individual

I am a meteorologist who studies the interaction between the atmosphere and complex terrain such as mountains, valleys and coastlines. I am interested in the fundamental dynamical and climatological interactions, as well as environmental applications of this work such as the movement of airborne biota and the transport of air pollutants. This proposal is to continue and extend current work on the following themes: Airflow Dynamics to assess offshore wind power production potential along Canadas west coast (with PhD student Bakri) using synthetic aperture radar (SAR) data, buoys and models. Air Quality to determine the contribution of air pollution sources to the air we breathe in a multi-pronged approach. Working with PhD student Tereshchak, we will test recently developed low-cost continuous air quality sensors in Canadian field conditions and integrate these into a multi-pollutant mobile monitoring platform that will be deployed at multiple fixed locations as well as on a vehicle and an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle to map air quality across an area. Using state-of-the-art air quality models, with PhD student Onwukwe, we will work to understand current and future threats to air quality in northwest BC due to future development of the Liquified Natural Gas industry. With PhD student Islam, using satellite remote sensing of methane and a global chemical transport model, we will obtain an independent top-down estimate of methane emissions from the oil and gas development regions of western Canada. As methane is an important and potent greenhouse gas, this will contribute to understanding Canadas greenhouse gas emissions and to meeting the targeted 40-45% reductions in the gas, arising from the recent Canada-US agreement. Movement of Aerial Biota by the Wind to predict the movement of Mountain Pine Beetles from one year to the next by understanding the meteorology that controls when they emerge and the winds that carry them (with collaborator Chen). This will result in a model to predict the movement of the epidemic from one year to the next. Meteorological Drivers of Glacier Mass Balance to understand how winter snow and its transformation and redistribution acts to nourish glaciers in the Columbia basin (with co-supervised PhD student Mortezapour and collaborator Menounos). This will contribute to modelling the fate of alpine glaciers due to a changing climate.