UNews - Department of Environmental Science

Hopkinson, Chasmer embark on cross-Canada research mission

trevor.kenney — Tue, 26 Jul 2016 16:27:34 +0000

Dr. Chris Hopkinson, the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge geography professor named one of the country’s 100 greatest explorers in 2015 by Canadian Geographic magazine, will once again take to the skies to conduct surveys that will provide rich data about climate change, forest resources, wetlands, flood risk, permafrost loss and water resources.

Hopkinson and Dr. Laura Chasmer, Hopkinson’s wife and a fellow U of L geography professor, will conduct surveys from a plane equipped with a state-of-the-art laser mapping system.

Dr. Chris Hopkinson, along with his wife and fellow researcher, Dr. Laura Chasmer, will once again take to the skies to conduct surveys that will provide rich data about climate change, forest resources, wetlands, flood risk, permafrost loss and water resources.

“While the mission has many partners and several individual objectives associated with each site, my overarching goal is to assist with documenting and understanding landscape changes at a very high resolution over multiple Canadian ecozones, as well as the processes driving those changes,” says Hopkinson. “We’ve been doing these kind of trans-Canadian airborne survey missions since 2000 but this year is special because the technology we are using is paradigm-shifting in the way it collects data.”

Beginning in Ontario at the end of July, the duo will begin their trek westward. They’ll repeat previous surveys in northern Ontario and Manitoba, in northern and central Saskatchewan before heading to the Peace-Athabasca delta in Alberta. They’ll then do surveys in the Northwest Territories, near Yellowknife, Fort Smith, Norman Wells and Fort Simpson. The group will return to Alberta with surveys near Fort McMurray, Slave Lake, the Calgary area, the Castle Mountain watershed, Lethbridge and the Oldman River, and finally the Cypress Hills.

The LiDAR (light detection and ranging) system, on loan from Teledyne Optech, emits laser light pulses which are used to create three-dimensional topographical maps. The multi-spectral LiDAR data can be used by various levels of government to inform their plans and policies for carbon accounting, wildlife habitat management, greenhouse gas strategies and timber productivity, for example. The information gleaned from the airborne surveys can also help regions assess flood hazards.

While LiDAR systems have been around for a couple of decades, new multi-spectral sensors provide even more data that can be used in mapping and engineering and to extract forest attributes such as biomass, leaf-foliage area and stem counts. The new equipment can also survey through water to map river and lake beds. The equipment is capable of mapping the Earth’s surface in three dimensions at resolutions of 10 to 20 centimetres.

“With the new technology, which is only recently on the market, we can do all the cool 3D things we used to do with traditional LiDAR but now we collect more surface property information and this allows us to do new things like tree species mapping, which was always kind of hard to do in the past,” says Hopkinson. “This system allows us to see the world in a whole new way.”

Throughout the two weeks of the mission, the daily flight schedule will depend on weather and the presence of forest fires. Media interested in interviewing Hopkinson are invited to follow his progress via his blog and arrange an interview by email or by calling 902-840-1164 a day or two in advance.

BACKGROUND

Hopkinson is collaborating with several researchers on various segments of the mission, including Dr. Ron Hall with the Canadian Forest Service, Dr. Brian Brisco at the Canada Centre for Remote Sensing, Dr. Daniel Peters with Environment and Climate Change Canada, Dr. Shane Patterson with the Government of Alberta, Dr. Dave Sauchyn at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Regina, Dr. Richard Petrone at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Waterloo, Dr. Kevin Devito at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Alberta, and Drs. Stew Rood and Stefan Kienzle at the U of L.

In addition to Teledyne Optech, partners supporting the research mission are Airborne Imaging, Kalus Air Services, Natural Resources Canada, Alberta Innovates, Ducks Unlimited, Silvacom, the City of Calgary, Castle Mountain Resort and Tough Country Communications.

Funding support is provided by the Government of Alberta, Natural Resources Canada, Government of the Northwest Territories, a Natural Sciences and Engineering Research (NSERC) Council Discovery grant and a Canada Foundation for Innovation grant.

New U of L website highlights Alberta’s warming climate

caroline.zentner — Tue, 22 Dec 2015 18:00:30 +0000

A new, interactive online database developed at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge provides easy access to climate records from 1950 to 2010 for the province of Alberta. Analyzing the trends clearly reveals that Alberta’s climate has been warming, especially in winter, when the temperature in some areas has increased, on average, by as much as seven degrees.

“Our winters are clearly getting much, much warmer. It’s getting warmer faster in the north than the south and this is all based on observed data,” says Dr. Stefan Kienzle, a U of L geography professor who analyzed the database. “Interestingly, the summer temperatures have increased the least. On average, the summer temperature has gone up by less than one degree, rarely more than that. Spring temperatures have also risen by less than one degree in southern Alberta, but in northern Alberta there are regions with more than two degrees of increased warming.”

The dataset was developed by the National Land and Water Information Service, which is part of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. Using the measurements taken by weather stations across Alberta since 1950, Kienzle and his students analyzed the daily temperature readings to uncover trends in temperature changes.

The information on six climate indices is now available to the public through the Alberta Climate Records website. The measures include growing season, heat waves, days over 25 C, frost days, full days below 0 C, and days below –25 C.

“My main motivation in putting this together was to find out how much the climate has changed in Alberta based on the historically observed record,” he says. “I thought the public would be interested because we have all these different anecdotes about winter; some say winters are just as cold and others say they are warmer. In this case, our temperature records don’t lie.”

Weather is the atmospheric condition that can be observed and measured at a location, such as temperature, precipitation, wind or sunshine, while climate is the long-term statistics of weather, typically a 30-year average of weather.

“In central Alberta, the growing season has changed significantly,” says Kienzle. “Growing seasons throughout Alberta have lengthened, on average, by between three and four weeks because of earlier springs and later falls. For the farmers, that means there will be certain areas in Alberta where now the growing season is long enough for certain crops that couldn’t be grown before. You can also grow a larger variety of crops.”

However, the growing season can still vary significantly annually, depending on the weather conditions during that year. While farmers may benefit from a longer growing season on average, climate change also comes with significant downsides.

“The risks are more extreme weather, which means more heavy rainstorms which can cause flooding, more hail storms, more wind storms, and more lightning. More lightning, combined with more wind and dry ground, means more risk of wild fires. And for farmers, there’s an increased risk of pests and diseases,” he says.

Website users can click on a square on the map to bring up the climate data for that area of land. Each grid cell, identified by latitude and longitude, represents an area that is 10 by 10 kilometres. The database has almost 7,000 grid cells. Christine Clark, a new media graduate student, developed the webpage as part of her master’s thesis. Soon 43 climate variables will be available and the website will eventually be hosted through the U of L Library.

Inaugural Exploration Expo bringing science and research to the community

trevor.kenney — Tue, 03 Jun 2014 20:22:21 +0000

Do you have a sense of discovery? Are you curious about the world around you? Would you like to talk to some of the world’s leading research scientists and participate in hands-on activities that showcase the methods of their groundbreaking research? If so, Exploration Expo is the place to be.

The ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge presents its inaugural Exploration Expo, an interactive community outreach event, on Saturday, June 7, 2014 in Galt Gardens, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Designed to encourage conversation between all ages and experiences by stimulating people’s minds and passions through inspiring programming, Exploration Expo will include a variety of interactive activities that provide hands-on research experiences and introduce methods used by our world-renowned researchers, helping participants see the relevance of research in their community. In addition, U of L researchers will engage the community in a dialogue about their work, encouraging participation from listeners and community members in the resulting discussions.

“This inaugural event will also serve as the launch for our newly-named ASPIRE group,” says Faculty of Arts & Science Dean, Dr. Craig Cooper, of the Arts & Science Programs Inspiring Research and Exploration group. “ASPIRE is all about bringing the incredible people and research interests we have here at the U of L to the community and encouraging people of all ages to explore new concepts through hands-on activities, interactive demonstrations and inspiring presentations.”

Lethbridge is a city where ideas flourish and where collaboration is celebrated. Exploration Expo is designed for families, offering activities that will appeal to all ages, from pre-school children to seniors. The event looks to further connections between the sciences and the arts with the southern Alberta community and promote a greater understanding of the activities taking place at the U of L – all of which seek to better our lives.

“Community outreach is a real priority for our Faculty,” continues Cooper. “It’s important that we can involve the broader community in the work that we do. Another example of this is the establishment of a new Public Professor Series in the fall. This will be a series of pub-style talks to be held at the U of L’s Penny Building, all involving issues of popular interest to the general public that we hope will provoke some great questions and dialogue with the people of southern Alberta.”

Some of the displays and activities at Exploration Expo will include a Shakespeare in the Park performance, the LUMACS (Life, U, Mathematics and Computer Science) programming maze and maker area and a research presentation by Dr. Stefan Kienzle as he asks, “Is it really getting warmer in Alberta?”

For a look at all the Exploration Expo events, visit: www.facebook.com/ulethbridge.ca.

Food security concerns spawn project

trevor.kenney — Thu, 06 Dec 2012 18:24:26 +0000

Where is your next meal coming from?

Thankfully, the majority of southern Albertans are secure in the notion that there will be an adequate food supply available to fill their plates.

Such is not the case worldwide, and in fact by the end of 2011, it was estimated that one billion people in developing countries did not have enough food to meet their basic nutritional needs.

With food security one of the most pressing issues facing humankind, ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge researchers are embarking on a project that will develop a prototype system using geomatics information technologies, in combination with crop growth and socio-economic modelling to better monitor and forecast food security at local and regional levels.

"Alberta, really Canada in general, is a very important player in the world food market. Depending on the year, we are ranked fourth or fifth in terms of grain exports to the global food supply," says principal investigator Dr. Wei Xu, a professor and Chair of the Department of Geography. "Alberta is one of the major players in the game of food trade, so any decline in food production will not only affect our local communities, but also will affect the global food market. In that regard, the sustainability of food production at the local and regional level is very important."

Along with Drs. Karl Staenz, Henning Bjornlund, Stefan Kienzle, Craig Coburn, Jinkai Zhang and Z. Zhang, Xu's team will work for two years under funding from Alberta-based Tecterra, Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development, the National Engineering Research Center for Information Technology in Agriculture, China-based NERCITA and the Agriculture Financial Services Corporation. Tecterra is funding $495,000 of the $885,000 project.

"We want to start the project here and eventually expand to a global level," says Xu. "We want to help China, India, maybe African countries, so that they can, in their decision-making processes, adopt this kind of technology to help them assess and plan their crops more effectively."

The project is uniquely interdisciplinary and utilizes expertise from across campus. Xu, who classifies himself as a social scientist, has more than a decade of experience in conceptual design and system development for integrated assessments, while Staenz is a world-renowned expert in remote sensing technology. Add in the expertise of both Coburn and J. Zhang in remote sensing system development and design, the software development skills of Z. Zhang, Kienzle's worldwide experience in hydrological and crop modelling and Bjornlund's established knowledge in agricultural policy assessment and you have a comprehensive approach to the issue.

"We really tried to mobilize people from across campus," says Xu, recognizing the scope of the problem they are tackling. "This project will generate a geomatics solution to the problem of food insecurity that is of global significance."

The proposed prototype will fill a significant gap in the assessing and forecasting of food supply at a local and regional scale, offering governments new technology and information that can be utilized in policy development.

One would think that southern Alberta farmers, having worked the soil for generations, would understand what crops produced the best yields for our area but Xu says that is not necessarily so.

"Certainly we tend to claim that we know but, for example in 2001-02, when the entire region was severely hit by drought, nobody was expecting that," he says. "Given the uncertainty in climate, which is possibly getting warmer, the variability in the region, the greater demands on our water supply, the introduction of biofuel production, there are so many more factors at play.

"Our system will enable Alberta and Chinese governments to better monitor and assess the state of food production and security."

The United Nation's Food and Agriculture Organization has forecasted that an increase in food production of 70 per cent is required to feed the estimated world population of nine billion people in 2050.

"All these factors make this research very much relevant to our world," says Xu.

This story first appeared in the December 2012 issue of the Legend. For a look at the entire issue in a flipbook format, follow this link.

Fox turns love of environment into career

trevor.kenney — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 19:33:50 +0000

Several years ago, Paulette Fox (Naatawawaohkaakii) (MSc '05), manager of the Environmental Protection Division for the Blood Tribe Land Management Department, was driving up Lethbridge's west side hill with her young son. She asked him to imagine the land with no buildings or houses, only teepees and buffalo. Pondering this for a few minutes he asked, "So mom, where did the buffalo go and what are we going to do about it?"

Raised on the Blood Reserve, Fox had contemplated the same question as a child.

"I always pondered the buffalo and that continued journey made me interested in environmental issues," says Fox. "When I graduated from high school in 1995 I enrolled at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Calgary. In my third year they offered an environmental science undergraduate program. I was one of the first students to participate in that."

In 1998, Fox put her undergraduate degree on hold to attend the Centre for Indigenous Environmental Resources (CIER). She earned a certificate in Environmental Protection, Assessment and Education in 2000 and moved to Lethbridge to take her last few undergraduate classes at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge.

"I had always wanted to return home with my education and, not being quite finished, I got special permission to complete the last few courses of my U of C degree at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge," explains Fox.

In 2001, she completed her bachelor of science degree in environmental science and received an NSERC scholarship to begin her master's degree.

"Coming from a larger institution, I found the U of L campus very student friendly with the smaller class sizes, and I felt I could approach my professors," says Fox. "My supervisors, Dr. James Byrnes, Dr. Stefan Kienzle and Dr. Leroy Little Bear were great resources. Through Leroy, I had the opportunity to participate in dialogues with academic and spiritual leaders, not only from Native ancestry but from other ancestry as well. This was a very powerful experience for me, and one I don't think I would have had otherwise."

Fox was also involved in the Native American Students' Association and spent one semester as the association president.

"It was a very good experience in terms of being grounded in some of the issues that students face. I was able to get involved in many different activities and participate in Native Awareness Week," remembers Fox. "My experiences at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ were very positive."

She continues her association with the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ through her membership in the First Nations, Métis and Inuit (FNMI) chapter of the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ's Alumni Association (ULAA).

"The FNMI chapter is relatively new and I am proud to be part of its inception. This is a great step forward, bringing together graduates who have aboriginal ancestry," says Fox.

In 2005, Fox graduated with a master's degree in environmental science and began working for the Blood Tribe. At the time, there was no formal environmental protection division so Fox developed the agency to benefit her community.

"We write grants and get funding for proposals to work on a wide range of environmental projects on the reserve. We cover forestry, rangeland health and species at risk, and work on a regular basis with the elders and different advisory committees," explains Fox. "We are teaching our community to utilize cutting edge technology to monitor our landscape."

While her future goals include helping other First Nations communities develop their own successful environmental programs, Fox is very proud of her staff and the work they do in the field and in their own community.

"My hope for our community is to be able to thrive as when we had the buffalo, self-sufficient and proud of our ways."

GET THE FACTS

• Husband Duane Mistaken Chief (Aiaistahkommi), son Austin ( Kiisom), daughters Jaklyn (Niiokskasiipistakii) and Dallis (Akainskii) all speak, read and write Blackfoot.

• Fox's master's degree examined the use of GIS to link Blackfoot environmental knowledge with ecological databases.

• Fox serves as an advisor – Tribal Government, Blood Tribe Administration. She also co-facilitates community dialogues with Dr. Little Bear and is a panel member for the Native New Student Orientation at the U of L.

• Fox is a sessional instructor at Red Crow Community College and the recipient of research grants totaling more than $400,000.

UNews - Department of Environmental Science

Hopkinson, Chasmer embark on cross-Canada research mission

Related Topics

New U of L website highlights Alberta’s warming climate

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Inaugural Exploration Expo bringing science and research to the community

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Food security concerns spawn project

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Fox turns love of environment into career

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