CSA: Most complete Antarctic map available for climate research

This is a mosaic of satellite images of Antarctica taken by RADARSAT-2. 

Credit: CSA, RADARSAT-2 Data.

The University of Waterloo has unveiled a new satellite image of Antarctica, and the imagery will help scientists all over the world gain new insight into the effects of climate change.

Thanks to a partnership between the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates Ltd. (MDA), the prime contractor for the RADARSAT-2 program, and the Canadian Cryospheric Information Network (CCIN) at UWaterloo, the mosaic is free and fully accessible to the academic world and the public.

Using Synthetic Aperture Radar with multiple polarization modes aboard the RADARSAT-2 satellite, the CSA collected more than 3,150 images of the continent in the autumn of 2008, comprising a single pole-to-coast map covering all of Antarctica.

This is the first such map of the area since RADARSAT-1 created one in 1997.

"The mosaic provides an update on the ever-changing ice cover in this area that will be of great interest to climatologists, geologists, biologists and oceanographers," said Professor Ellsworth LeDrew, director of the CCIN and a professor in the Faculty of Environment at Waterloo.

"When compared to the previous Antarctic RADARSAT-1 mosaic, we can map changes in the icescape with unprecedented accuracy and confidence. The earth's polar regions are considered a bellwether for the effects of climate change."

Professor LeDrew is at the forefront of a cultural shift in the way researchers discover, share and preserve their research data.

The CCIN links international researchers around the world with numerous government, university and private organizations to provide data and information management infrastructure for the Canadian cryospheric community.

This mosaic map of the Antarctic is the latest addition to the CCIN's Polar Data Catalogue. It is available on the Polar Data Catalogue website.

"The Polar Data Catalogue's mandate is to make such information freely available to scientists, students and the public to enhance our understanding and stewardship of the polar regions," said Professor LeDrew.

"We are proud to work with the Canadian Space Agency and MDA to bring this outstanding Canadian technology and science to the international community."

Next up for the partnership is a similar mosaic for Greenland, which will provide further crucial information about our shifting climate in the northern hemisphere.

There are also plans to continue creating mosaics of Antarctica every few years to provide more data for researchers.

Big Bear Observatory (BBSO): Remarkable details of the Sun now available

The most precise sunspot image ever taken is shown. 

With the unprecedented resolution of the Big Bear Solar Observatory's New Solar Telescope (NST), many, previously unknown, small-scale features are revealed.

They include the twisting flows along the penumbra's less dark filaments, as well as the complicated dynamical motion in the light bridge vertically spanning the darkest part of the umbra, as well as the dark cores of the small bright points (umbra dots) apparent in the umbra.

The telescope is currently being upgraded to include the only solar multi-conjugate adaptive optics system to fully correct atmospheric distortion over a wide field of view, as well as the only fully cryogenic solar spectrograph for probing the sun in the near infrared.

Other instruments have been brought on-line since 2009, to enable the NST to probe the sun with its full scientific capability for measuring magnetic fields and dynamic events using visible and infrared light. 

Credit: BBSO/NJIT

Researchers at NJIT's Big Bear Solar Observatory (BBSO) in Big Bear, CA have obtained new and remarkably detailed photos of the Sun with the New Solar Telescope (NST).

The photographs reveal never-before-seen details of solar magnetism revealed in photospheric and chromospheric features.

"With our new generation visible imaging spectrometer (VIS)," said Wenda Cao, NJIT Associate Professor of Physics and BBSO Associate Director, "the solar atmosphere from the photosphere to the chromosphere, can be monitored in a near real time."

"One image was taken with VIS on May 22, 2013 in H-alpha line center. The lawn-shaped pattern illustrates ultrafine magnetic loops rooted in the photosphere below."

Wenda Cao

The other photospheric photograph is the most precise sunspot image ever taken: A textbook sunspot that looks like a daisy with many petals.

The dark core of the spot is the umbra and the petals are the penumbra. "With the unprecedented resolution of BBSO's NST, many previously unknown small-scale sunspot features can now be perceived," said Cao.

In particular, there are the twisting flows along the penumbra's less dark filaments, the complicated dynamic motion in the light bridge vertically spanning the umbra's darkest part and the dark cores of the small bright points or umbra dots.

BBSO has been under NJIT's management since 1997 when NJIT took over the facility from California Institute of Technology.

Philip R. Goode

The founder and executive director has been NJIT Distinguished Professor Philip R. Goode, a Fellow of the American Physical Society and the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the American Geophysical Union.

Goode led the project, which was completed in 2009, to build the world's most capable solar telescope at BBSO. The new1.6 meter clear aperture, off-axis instrument is the world's largest solar aperture telescope.

This image was taken with the visible imaging spectrometer on May 22, 2013, in H-alpha line center by the New Solar Telescope (NST) at Big Bear Solar Observatory (BBSO), Calif.

The lawn-shaped pattern shows ultrafine magnetic loops rooted on the photosphere. 

The telescope is currently being upgraded to include the only solar multi-conjugate adaptive optics system to correct atmospheric distortion over a wide field of view, as well as the only fully cryogenic solar spectrograph for probing the sun in the near infrared.

Other instruments have been brought on-line since 2009, to enable the NST to probe the sun with its full scientific capabilities for measuring magnetic fields and dynamic events using visible and infrared light. 

Credit: BBSO/NJIT

The telescope is currently being upgraded to include the only solar multi-conjugate adaptive optics system with the goal being to fully correct atmospheric distortion over a wide field of view, as well as the only fully cryogenic solar spectrograph for probing the Sun in the near infrared.

Other instruments have been brought on-line since 2009, to enable the NST to probe the Sun with its full scientific capability for measuring magnetic fields and dynamic events using visible and infrared light.

Volta BCN: 2011 Milan EICMA debut - YouTube

Spain's Volta Motorbikes is at the International Motorcycle Exhibition in Milan this week, to debut two varieties of its new Volta electric motorcycle. The Volta BCN is the company's first two-wheeler and the first to be designed in the Catalan capital of Barcelona, after which it is named.

It's essentially one model offered in two different styles and finishes - the Sport has been designed as an urban motorbike, while the City is headed for the downtown core. These stylish sustainable mobility solutions offer a top speed of 74.5 mph (120 km/h) and a range of 43.4 miles (70 km), and will be released in Europe in Q2 of next year.

The BCN has a 33 bhp/25Kw DC electric motor that powers a maintenance-free, direct-drive belt transmission and makes 67Nm of torque - said to be roughly equivalent to a 250-to-400-cm³ fuel-driven motorbike.

Its 74V/3.1 kWh Lithium Polymer battery pack can be recharged from any 220V outlet or public charging point via an onboard charger and supplied 2-meter (6.56-foot) charging cable with a schuko plug.

Full recharge time is given as two hours, but partial top-ups are also possible. Volta says that after around five years of daily charging, the battery should still have 80 percent of its initial capacity.


The BCN's quoted top speed and range falls not a stone's throw from the current Zero S electric motorcycles, but is not quite up to the 2012 upgrades which will boast top speeds of up to 88 mph (142 km/h) and over 100 mile (160 km) range.

Volta Motorcycles is currently in the process of building a distribution network ahead of Q2 2012 availability.

The company will initially release the BCNs in Spain, before breaking out into the international market.

Both the Sport and the City carry an estimated price of EUR 7,000 (about US$9,500).

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Unemplyed? hundreds of professional positions available in the space industry

It has come to our attention that there are literally hundreds of professional positions available in the space industry that cannot be filled. At a time when there are millions of people out of work due to the worldwide recession the space industry seems to be booming with projects, contracts and a variety of other activities that require space professionals with some experience in all levels of organization. So, where are these very essential people?

This simple answer is that there are not enough space professionals who have the training and experience needed to do the required work. All of the qualified people that we know are working, and they are working very hard, putting in long hours and making sacrifices to try and get the many funded space projects completed.

What is wrong with this industry? During the 1960s and 70s aerospace companies were notoriously poor employers. One day, thousands of people would be laid off and the next day thousands would be hired. Space professionals had to be mobile and expect to change jobs every two or three years.

They could expect to make good incomes, but not salaries attractive enough to compensate for job insecurity. This was symptomatic of the industry in the early decades of the Space Age. Unfortunately, this image persists and the industry still experiences ups and downs. Other industries are considered to be much more stable.

Consider those professionals who went into the financial and housing industries. They felt very comfortable about job security and they had well-paying positions.

All that ended last year. today, there are fewer college students studying finance, business and marketing and fewer job opportunities for graduates in these fields. However, throughout the last five decades, the majority of space professionals have consistently had well-paying jobs and still have such jobs.

Now that there are high levels of unemployment, where are those young, well-trained engineers and scientists that are so badly needed to build new space systems? They don't exist and we will not be able to fill all of those key positions for several years to come. These people must be attracted to universities that can educate them.

Then they must spend at least four years before receiving their degrees. This is followed by on-the-job training, until each is experienced enough to assume positions of responsibility. Thus, it is easy to see that current positions will not be filled for another five to ten years.

The average age of current space industry professionals has risen steadily since the days of Apollo. today, it is not unusual to see many positions filled with post-65 year old grandparents who have the experience and knowledge needed to compete in a very-competitive international space environment.

Unfortunately, while this situation offers many benefits for those people, it is a make-shift and temporary fix for the industry. The real problem is that the pipeline of future space engineers and innovators is empty. In a few years this may well result in a loss of space leadership. Warning signs are already evident, but no solution is in sight.