The Prince Albert Satellite Station is getting a major boost.
Today, Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver stood outside the station to announce Ottawa was spending $39 million to equip the facility with two new giant antennae.
The announcement coincides with the 40th anniversary of the satellite station.
It is one of three facilities across Canada that provides scientists with real-time information on the country’s environment.
This covers everything from tracking the movements of wildfires, to measuring levels of ice thickness and monitoring the progress of the mountain pine beetle.
Oliver says it can also be used in times of disaster:
“Satellite technology is also especially valuable in emergency responses. As an example, my department provided daily analysis of satellite images to provincial officials managing the Red River flooding in Manitoba.”
Oliver says Canada has the longest coastline in the world and processing satellite data is one of the ways anomalies in the land can be spotted.
A company out of Saskatoon will be doing much of the work.