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EnvironmentClimateChange17TuesdayApril23201313043DA113042DA11304ABEGINNINGMAY1ALBERTANSWILLPAYTHELOWESTPRICEFORGENERICDRUGSINCANADA.ThatmeansmoremoneyreinvestedintohealthandmoresavingsforAlbertanswhopayoutofpocketfortheirprescriptionmedication.Albertaisalsosupportingpharmaciststoprovideyouwithmanyservicestokeepyouhealthy.Theseservicesincluderenewingoradjustingyourprescriptionadministeringyourinjectionsandhelpingyoumanageyourmedications.Tolearnmoreaboutlowergenericdrugpricesandhowgovernmentishelpingpharmacistsserveyoubettervisithealth.alberta.caSnowradartechnologyusedinCanadaforrsttimeSnowSARcapturesNWTdataforinternationalcampaignByRENEFRANCOEUREnvironmentCanadare-searchershavetakencut-ting-edgeimagesofNorth-westTerritoriessnowcoverwithanewaerialradartooldevelopedandfundedbytheEuropeanSpaceAgencyESAaspartofaninter-nationalcampaignunder-waytofurtherunderstandclimatechangeseffectsonsnowandice.TheinstrumentcalledSnowSARsyntheticap-ertureradarwasowninCanadaforthersttimearoundtheInuvikareafortwodaysinMarchandagainduringtherstweekofApriltodetectchangesinthesnowpackthroughradiowaves.EarlierthisyearSnowSARtooktotheskiesinAustriaandlastyearcollecteddataonsnowcoverinFinland.Thetechnologyisowninasmallbushplanewithspecializedbaggagedoorstohousethesensors.Wereinterestedincol-lectingthingslikethesizeofthesnowgrainswhichchangeovertheseasonwithinthesnowpackChrisDerksenanEnvironmentCanadascientistinclimateresearchtoldTheJournal.Thesignalfromtheradarcomesdownfromtheair-craftinteractswiththesnowandaproportionofthatradarsignalisreturnedtotheaircraft.Whathap-penstothatradarsignalinthesnowpackdependsonhowdeepthesnowisthesizeofthegrainthelayersandwhatnot.EnvironmentCanadahasbeenconductingsnowsur-veysintheNWTspeci-callyaroundtheTrailVal-leyCreekwatershedjusttotheeastoftheMackenzieRiverDeltaorabout55kmnorth-northeastofInuvikforover20yearsDerksennotedmakingitadata-richlocation.Itsagreatplacetostartglobalradarworkbecauseofthehistoryofinformationandwehavecometounderstandthesnowpackverywellhere.SnowSARisanewtechnol-ogydevelopedtohelpdrivetheESAsCOReH2Ocampaignwhichaccordingtotheagen-cyswebsiteaimstollthegapsincurrentinformationonsnowglaciersandsurfacewaterthroughimprovingthemodellingandpredictionofwaterbalanceandstream-owforsnow-coveredbasins.ESAiscampaigningforaradarlikeSnowSARinspaceDerksennoted.Withthisworkrightnowwerejusttryingtoprovesci-enticallythatthemissioncon-ceptwouldworkinspacehesaid.Withanorbitinginstru-mentinspacewedgetregularmeasurementsovertimeandyoucouldusethesetoinformsomeofourmodellingactivi-tiesandotherwork.Rightnowifweusesatellitedatatoes-timatehowdeepthesnowisitsreallycoarsegridscale.WedonthaveanepictureofhowthesnowdepthvariesacrosstheNorthbutifwehadaradarinspacewecouldseelargergridsizestounderstandsnowdepthinmorecleardetail.Inturnthesedatasetswouldreallyhelp...weatherpredictionmodelswaterbalancemodeswhichallneedinformationonstateofsnowpack.Radardataalsorenessci-entistsunderstandingoftheimpactsthatclimatechangeishavingonthedistributionofsnowandiceandhowthisinturnisinuencingthewatercycleandvariousfeedbacksystemsESAstated.AccordingtoDerksenitsanexpensiveandtime-consumingprocesstoputaradarsensorsysteminspaceandnofund-inghasbeensecuredforsuchamissionasofyet.RadarobservationscomparedwithgrounddataWhiletheSnowSARdatatakenintheNWTwillnotbeanalyseduntilthissum-merDerksensaidtheeldresearchteamwasabletoseeabigdifferenceinsnowcoverbetweenMarchandAprilwhenthetworadarightsoccurred.Theradardatawillbecomparedwiththeapproxi-mately15000snowdepthmeasurementstakenonthegroundinadesignated50m-longsnowtrenchacrossoneoftheradarlines.Thesedepthmeasurementsareacquiredusingauto-matedsnowdepthprobesequippedwithaGPSDerk-senexplained.Theresearchersalsouseanearinfraredcameratotakesequentialphoto-graphsalongthelengthofthetrench.Thecameraissensitivetothesnowgrainsizeandwillprovidepre-ciseinformationonhowthesnowlayersvarybothverticallyandhorizontally.Tobestinterprettheradardataitiskeytounderstandthestructureofthesnow-packDerksensaid.Everytimeyouhaveablowingsnoweventorablizzardaslablayerisde-positedthenyougetfreshsnowontopofit.Snowisaverylayeredmediumandwereallywanttounder-standhowtheselayersareformedhowtheychangebecausethatdoesimpacttheradarsignal.PlanstotrySnowSARinAlaskanextareunderwayDerksensaid.PhotoThomasWattsPhotoArvidsSilisAnEnvironmentCanadascientistusesamagnaprobetooltoconductgroundsamplingofthesnowpacklayersontheTrailValleyCreekstudysite55kmoutsideofInuvik.ResearcherscrouchalongasnowtrenchtogathersnowdepthandlayerdataintheTrailValleyCreekwatershedarea.